In the fall of 1867 the United States Army established a permanent 
camp on the plateau where the North and Middle Concho rivers join. 
For centuries, this high open plateau had remained barren except for 
passing expeditions or Native American hunting parties. The 
establishment of Fort Concho provided a vital link in the line of frontier 
defense and led to the development of the town of San Angelo across 
the North Concho River from the military post.

    In more than twenty years of federal service, Fort Concho was 
home to companies of fifteen regiments in the regular United States 
Army, including Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's Fourth Cavalry and Col. 
Benjamin Grierson's Tenth Cavalry of buffalo soldiers. The post 
provided a focal point for major campaigns against the Comanches, 
Kiowas, and Apaches. Patrols from Fort Concho charted vast areas of 
western Texas and provided a climate for settlement on the Texas 
frontier. Today Fort Concho stands restored, thanks to numerous 
preservation efforts, as a memorial to all the peoples who struggled to 
survive on the plateau where the rivers join.
   
    Fort Concho: A History and a Guide by James T. Matthews has 
been hailed by Fort Concho director Bob Bluthardt as "the first book 
on the history of the fort in fifty years." Fort Concho is the latest in the 
Texas State Historical Association's Fred Rider Cotten Popular History 
Series, which publishes short books about important historical sites or 
events in Texas history.

_________________________________________________________

JAMES T. MATTHEWS is field director for the Alamo Area Council of 
the Boy Scouts of America.


Number Eighteen: Fred Rider Cotten Popular History Series