FORT DAVIS Administrative History

The search for the proper historic artifacts to place in these quarters occupied much of the time of Frank Smith while he served in Santa Fe as regional curator. In late April and early May 1963, Smith spent over a week traveling throughout southern New Mexico and west Texas to locate antique dealers willing to sell artifacts of nineteenth century military life for inclusion in the Fort Davis museum. In El Paso, Smith claimed to have "visited virtually every pawn shop and gun store in town." Among his acquisitions were authentic revolvers, sabers, and photographs. Smith noted in particular the artifacts housed at the museum of the Fort Davis Historical Society. Somehow the society had managed to acquire "an 1873 Springfield rifle, with bayonet, which appears to be in excellent condition, and a series of Waybills, schedules, tickets, money orders, etc., from at least two of the stagecoach lines which ran through Fort Davis." Of less value was time spent in the "Treasure Trove Antique Store" in town, where the regional curator found items that were too "high-priced," or were replicas of historical arms which were "obviously [of] French manufacture." [41]

Frank Smith's forays into Southwestern antique and pawn shops on behalf of Fort Davis proved enjoyable to the regional curator, and may have stimulated his interest in 1965 to succeed Michael Becker as superintendent. Less thrilling was the experience that fall of park historian Erwin Thompson, sent out by the superintendent to get photographs of battle sites to include in Bob Utley's museum exhibit design. On October 3, 1963, Thompson drove a park service vehicle south of Sierra Blanca to locate the route taken by Colonel Grierson that culminated in the Battle of Tinaja de las Palmas. Using a recent map printed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Thompson followed what appeared to be an unimproved dirt road open to the public. At a point several miles down the road, Thompson came upon the house of the caretaker of the surrounding ranch, a man named Jim Tom Love. Described by Thompson as large, somewhat inarticulate (he had, in Thompson's words, a "fifth-grade education"), and hostile to public officials, Love called upon the park service historian to halt and explain why he was on private property. Thompson told investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and also the Hudspeth County sheriffs office, that Love "jerked him out of the car and cursed at him," then hit Thompson on the back of the neck with a pistol several times. Love then ordered him at gunpoint to come with him into town to see the sheriff. [42]

The incident in the west Texas mountains left Thompson, Becker, and other park service personnel bitter at the parochialism of justice in the area. As the foreman of the Hot Wells ranch (owned by the prominent Espy family), Love was well known to local law enforcement officials. His explanation that Thompson had trespassed on private land seemed to satisfy the justice of the peace of Hudspeth County who handled the complaint, as Texas law permitted "any means" necessary to remove someone from private property. Thompson was released when Love decided not to press charges, but the park service historian did try to bring Love to trial on charges of "unlawful restraint." The federal courts in El Paso refused to hear the case, but in December 1963 the Hudspeth County Court convicted the caretaker of "aggravated assault," and fined him $25 dollars. This outraged Superintendent Becker, who asked regional officials to protest the decision. The FBI concluded that there was not compelling federal interest in the case, since "Mr. Thompson was actually a trespasser and, although the assailant may have used more than permissible force in removing him, a $25 fine for such a violation might not be considered unconscionably small." The NPS and Justice Department further believed that Thompson's "civil suit against the assailant should adequately vindicate any wrongs he may have suffered." [43]

The Jim Tom Love incident left bitter memories for Thompson, Becker, Bob Utley, and other park service officials of the time. In a pointed memorandum to the NPS field solicitor in Amarillo, Becker wrote that "the Justice Department may consider the case closed, but neither the superintendent nor Mr. Thompson feels that justice has been served." The Hudspeth County Court ruling left the impression, said Becker, "that if one is big enough and mean enough and has $25, he could apparently assault federal officers with relative impunity." Thompson himself had to wear a neck brace for several weeks because of fractured vertebrae, and later contracted infectious hepatitis. The lawsuit went nowhere, as the Justice Department and NPS failed to support Thompson's claims. Even on the park grounds, the historian could find no escape from the notoriety of the attack. Later in October 1963, Superintendent Becker reported that a local woman approached Thompson while on duty and asked if he had been "hit by a Texas man." When Thompson replied in the affirmative, the woman declared: "You're lucky you're still alive!" This proved too much for the superintendent to ignore, and he informed his superiors sarcastically: "Makes one feel real neighborly toward his fellow Texans." [44]

Thompson's injuries and time lost forced Superintendent Becker to focus more closely in the fall and winter of 1963-1964 on the historical research program at Fort Davis. As word circulated about the presence of a new historic site, with national standards of preservation and collection of data, Fort Davis' staff received calls and letters about potential artifacts and materials, as well as requests for assistance by local historical agencies and groups. The prestigious Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth offered to loan the park its series of slides depicting Frederic Remington's famous scenes of buffalo soldiers. The Amon Carter also promised to send copies of Charles Schreyvogel paintings for the planned museum at the park. Such support from private individuals made the work of preparing the visitors' exhibits that much easier and less expensive, and also indicated the level of interest throughout the West in a successful interpretive program for Fort Davis. [45]

Recreating the mood and spirit of the old military frontier also meant that the staff had to take on duties normally associated with scholars or professional historians and archeologists. In January 1964, Ranger Bob Dunnagan found traces of the first Fort Davis (1854-1861) in Hospital Canyon, and began a series of excavations to determine its extent and value to the park. Erwin Thompson also returned to his research duties that winter, locating the site of the Battle of Tinaja de las Palmas, which had drawn him into the Jim Tom Love incident earlier in the fall. He also found the site of the Battle of Rattlesnake Springs in his travels through the west Texas mountain country. Making Fort Davis' expertise available to local historical groups also seemed wise to Michael Becker, as he responded favorably to the request from the Marathon Historical Society for help in "platting the Fort Pena [Colorado] subpost" southeast of Alpine. [46]

The most dramatic effort at recapturing the past at Fort Davis came in the fall of 1963, when regional museum curator Frank Smith promoted his idea of reenactments of the troops on parade, and the use of recorded music to evoke the sense of daily life at the post. Smith remembered in 1994 how the museum system of the Southwest Region "was in turmoil," and how it "had not been updated since the 1930s." The MISSION 66 program promoted the establishment of museums to attract and inform visitors, and the region witnessed the creation of nearly two dozen such facilities. Fort Davis offered Smith and the SWR the best chance to experiment with advanced technology and research methods of historical interpretation, and the future superintendent worked closely with Michael Becker, Robert Utley, and WASO historian Harold Peterson to create just the right setting for the retreat parade and music. [47]

What made the research of the retreat so authentic was Smith's use of a special cavalry unit stationed at Fort Sill in western Oklahoma. Major General L.S. Griffin, commander of Fort Sill, told SWR's Daniel Beard in October 1963 that his post had a private unit that had formed to participate in Armed Forces Day celebrations. This group, consisting of some 50 mounts and riders, could perform for the park service if the NPS provided the musical arrangements. To that end, Donald J. Erskine, NPS chief of the audiovisual services branch, wrote to Dr. William Fulton, professor of education at the University of Oklahoma, to identify someone capable of recording the sounds of the parade unit. SWR director Beard wanted only the highest quality of production for the parade retreat, given the attention and funding already expended on Fort Davis. After listing for the NPS director all the specifications for the performance of the Fort Sill unit, he reminded his superior that "this may prove to be a long-lasting and wide-spread program. In any case, we do not want to settle for anything which could become, in future years, simply 'run of the mill' or mediocre." Thus the park service spared no expense to use the Motion Picture Department of the University of Oklahoma, and to generate sound in excess of 20,000 decibels to blanket the parade ground as the Army would have done. [48]

As the restoration of post life moved forward in late 1963, so did the plan for exhibits in the park museum. The Western Museum Laboratory released in November its comments on the work of Messrs. Utley, et al, asking Superintendent Becker to add his thoughts prior to final acceptance of the plan. John W. Jenkins, WML chief, had mostly grammatical corrections, and saw little difficulty with the historical content of the plan. Michael Becker echoed Jenkins' sentiments in January 1964, praising the hard work of the design and research team: "There is excellence all the way through." The report revealed the lengths to which the team went to ensure historical accuracy, and the imaginative strategies that they employed to bring out the Fort Davis story for visitors. Between the exhibits, music, parade retreat, and historic structures, Fort Davis seemed ready in the spring of 1964 to fulfill the hopes of the park service to become what all involved considered the best statement of frontier military life in the Southwest. [49]

With all this attention paid to the cause of history at Fort Davis, Michael Becker had high hopes in the winter and spring of 1964 as he sought to fill the position of temporary historian. Erwin Thompson needed help meeting the deadlines emerging from the dual track of historic structure completion and museum exhibit design. Unfortunately no one accepted the position as advertised, and by April the superintendent changed the scope of work to permit the hiring of a college student. Becker called Barry Scobee's old friend at the Texas Tech library, Frank Temple, and asked his help in locating someone who could work for the summer as a seasonal employee. Responding to the call was Jerry Rogers, then in the spring of 1964 a graduate assistant pursuing a master's degree in history at Texas Tech. On May 31, Rogers, his wife Peggy, and their infant daughter arrived in Fort Davis to begin a career that would lead the young history major to Washington as associate director for cultural resources for the Park Service, and in 1995 to Santa Fe to become the last director of the Southwest region. [50]

Rogers' presence on the Fort Davis staff allowed for an acceleration of historical research and writing of reports for the museum and historic building programs. On June 30, the Fort Davis Historical Society closed their small museum on the grounds of the park, and Becker, Thompson, and Frank Smith looked over the artifacts for potential acquisition. Jerry Rogers went to work immediately writing research reports on the historic structures, leading Becker to tell the regional office: "[Rogers] is to be complimented on [the reports'] high quality and for his ability in the field of historical methodology." In July, Becker further praised the Texas Tech graduate: "Ranger Rogers . . . prepared a very fine brief on the results that might be anticipated when HB28 (Post Chapel) and HB40 (Quartermaster Corral) are reconstructed." Rogers was "now well underway in research on HB46 (Post Hospital) in preparation for a Historic Structures Part II Report." All this work highlighted the park's need to send Erwin Thompson to Washington to seek out National Archives material that Robert Utley had not identified in his earlier studies, which had focused more on the military campaigns of the soldiers rather than on their daily life and surroundings. [51]

Turning his attention in the fail of 1964 to the interiors of the historic structures, Michael Becker addressed two concerns of the museum design team: the artwork for the visitors center, and the furnishing plans for the officers' quarters. Park service officials in Washington and San Francisco's WML suggested that Becker employ Nick Eggenhofer of Cody, Wyoming, to paint the murals in the museum. NPS historian Roy E. Appleman wanted the Wyoming western artist to consider as many as seven scenes, all featuring soldiers in the field engaged in combat with Indians. Becker concurred, but worried about the cost (Appleman suggested paying Eggenhofer $5,000 for three paintings). "A mural in the Fort Davis visitor center," said the superintendent, "would put this museum on a par with some of the better ones in the System." What concerned Becker was his realization that "there is a lot of research that must be done if the furnishings plan is to be a proper one, and that research is going to cost money." Purchases of artifacts for the historic structures "are undoubtedly going to cost much more than the original estimates," Becker told the SWR director, and plans for "saving the hospital and HB-18 are going to be expensive propositions." For those reasons, the superintendent asked for only one mural in the visitors center, "located on the east wall in that area between the window and the porch." Becker saw the reasoning behind Appleman's plan, but believed that "a little lobby furniture, while not as aesthetically desirable, would in many, many cases fill the need of the visiting public more than that of the art work." [52]

The superintendent's caution about the scale of research and acquisition of furnishings echoed concerns within the park service. In June 1964, the regional office asked the architects of WODC for advice on Fort Davis. Jerry Riddell told the SWR director that "we would recommend that considerable effort should be made to find a private donor to provide the enthusiasm, money, etc., for the work." This reflected the rising cost of Fort Davis rehabilitation, and also the WODC's experience with a similar refurnishing study done for Fort Laramie National Historic Site by Nan Carson. "We would hesitate to evaluate, cost wise, Miss Carson's report on the Post Surgeon's quarters at Fort Laramie," said Riddell. She had written a 120-page study that lacked "pictures of historical furnishings, typical interiors, elevations drawings of the furnishings or cost estimates of the individual items." Fort Davis was not comparable to the site at Fort Laramie, and the WODC chief architect suggested that SWR seek out someone else for the task. "We would hesitate to recommend a female interior decorator for the furnishing of the barracks," Riddell concluded, and suggested instead "someone who has done a hitch without commissioned background, and he might well be colored [a black person] to give further authenticity to the job." [53]

The Southwest region disregarded Riddell's opposition to Nan Carson's work, or her perceived inability to recreate a man's world in the barracks at Fort Davis. In September 1964, Becker learned that Carson would prepare a furnishing study for his park sometime during the following 12 months. This came on the heels of a request from Jane E. Negbaur, assistant home furnishings editor of Family Circle Magazine, who asked if she could send a photographer to the post to study the historic character of homes in west Texas. Becker promoted the work at his park as the type of setting that Negbaur envisioned. Unfortunately, said the superintendent, "it will be several years before the very handsome stone quarters of the commanding officer will be fully restored and furnished as it was in the 1880s." Becker, who had yet to learn of the selection of Nan Carson to conduct such a study at Fort Davis, nonetheless told the Family Circle editor: "We feel sure this structure and its furnishings will be well worth a feature article when finished - about 1967." [54]

Compounding Becker's problems in accommodating Nan Carson's work was the lack of detail on the interiors of the buildings, and Erwin Thompson's departure in September for a two-month training program at the NPS' Mather Training Center. The superintendent also noted that "all restoration at Fort Davis is being done in terms of the '80s [1880s] due to peculiar conditions in building alterations and construction during that decade," and because "there were nine significant occupants of the CO's [Commanding Officer's] house during that period and we do not yet know which one(s) have left the best records for that purpose." Historical research to date indicated that "the promising colonel was Benjamin Grierson." Among the reasons cited by Becker were: "His tenure was the longest [1882-1885]; he was one of the more positive characters in the position; and he had later ties in the Fort Davis community as a retired general." Becker believed that his staff could compile the necessary documents for Nan Carson by June 1965, and that the regional office would know best how much time and money her efforts would require . [55]

The historical work accomplished at Fort Davis in its first two years animated Michael Becker's first "annual interpretive report," delivered to the NPS director on January 12, 1965. The superintendent remarked upon the strong visitation that his park had witnessed: 86,565 since opening 24 months earlier. Many were drawn by the novelty of a park under construction; others by the distinctive story unfolding before their eyes. Due to the curiosity of the visitors, Becker lamented that "only slight progress was made in the preparation and installation of interpretive markers concerning the history of the fort." Vandals also found the signs attractive, requiring more permanent anchoring and higher cost for replacement. Ranger Bob Dunnagan had built a series of redwood nature trail signs in the shape of an NPS arrowhead which visitors found "quite pleasing." With the closing of the Fort Davis Historical Society museum, all these indicators of park information became even more critical. [56]

Superintendent Becker then spoke of the need for more historical research, both documentary and artifactual. Word had reached the park that Robert Utley's historical handbook neared distribution, and the park staff received many visitor requests for such a publication. Then the increased efforts at research and excavation undertaken by Messrs. Thompson, Dunnagan, Rogers, and local schoolteacher John Mitchell unearthed over 15,000 artifacts. "We are greatly behind in the cataloguing of these specimens," said the superintendent, and he saw the need for a full-time curator to reduce not only this backlog but the new acquisitions from future excavations and private donations. One example of the latter that Becker wished to draw to the attention of NPS officials was "five color slides of water colors showing the first Fort Davis, painted by Capt. Arthur T. Lee in the 1850s," sent to the park by the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences in upstate New York. Becker could also report that the Newberry Library in Chicago had agreed to send 2,400 pages of microfilm from its Grierson papers collection; a source of great value to Nan Carson when she would arrive to design the furnishings of the historic structures. Finally, the superintendent calculated the success of the historical work at his park by noting a visit in November 1964 by some 30 national travel writers as part of the "Texas Travel Writers Tour." Becker complained that "the visit was much too short for anything but a fleeting contact," and reported that "there seems to be a widespread illusion that the length of a visit must be measured against the number of acres in a park." [57]

Research efforts the following year built momentum despite the departure in December 1964 of Bob Dunnagan, Fort Davis' first ranger. His acceptance of a similar appointment at the newly created Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah came just as Superintendent Becker had written so glowingly of the potential he saw for his staff. One example of that enthusiasm was the creation of an historical file on all officers stationed at the old fort "in order to facilitate the answering of questions" by visitors. Another milestone for Fort Davis in serving the interpretive needs of patrons was the discussion between park staff and Earl Jackson, executive secretary of the Southwestern Monuments Association (SWMA), to establish a sales outlet for the private group's publications on the Park Service. Frank Smith wrote Jackson in May 1965 to indicate that the imminent release of Bob Utley's Fort Davis handbook required some venue to handle sales of this and other materials. Smith believed that "the addition of the visitor center and the very fine publicity that the staff have been getting for Fort Davis should result in a major [visitation] increase, starting this summer." The superintendent-designee felt that "a stock of 1,000 copies of the Historical Handbook would be reasonable, and should turn over by the fall months." Smith also ordered a variety of historical titles on military and Indian history, but was cautious about marketing Barry Scobee's Fort Davis, Texas. "The writing is good," Smith told Jackson, "and his only real departure from fact, as far as we can tell, is in his Indian Emily story -- which we are debunking in our programs." [58]

Pushing the story of Fort Davis eventually led in 1965 to the closest brush with the black soldiers' experience; a situation prompted in part by the growing awareness of civil rights legislation and unrest, both a function of the turbulence of the decade. Erwin Thompson had become interested in the lives of the black troopers from the research he conducted, and from the lack of prominence their story received in the media, history texts, or even the park service. His curiosity increased in January 1965, when Don Rickey, Jr., park planner for the Midwest Region, informed the Fort Davis historian that "through a newspaper clipping and picture, I have run across mention of a 103-year-old Negro 9th Cavalryman who is a pensioned Indian Wars veteran." Rickey understood Thompson to be pursuing "colored infantry and cavalry life at Fort Davis, 1880-90," and wondered if "this Indian Wars pensioner could be a mine of detail information on what life was like for a colored cavalryman in the 1880's at a western post." [59]

The soldier, Simpson Mann, lived in the Veterans Administration retirement home at Leavenworth, Kansas, and Rickey hoped that he could glean from him material not available in the standard research sources on the frontier military. Superintendent Becker encouraged Rickey to pursue the Mann interview, and suggested how this could expand the data base on the black soldier at Fort Davis. "Knowing that relatively little has been done on Negro soldiers specifically," Becker told Rickey, "we have submitted an RSP [Research Services Proposal] on that subject and are hopeful it will be approved." He also noted that his staff had done work on Lieutenant Henry 0. Flipper, and informed Rickey of a new printing of his Negro Frontiersman: The Western Memoirs of Henry 0. Flipper (El Paso, 1963). Rickey knew the editor of the volume (Theodore Harris of El Paso), and passed along to Becker mention of a collection of the "now rare monthly newsletter of the National Indian War Veterans," the Winners of the West (1922-1944). In this were "a few reminiscences, articles, and letters written by Negro ex-Regulars." He praised Becker and Thompson for their proposal to research the black soldier at Fort Davis, and it was "very much worthwhile and badly needed." Becker then sent to Rickey a list of questions to put to Simpson Mann, focusing on such details as "a certain way to fix up a footlocker for inspection," "What color were the bed blankets?" or "Was there a ceiling or open rafters in the barracks room?" The list did seek out some unusual information distinctive to the black experience, such as "Did you ever see Chinese enlisted men in the Infantry or Cavalry?" and "Did the [white] officers ever say the Negro soldiers were better than the white? If so, in what way were they better? Worse? Do you agree?" [60]

If Thompson was to pursue the black story of long ago, he also thought that contemporary black experience counted for something at Fort Davis. He learned of the depth of the buffalo soldiers' history when he went to Washington in the winter of 1964-1965, where he met Sara Dunlap Jackson, an archivist with the National Archives. A lifelong student of the black military, and being black herself, Jackson showed Thompson many sources for future work on Fort Davis and the black units that served there. Thompson remarked in an interview 30 years later about his heightened awareness of the linkages between past and present at Fort Davis when he noted how many of the "Hispanic" maintenance crew had Negro features, and seemed "proud of their black roots." One such worker, George Bentley, came to Thompson one day in February 1965 with his father's discharge papers from the Army. Private George Bentley, Sr., had been a "company baker" in Company K of the 9th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Davis "just after the Fort was reestablished in 1867." [61]

This bit of local history, connected as it was to the larger story of Fort Davis and the national emphasis on race in the 1960s, led Thompson to write a lengthy report in March 1965 about the Bentley family, which he read at the ceremony where George Bentley officially donated his father's papers to the park. Private Bentley, unlike many residents of the area, was "one of Fort Davis' earliest permanent settlers." Because he was "half Negro and half white," his story had been ignored by Carl Raht, Barry Scobee, and later promoters of local history. Bentley, Sr., had been the illegitimate son of a slave woman and white man, and the Civil War had offered him the opportunity to "get away from his mother and his brother, neither of whom he liked." The Park Service historian described George, Jr., as possessing "a quiet dignity, a warm but controlled and very deep voice, a patriarchal touch of pride, and an honest friendliness that 'betters the breed of men.'" Thompson then took note of his wife, who was "of that older generation of Mexican ladies that is becoming all too rare in this noisy world." "Shy, a trifle nervous, silent, and full of deference to her husband," Mrs. Bentley "remained slightly but deliberately in the background." In a remark that spoke as much to the realities of race in west Texas as it did to the life of Private Bentley, Thompson concluded: "The Bentleys today are neither proud nor ashamed of being partly Negro. It is just a simple fact that needs no artificial support." The historian then compared Bentley to the more vocal black critics of American racism, and noted: "When race is so much of a problem for everyone else these days, Mr. Bentley's philosophy on it seems calm indeed." [62]