FORT DAVIS Administrative History

The Steve Miller era at Fort Davis was marked by a stream of awards and plaudits for the commitment of the staff in the 1980s to emphasize the complexity and richness of the park's history. Much of this recognition belonged to the departed superintendent Doug McChristian, whose belief in the efficacy of living history and his skills at organization made Fort Davis a better institution. For the next two years (1986-1988), park staff and management participated in celebrations and historical programs that showed the wisdom of McChristian's leadership. From the 25th anniversary of the park's creation (September 1986), to the long-delayed dedication of the enlisted men's barracks in February 1988, public attention focused on the park in ways not seen since the star-studded ceremonies of 1966. In addition, park staff received publicity for their contributions to history and the NPS, both individually and collectively.

Whenever a new superintendent arrives in a park, there is a period of assessment and contemplation prior to the implementation of distinctive plans and projects. For Steve Miller, so much work was in motion that he would oversee its completion before he could put forth his own concepts and designs. Ongoing in the summer of 1986 was Jerome Greene's historic structures report, as well as the final initiative to fund the refurnishing of the barracks. The park maintenance staff also built and installed five new exhibits in the post commissary building, and displayed three artillery pieces in the barracks wing: a gatling gun, mountain howitzer, and ordnance rifle. The maintenance workers also adapted the grounds to accommodate handicapped visitors. Central to these successful programs was the work of students from Sul Ross State University, who benefitted from the Cooperative Education Program agreement that Fort Davis had signed in the early 1970s with the college. Steve Miller arrived at his new post only to learn that the state of Texas contemplated closing the Alpine campus, or merging its services with other institutions of higher learning. The superintendent thus asked his staff to conduct an inventory of the working relationship between the park and Sul Ross. They itemized all manner of reciprocal services, from museum training courses to graduate research in history and ecology to employment of some twenty students at the park. Among these were eight women and seven Hispanic students; numbers that indicated Fort Davis' sincerity in meeting federal goals of equality in hiring and training. [43]

The fulltime staff at Fort Davis were also recognized for their expertise and commitment to history by a variety of organizations in the region. Supervisory park ranger John Sutton was invited to join the groundbreaking ceremonies of historic structure rehabilitation at Fort Stockton. The Annie Riggs museum had learned of the successes of Fort Davis in a similar endeavor, and asked Sutton to speak to an audience of 75 persons about "soldier life and cavalry field service." Then in November 1986, Sutton traveled to the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park to supervise rehearsals of their living history drama, "The Immortal 32." Bill Gwaltney provided similar services in June 1986 when the Center for the Study of African and Afro-American Life at the University of Texas invited the Fort Davis ranger to participate in its "Juneteenth" celebration. Designed to mark the date in 1865 when slaves learned that the South had surrendered in the Civil War, Juneteenth (so named for the pronunciation of the date of June 19th by the slaves) became in the 1980s a major historical event for blacks in the West and Southwest. Gwaltney delivered public lectures to school groups on the Buffalo Soldiers, appeared on local Austin television, and conducted a slide show for dignitaries gathered in the state capitol (among whom was Texas native and famed civil rights leader Dr. James Farmer). The Fort Davis ranger then graced the pages of the Austin American-Statesman as it covered the Juneteenth festivities, attended by some 6,000 guests. Upon his return to Fort Davis, Gwaltney, who by then had applied for a transfer to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site in La Junta, Colorado, reported to Superintendent Miller that "appropriate programs [like Juneteenth] can help to educate the public, stimulate interest in the site and provide publicity for the interpretative mission of the National Park Service." [44]

Figure 47. Superintendent Steve Miller speaking at Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Dedication Ceremony (September 1986).
Courtesy Fort Davis NHS.

Fort Davis' own history received much attention in the fall of 1986, as Steve Miller and the staff coordinated the 25th anniversary of the signing of the enabling legislation by President John F. Kennedy. The park wanted to recapture some of the lustre of the 1966 dedication, and invited individuals like Lady Bird Johnson, now living in Austin. On September 7, some 400 people gathered on the parade ground to witness the silver anniversary celebration, listening to speeches from Martin Merrill, who had testified before Congress on behalf of the park; Donald Dayton, deputy Southwest Region director; and Bob Crisman, chief ranger at Fort Davis in the late 1960s. This event came one week after the Friends Festival on Labor Day weekend, which raised some $4,000 for the barracks furnishing project. Superintendent Miller reported to the region that Fort Davis stood within $17,000 of ending the fundraising campaign, and that the latest Friends event was the most popular ever, with its "antique auction, historic weapons demonstrations, women's fashion review of the 1880s, old-fashioned children's games, wagon rides, barbecue, concert by the 62nd Army Band and a baseball game using 1884 rules." [45]

Staff work to guarantee such successful activities as the Friends festival and the silver anniversary earned deserved respect from the NPS' support agency, the SPMA. Mary Williams received that organization's "Superior Performance Award," the first such designation in its history. SPMA executive director Timothy J. Priehs announced on November 7, 1986, that the long-time Fort Davis employee stood out among all NPS personnel in the region's nearly 50 units for her "outstanding contribution to the programs and operations of SPMA . . . and for tireless dedication to the Association's purpose, helping to ensure the preservation of the National Park System." In the previous five years, Fort Davis' SPMA sales had increased some 200 percent, the proceeds of which could be applied to refurnishing purchases, or Mary Williams' travel to Washington that summer to conduct research in the National Archives. "Without organizations like SPMA," said Miller, "I don't know how we would do those extra special things that really put the polish on." One example was the private agency's donation every year of $500 for discretionary park spending that could not be absorbed by federal appropriations. Mary Williams had used the 1986 allocation for such items as "a Christmas tree and historical Christmas decorations for the CO's quarters, a copy of the 1884 baseball rules, library books, subscriptions to scholarly journals, special awards for volunteers, and the reception for the 25th anniversary celebration of the signing of legislation which created Fort Davis NHS." [46]

In order to ensure the success of the historic programs of Fort Davis, Superintendent Miller and the staff spent the winter of 1986-1987 coordinating more events and activities linked to the story of the frontier military. Miller agreed to join the Big Bend Area Travel Association, which discussed at its October meeting in Fort Stockton a relationship with the sesquicentennial-inspired "Discover Texas Association." Jay Van Orden of the Arizona Pioneer's Historical Society inquired about bringing a group of society members to Fort Davis for a cavalry encampment. The park staff learned in March 1987 that the National Trust for Historic Preservation had decided to include Fort Davis in its traveling exhibition, "America's Uncommon Places." Perhaps the most interesting program accommodated by Fort Davis personnel was the appearance in July by the Tucson-based "Vision Quest" program. Nationally famous for its rigorous outdoor activities for at-risk youth, Vision Quest asked the park if they could bring a wagon train of young black teenagers to teach them the life of the Buffalo Soldiers. By recapturing the experiences of their western ancestors, the black youth might learn the habits of the soldiers that Fort Davis interpreters had worked so diligently in the 1980s to represent to the American people. The attention that the Tucson-based youth program would bring to the park also could help Fort Davis fulfill its own "quest" for financial support, even though the response of the Vision Quest participants themselves to the outdoor exercises was less than successful. [47]

All of these activities in the decade of the 1980s provided Fort Davis with much momentum for the Southwest Region's inaugural competition for the "Garrison Gold Award." The prize received its name from the longtime superintendent of Big Bend National Park, Lemuel "Lon" Garrison, characterized by Regional Director John Cook as someone "who over his forty year career played an important role in defining the role of NPS professionals today." Parks throughout the Southwest were asked to inventory their visitor services programs when they applied for the competition, and Fort Davis believed that it met all criteria established by the regional office in Santa Fe. "Our interpretive program," wrote Steve Miller in the Fort Davis proposal, "is geared towards diversity in the communication of the park's primary themes." Not only did the visitor experience the life of the nineteenth-century soldier; he or she would learn "of the obstacles these black men overcame during their service on the frontier," as well as the Grierson family's "domestic activities, family problems and attitudes towards life on the frontier." Miller was especially proud of his staffs "extra effort to reach children," which included an exhibit on children's lives at the fort that used "historic photographs, copies of school assignments, and a hands-on display of toys." One highlight of this initiative was "a resurrection of a historic [Christmas] tradition, as a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus arrived at a local elementary school aboard a 'sleigh' consisting of an army wagon and a team of mules." Park staff also pursued historical projects not often undertaken by their peers in the region, especially Mary Williams' acceptance of the duty to write an administrative history of Fort Davis, museum technician Judy Hitzman's selection to "help teach a history classification cataloguing session at a curatorial update workshop at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park," and John Sutton's work at the NPS' "Historic Weapons Certification course at Mather Training Center." [48]

Figure 48. Tom Brown (left) and George Grubb (right) performing in 1880s-era baseball game.
Courtesy Fort Davis NHS.

What separated the Fort Davis application from its peers was the successful planning for the barracks dedication, which occurred on February 20, 1988. Starting the previous June, the park staff wrote to Friends, volunteers, media, and prominent black personalities to interest them in the ceremony, which would coincide with Black History Month. Among the dignitaries identified by the staff were relatives of 9th and 10th Cavalry troopers, representatives of the Black Cavalry Association, President Ronald Reagan, his Interior secretary, and the NPS director. Superintendent Miller suggested also that the park invite Bryant Gumbel, the black co-host of the NBC Today Show, to broadcast from the park on Friday, February 19. One keynote speaker would be Lieutenant General Emmitt Paige, the highest ranking black Army officer and also the first black General Officer in the U.S Signal Corps, who would address "The Black Military Tradition in the United States Army." A second would be Dr. William Leckie, honored for his pioneering work with the history of the Buffalo Soldiers. The third, and most familiar to the average visitor, was Alex Haley, author of two prominent works on the black experience: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Roots, the former a "bible" of black studies courses nationwide, and the latter a blockbuster novel of Haley's search for his family's heritage in the American South and in Africa. Haley, himself a veteran of military service in the Navy, would speak on the topic, "The Role of Black Americans in the Settling of the West." [49]

While Superintendent Miller and his staff anticipated much attention for the success of the barracks restoration and refurnishing projects, they were equally thrilled at the announcement by Southwest Regional Director John E. Cook that the park had won the first Garrison Gold award. Cook highlighted Fort Davis' "series of superior living history programs which not only involved Park visitors but spread into the surrounding communities as well." Cook considered the park's research as "well grounded," as it "covered a variety of topics in many different types of media." Volunteer participation at Fort Davis was most praiseworthy, and "to round out a quality visitor experience, resource management and maintenance activities both struck a good balance between effectiveness and efficiency." Cook then praised the park staff for having "demonstrated innovation and balance in creating a very special park visit." The director also announced that Fort Davis would receive for its accomplishments "a one time increase of $2,000 in the park's budget to further expand visitor services," and "a Pueblo storyteller figure by prominent potter Marie Romero of Jemez Pueblo." The regional office had decided to award a storyteller "because it typified both the Southwest and the primary storytelling purpose of all National Park Service sites." Fort Davis would also have its name inscribed on a plaque in the regional headquarters in Santa Fe, where a larger storyteller figure would herald the place of interpretation in the Southwest's parks and monuments. [50]

Fort Davis had more than visitors services to claim as significant in the annual report filed by Steve Miller in April 1988. Maintenance foreman Dale Scheier implemented the NPS' new "Maintenance Management" program to allow the work crew to track needed repair and replacement duties. In an interview eight years later, Scheier (then Chief of Maintenance at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota) recalled how he introduced techniques of recording all repair and replacement work conducted on the historic structures. In addition, Scheier catalogued all these entries onto a computer for easy reference by the maintenance crews of later times. He remembered that the maintenance routine had not changed much since the completion of the restoration work in the late 1960s, and that 20 years later the crews lacked sufficient educational and professional expertise to attempt more sophisticated methods of repair. Thus he implemented more training and schooling for the new hires under his purview. Black history programs also went beyond the barracks restoration ceremonies to include posters and site bulletins about the Buffalo Soldiers. The 1987 commemoration of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution included the National Trust's "Uncommon Places" exhibit, which used Fort Davis as "the only NPS area represented" in the nationwide touring program. Superintendent Miller made special mention of the environmental activities of the park, which revolved around a visit by the U.S. Forest Service to prepare an "Historic Tree Management Plan." The federal government had restored the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), which permitted the use of several young people to work on the "historic trim painting project and on stone foundation masonry ruin work." Reflective of the need to embrace the latest technology at the park, Miller oversaw the computerization of Fort Davis' records, and the entry of some 3,000 museum items into the "Automated National Cataloguing System." [51]

One area that the park staff realized could benefit from more attention was community outreach. The Southwest Regional Office had inquired about the accessibility of Fort Davis' interpretive programs for non-English speakers. Steve Miller reported that "our current Spanish speaking visitors represent less than 1% of our total," and that the staff did not see a need to redesign the interpretive services to be completely bilingual. What Miller did recognize after this survey of interpretation was the need to maintain better community relations. "The History of Fort Davis study which has just begun," wrote the superintendent, "will include research on the civilian community, including the hispanic community at Fort Davis and its relationship with the military post." Miller hoped that "perhaps based on what material is found, we can develop more of an awareness and interest in the local hispanic community for the historic site." Until that document was completed, the park would consider "activities during Hispanic Awareness Week, the development of a site bulletin in Spanish, and improving the existing Spanish guide." [52]

Riding the crest of enthusiasm and energy driven by the successful barracks restoration project, the staff of Fort Davis in 1988 saw a return to the excitement and motivation of the park's early years. Superintendent Miller and his employees were nominated as one of five finalists from the NPS in the "Take Pride in America Awards" program. This national competition focused upon "individuals and public and private groups that conduct outstanding stewardship actions or awareness on behalf of public lands." Miller cited as Fort Davis' signal feature the barracks project, which "was largely paid for by donated funds and involved hundreds of individuals and groups volunteering thousands of hours towards the completion of the project." Mary Williams, well advanced into her research on the administrative history of her park, received an NPS Albright fellowship, which permitted her to attend the 1988 Western History Association meeting in Wichita, Kansas (she had earlier appeared on a panel devoted to the history of frontier military wives at the WHA's 1986 conference in Billings, Montana). Williams also was asked by Sul Ross State University to join its Center for Big Bend Studies as it planned a series of historical and cultural programs for the 1992 "Columbian Quincentennial;" an initiative to dramatize the significance of five centuries of cultural exchange since the European arrival in the Western Hemisphere. A similar national commemoration, the National Trust's exhibit on "America's Uncommon Places: The Blessings of Liberty," served as the basis of a 30-minute PBS documentary that year. [53]