Fort Richardson Cavalry Post Hospital, 1867
Jacksboro, Jack County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In fort built to halt Indian depredations in North Texas. One of buildings and units on inspection in May 1871 by General William Tecumseh Sherman, when news came of massacre of Warren Wagon Trail, 24 miles northwest. Killers, later found at Fort Sill, were brought to trial in Jacksboro - first time Indians were ever tried in the white man's court in North Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Part of Fort Richardson, built in 1867 to shield North Texas settlers, this post hospital witnessed a pivotal moment in frontier justice. In May 1871 General William Tecumseh Sherman was inspecting the fort when word came of the Warren Wagon Train massacre 24 miles away. The accused, tracked to Fort Sill, were brought to Jacksboro for trial — the first time Native men were tried in a white civilian court in North Texas.
Why it matters
The Jacksboro trials marked a turning point in how the United States sought to impose its legal order on the Plains, replacing open warfare with the contested machinery of the courtroom.
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Related people
- · William Tecumseh Sherman
Related events
- · Warren Wagon Train Massacre
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort Richardson
Jacksboro, TX
Established by the U.S. War Department in November 1867, Fort Richardson stood as the northernmost of a chain of posts guarding the Texas frontier against raids in the years after the Civil War. It was named for General Israel B. Richardson, mortally wounded at Antietam in 1862. As settlement pushed westward the fort's purpose faded, and it was abandoned in 1878; what stands here was partially reconstructed in 1936.
Officers' Quarters
Jacksboro, TX
Built in 1867 from cottonwood cut in nearby river bottoms, this is one of five original officers' quarters at the Jacksboro army post and reputedly one of the last such structures standing in the country. Its style was typical of 19th-century western army posts. Among the officers quartered here was General Ranald S. MacKenzie, who led the campaigns that forced Native peoples onto reservations between 1871 and 1874.
Fort Richardson
Jacksboro, TX
Built by the U.S. Army in 1867, Fort Richardson anchored the northernmost line of federal posts guarding Texas settlers during the Indian Wars that followed the Civil War. The site had already known travelers as a stop on the Butterfield Overland stage route in the years before secession. Garrisoned troops rode from here on patrols across a contested frontier until the post was abandoned in 1879 as the fighting moved west.
Lost Valley
Jacksboro vicinity, TX
Ringed by distant "Seven Blue Hills" and overlooked by a lookout point called Spy Knob, Lost Valley saw repeated violence on the Texas frontier. Settler families were killed here in 1857, teamsters of the Warren Wagon Train were slain in 1871 just after General W. T. Sherman had passed safely through, and in 1874 a Texas Ranger escort under Major John B. Jones was ambushed on this ground. In later years the same valley settled into quiet farm and ranch country.