Site of Camp Wood
Camp Wood, Real County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established May 20, 1857, as a means of preventing Indian raids on the San Antonio - El Paso route and the Rio Grande Valley. Abandoned March 15, 1861, when Federal troops were withdrawn from Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Camp Wood was established in May 1857 to guard the San Antonio–El Paso road and the Rio Grande Valley against raids, part of the chain of frontier posts the U.S. Army strung across Texas before the Civil War. It stood only a few years, abandoned in March 1861 when federal troops were withdrawn from Texas at the outbreak of the war. Its brief life marks the fragile military presence that shadowed westward travel.
Why it matters
Frontier forts like Camp Wood reveal how thinly the federal government secured western travel routes, and how quickly that presence collapsed when the Civil War came.
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Related events
- · Withdrawal of Federal troops from Texas, 1861
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
In This Vicinity June 24, 1841, Captain John Coffee Hays
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