Site of Fort Merrill
Dinero, Live Oak County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established by Captain S.M. Plummer First U.S. Infantry, February 26, 1850 as a protection to settlers against Indians. Named in honor of Captain Hamilton W. Merrill, Brevet Major, Second Dragoons, gallant officer in the Mexican War. Permanently abandoned December 1, 1855.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Fort Merrill rose on the Nueces frontier in February 1850, established by Captain S. M. Plummer of the First U.S. Infantry to shield settlers pressing into South Texas. It honored Captain Hamilton W. Merrill, a dragoon decorated for gallantry in the recent Mexican War. The post proved short-lived, permanently abandoned by the end of 1855 as the line of settlement moved on.
Why it matters
The fort marks the federal army's role in the volatile push of American settlement across South Texas, part of the chain of frontier posts that defined the mid-century borderlands.
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Related people
- · S. M. Plummer
- · Hamilton W. Merrill
Themes & tags
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