TAMING THE TEXAS FRONTIER

FORT MARTIN SCOTT PLAYED VITAL ROLE IN EARLY FREDERICKSBURG

On the eastern edge of Fredericksburg and adjacent to the Texas Rangers Heritage Center on the banks of Barons Creek, the first U.S. Army post on the Texas frontier is re-emerging.

Fort Martin Scott, on the old Pinta Trail, has a rich history of diverse groups of people that shaped Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, and the Texas Hill Country. Apache and Comanche tribes, Spaniards, early frontiersmen who became known as the Texas Rangers, Anglo settlers, Latter-day Saints, and the U.S. Army have left their footprints.

With outbreaks of attacks between early settlers and Native Americans, in 1823 a group of frontiersmen was formed to act as “rangers” to protect the citizens, starting what became known as the Texas Rangers.

When Texas became a state in 1845, the Comanche remained north of a site that the Rangers are thought to have used as a camp, on the banks of Barons Creek and the Pinta Trail.

John O. Meusebach and German settlers established the town of Fredericksburg just west of this site in 1846. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) started a town called Zodiac east of Fredericksburg in 1847.

The Germans, Latter-day Saints, Native Americans and Rangers established a cooperative society, supporting each other. The Latter-day Saints started the first lumber and grist mill and were instrumental in helping build the fort and town. The Germans signed a peace treaty with the Comanche in 1847 allowing trade with them for food and supplies.

U.S. Army units arrived in 1848, settling on the Barons Creek site, naming it Camp Houston. This became the first in a string of frontier forts established to help protect Anglos moving west. The camp was renamed Fort Martin Scott in December 1849 after Lt. Col. Martin Scott, who died in the Mexican-American War. Infantry units were followed by horse-mounted dragoons, who led scouting patrols and escorts for the settlers.

In 1850, Indian Agent John Rollins, Army, and Rangers representatives and interpreters met with a group of chiefs on the banks of the San Saba River and forged the Fort Martin Scott Treaty of 1850. Today, the Treaty Stone recognizing the pact is displayed in the fort visitor center.

By 1853, the frontier had moved west and so had the Army. Fort Martin Scott became a supply depot and was permanently abandoned by the Army in 1866.

But the story of the fort doesn’t end there. In 1870, John Braeutigam bought acreage that included the fort and moved his family into the fort guardhouse, their home for 90 years. He created Braeutigam

Gardens, which included a saloon, store, race track and the area’s first dance hall. The first four Gillespie County fairs were held in the gardens. But the fairs and gardens ended with the robbery and murder of Braeutigam in his saloon in 1884.

The Braeutigam family farmed the land until 1959 when they sold it to the City of Fredericksburg. The Fredericksburg Heritage Federation started restoration of the fort that continues today. The fort is now a park owned and operated by the city and supported by the Fort Martin Scott Advisory Board and the Fort Martin Scott Friends volunteer group.

Today, the fort includes a visitor center/barracks, restored officer’s quarters, the guardhouse (the only original building), a blacksmith shop and stone foundations of many of the buildings.

The fort comes alive with re-enactments, storytelling, education days for schools and special events.

The Fort Martin Scott Friends, nonprofit organization, is planning a pageant at the fort as part of the city’s 175th anniversary celebration and welcomes participation in the storytelling of the history.

Contact the fort at 830-304-1848 (please leave a message), or visit the website at FortMartinScottFriends.org or at www.fbgtx.org. Email the fort at fortmartinscott@fbgtx.org.

Walter Moldenhauer is the president of the Fort Martin Scott Friends group.

Living History Days was canceled this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but takes place each

spring at Fort Martin Scott. — Standard-Radio Post file photo

Fort Martin Scott is located just east of town at 1606 E. Main St. It offers a look into what life was like on the

frontier. — Standard-Radio Post file photo