# Cavalry Forts **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281 "2011-12-15T06:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/1 "2011-12-15T06:09:41Z")
Did the U.S. Army Cavalry really have tapered wood post stockade-style forts like on F Troop? or is that just Hollywood? I am guessing they had wood-plank buildings, tents, and horse corrals, but thats about it. I am thinking the indians probably steered way clear of the forts and there was little need for serious defense. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/2 "2011-12-15T06:53:11Z")
Growing up in Vancouver, Washington, my mental image of forts was informed by Fort Vancouver, which did/does have a significant palisade with tapered tops. You can see in this photo: [http://www.celebratebig.com/pacific-northwest/mt-st-helens-vancouver-portland/fort-vancouver-national-historic-site.jpg](http://www.celebratebig.com/pacific-northwest/mt-st-helens-vancouver-portland/fort-vancouver-national-historic-site.jpg) And this is in a location that didn’t really see significant conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/3 "2011-12-15T07:15:51Z")
you just reminded me having been to Fort Clatsop in Oregon [http://www.nps.gov/lewi/historyculture/histcult-places-focl.htm](http://www.nps.gov/lewi/historyculture/histcult-places-focl.htm) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/4 "2011-12-15T09:51:32Z")
Oddly, a Roman soldier would carry a wooden pole, these would make up a primitive fort for evening privacy. Quite sensible ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/5 "2011-12-15T15:13:51Z")
> [@Soylent\_Gene](#): > > Did the U.S. Army Cavalry really have tapered wood post stockade-style forts like on F Troop? or is that just Hollywood? I am guessing they had wood-plank buildings, tents, and horse corrals, but thats about it. I am thinking the indians probably steered way clear of the forts and there was little need for serious defense. Indians did attack [forts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Detroit) and not just in the “old” west. What most people don’t realize is that the Native Americans were pissed at us long before the F-Troop days and that fort designs were developed long before General Custer’s times in response to actual attacks. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/6 "2011-12-15T18:20:34Z")
Forts were built in different ways depending on the perceived threat, and perhaps how busy the commander wished to keep his troops. Some were built with stockades, like Fort Union (in North Dakota). Some without, like the third Fort Union (in New Mexico). Occasionally you find a stone fort, like Fort Snelling, or a fort that started out with a stockade, but eventually lost it. I think Fort Laramie falls in that category. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/7 "2011-12-15T19:14:17Z")
[Fort Colville](http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/Timeline/detail.aspx?id=160) in Washington State. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/8 "2011-12-16T00:15:28Z")
[Fort Davis](http://www.nps.gov/foda/historyculture/historyofthesecondfortdavis.htm), out in West Texas, was named after Jefferson Davis when he was Secretary of War; it was used by the Camel Corps–an interesting experiment that ended when the Civil War distracted everybody. > [@](#): > > After the Civil War, travel continued on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and so did raiding by Comanches and Apaches, which resulted in the army re-establishing Fort Davis. In June 1867, Lieutenant Colonel Wesley Merritt arrived with four companies of the Ninth U. S. Cavalry, composed of black soldiers that later became known as Buffalo Soldiers, to rebuild the fort. Over 200 civilians were also hired to help construct the post. The fort was near Limpia Creek, a source of water, and in an area with stone and trees that could be used for building and heating, and where grass was plentiful for the animals. > > Like most other western frontier army forts, no walls surrounded Fort Davis. The presence of the soldiers was enough to discourage Indian attacks. Near what is now Goliad, there’s a walled reminder of [earlier days in Texas](http://www.presidiolabahia.org/early_history.htm): > [@](#): > > Presidio La Bahia, though an inland frontier fort, became the only fort responsible for the defense of the coastal area and eastern province of Texas after the abandonment of the Presidios at Los Adaes and Los Orcoquisac. Soldiers from Presidio La Bahia assisted the Spanish army in fighting the British along the Gulf Coast during the American Revolution. > > This action gives Precidio La Bahia and the community of La Bahia the distinction of being one of the only communities west of the Mississippi River to have participated in the American Revolution in 1776. The Presidio La Bahia is the oldest standing fort west of the Mississippi. Its original purpose was to guard the interests of the Spanish Crown against Native American and French attackers. Fortifications were [restored in the 1960’s](http://www.presidiolabahia.org/restoration.htm)–to commemorate the presidio’s role in the Texas Revolution… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/9 "2011-12-16T02:49:43Z")
[Fort Reno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Reno_(Wyoming)) and Fort [Phil Kearny](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Phil_Kearny) in Wyoming had classic palisaded log walls, and looked a lot like F Troop’s [Fort Courage.](http://wetheconservatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/F-troop.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cavalry-forts/606281/10 "2011-12-17T05:31:36Z")
See also Ft. Abraham Lincoln, near Mandan, S.D.: [![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h0SQqY8ocp4/SumzTYayZoI/AAAAAAAAM-A/pUD22BJ_i3U/s400/cavalry+49.jpg) ](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h0SQqY8ocp4/SumzTYayZoI/AAAAAAAAM-A/pUD22BJ_i3U/s400/cavalry+49.jpg) And Ft. Bridger, in southwest Wyoming: [![](http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/ftbridgervasquezcolor.jpg) ](http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/ftbridgervasquezcolor.jpg)