Post Trader

Post Trader. (Sutler's Store). The equivalent of the modern army post exchange, the post trader offered for sale items not supplied by the army – toilet articles, sewing supplies, tobacco, medicinal cure-alls, fresh vegetables, canned fruits, and a wide variety of knick-knacks. The fort's women shopped here for all domestic supplies. , At each post, the trader enjoyed a monopoly. Before and during the Civil War, most military sutlers were regarded as swindlers. However, military reform in 1867 brought in more responsible and respected shopkeepers. Fort Bowie's trader, Sidney DeLong, typified that new breed: a true gentleman; the fort's ranking civilian; and a territorial leader. , In DeLong's two south rooms, officers met to play billiards and cards, to drink and talk. His bar on the north side provided enlisted men with beer and a brief respite from the day's military regimen.