Quartermaster Granary

Quartermaster Granary. . While the actual construction date of this building is unclear, it was being used by the quartermaster for the storage of grain in 1902. The 30'x80' wood frame structure with a full-length, limestone basement is unlike the other buildings erected in the 1870's. By 1900, many of the older buildings were being reroofed with sheet metal instead of the original wood shingles. The granary was apparently roofed for the first time with sheet metal. , In the 1870's, a civilian employee was frequently hired by the quartermaster to be "in charge of the public forage" for a monthly salary of $67. His duties included arranging for the purchase, transportation, and distribution of corn, oats, hay, and other sustenance to feed the livestock. Hay and firewood were stored within a large fenced area west of the stone corral below the hill. , After the Apache prisoners of war arrived on post in 1894, many of these former warriors were actively engaged in farming and ranching. These hardworking individuals produced enough Kafir corn and hay to meet their own requirements and provide large surpluses to the army at the same time. This continued until their formal release in 1913. , Beginning in the early 1920's, the demands of a mechanized army, rather than one dependent on horses, brought more changes to the post. The old granary was converted to an ordnance shop office, a function which continued until after World War II. , Captions , Upper Left: Floorplans for Quartermaster Granary , Lower Right: Apache P.O.W.s baling hay on Fort Sill in 1904.