Fort Wall

Fort Wall. . This line of volcanic stones mark part of the extensive dry stacked stone wall that surrounded the fort on three sides. The wall was 570' long on the north side, 1,560' on the east and 600' on the south. No records survived that note how tall it stood, most walls of this type were 3' to 4' tall. Hollywood movies have created the popular image of a stockade fort with block houses. In reality no federal forts in Texas had a stockade or block houses. Fort Inge was one of the rare exceptions that even had a wall of any type. When first built, the fort was without a wall, no records survive that tell when the wall was built or who built it. It is not shown on maps before the Civil War, however ones made following the federals reoccupying the fort show the wall in place. Federal troops could have built it just before the war or the Confederates could have built it during the war. A wall 2,820' long, 2' thick and 4' tall would require a huge amount of labor to quarry, haul from the hill and lay it up. Soldiers, prisoners, runaway slaves captured by the confederates or hired labor could have built the wall., During the mid 1800's a dry stacked stone wall 4' tall cost about .10 a yard built by contract labor, therefore the wall could have been built for around $100. Combined with the firepower of a small mountain howitzer (a type of cannon recorded as being at the fort) on top of the hill, the wall would have provided the soldiers protection from attack. Although the fort was never attacked, Indians did ambush a convoy just south of the fort and twice crept into the corral and stole horses., After the forts abandonment in 1869, soldiers from Fort Clark removed all useable lumber, doors and windows for use at that fort. In 1874 local farmers formed an irrigation company and pulled down the stone wall and reused the stones in a dam located just downstream from the fort. A map made in 1928 by local historian Ike Moore recorded the ruins of the fort wall and buildings. In 1961 most of the fort site was acquired as a park and was unfortunately bulldozed to clear the brush. In 1981 an archeological survey located scattered fragments of the wall line, this section was re-laid in 1984.