Near Brackettville in Kinney County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Site of Original Post Cemetery

Photographed By William F Haenn, May 4, 2012

1. Site of Original Post Cemetery Marker

Inscription. This ground was Fort Clark’s military cemetery from 1856 to the 1880s. One of the first burials was 2nd Lt. Brayton C. Ives, 1st Inf., a West Point graduate who died here on June 27, 1857. Succeeding burials included dozens of military personnel, dependents, and civilians. Pvt Peter Corrigan, 4th U. S. Cav., the only casualty of Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie’s raid to Remolino, Mexico, was laid to rest here in May 1873. In 1880, a second cemetery opened south of the main post and this site became inactive. All burials here were reinterred at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in 1946. A historic limestone wall encloses the space. Some original headstones have been preserved.

Erected 2011 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 16860.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1873.

Location. 29° 18.03′ N, 100° 25.167′ W. Marker is near Brackettville, Texas, in Kinney County. Marker is on Travis Road, on the left when traveling east. The marker is located on Fort Clark Springs and is accessible to the public. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Brackettville TX 78832, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. John Horse (within shouting distance of this marker); 1873 Infantry Barracks

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(approx. 0.3 miles away); Palisado Building Kitchen / Mess Room (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fort Clark Guardhouse (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fort Clark Post Theater (approx. 0.3 miles away); Commanding Officer's Quarters (approx. 0.3 miles away); New Cavalry Barracks (approx. 0.4 miles away); Juan A. Avila 1921-2008 (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Brackettville.

More about this marker. The site is now in adaptive reuse as the Mascot Dog Park.

Regarding Site of Original Post Cemetery. The remains of Fort Clark’s original post cemetery lie to the south and east of the fort’s National Register Historic District. At the site is a 110’ x 258’ limestone walled enclosure which was once the resting place for over ninety souls, soldiers, civilians, and unknowns from the fort’s earliest period of service, 1856 until the early 1880s. The site is compellingly linked to Fort Clark’s significant contribution to United States Army heritage.

Fort Clark quietly and unceremoniously slipped into history and out of active

Site of Original Post Cemetery Marker and dog park visitor image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William F Haenn, May 4, 2012

2. Site of Original Post Cemetery Marker and dog park visitor

service on August 28, 1944. The Corps of Engineers served as caretakers until the venerable post was declared surplus and sold for salvage to the Texas Railway Equipment Company in October of 1946. The Quitclaim Deed from the United States of America to the Texas Railway Equipment Company, 29 October 1946, filed for record in Volume 34, Page 264 of the deed records of Kinney County, Texas, establishes responsibility for the removal of the remains from both post cemeteries, “the bodies interred in the two cemeteries shall have been removed by said Grantor (USA) provided that no additional internments shall be made in said cemeteries from and after July 17, 1946.”

The task of removing all remains from both post cemeteries was accomplished with military precision by a graves registration unit and local laborers. Using cemetery records, as each body was recovered, an identity was established. Existing headstones were pushed into the now empty graves. Several recovered headstones from the original post cemetery are now located on the fort grounds at the Empty Saddle statue and at the Old Guardhouse Museum.

Final accounting for the remains from Fort Clark’s post cemeteries can be verified from the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery – VA Form 40-4972 National Cemetery Data, dated 30 September 1977, Facts of Special Historical Significance: Remains from

Fort Clark's Original Post Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William F Haenn, May 15, 2012

3. Fort Clark's Original Post Cemetery

Now being adaptively reused as the Mascot Dog Park.

abandoned post cemeteries in Texas; i.e. Ft. Clark (345), Fort Clark unknowns reinterred September 24, 1946, Section PE: Site 23, 43 Army; Site 24, 42 Civilians; and Site 237, 1 Child.

The sturdy walls of the now empty original post cemetery stand in silent testament to the principle which defines Fort Clark’s durability, “… build it to last!”

Walled enclosure of Fort Clark's original post cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William F Haenn, January 17, 2010

4. Walled enclosure of Fort Clark's original post cemetery

Historic view of Fort Clark's original post cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By U.S. Army Signal Corps, August 6, 1944

5. Historic view of Fort Clark's original post cemetery

Credits. This page was last revised on August 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 4, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. This page has been viewed 1,073 times since then and 34 times this year. Last updated on May 17, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. Photos: 1. submitted on May 4, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. 2. submitted on May 17, 2023, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. 3. submitted on May 15, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. 4, 5. submitted on May 4, 2012, by William F Haenn of Fort Clark (Brackettville), Texas. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.