As we left Jefferson, our first stop was a three-month follow-up visit with Harold’s hip revision surgeon. We were given a “bill of health” and encouraged to continue our six-week trek to Utah and back.

Our destination for this portion of the trip is Ruidoso and Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Due to a missed turn leaving Dallas, our route took us mostly along US Highway 380. We appreciated our routing mistake for several reasons. Firstly, we discovered this route was much more enjoyable than the normal trek through desolate West Texas. Secondly, Meriam discovered Fort Belknap along the way.

 

Fort Belknap, TX

Fort Belknap is located in West Texas, near Newcastle. It was established in November 1851 by brevet Brigadier William G. Belknap to protect the Texas frontier against raids by the Kiowa and Comanche. It was the northernmost fort in a line from the Rio Grande to the Red River. The fort functioned as a base of operations rather than as a fortified point, and it became the center of a substantial network of roads, including the Butterfield Overland Mail. The fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, in recognition of its key role in securing the Texas frontier in the 1850s and 1860s.

Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the post was abandoned, partly as a pullback of federal troops to the north, and partly due to the fort’s unreliable water supply. During this period, Northern Indians fell upon the hapless Texas frontier with such violence that a whole tier of frontier counties was disbanded. Families remaining in Young County would often huddled in the abandoned buildings of Fort Belknap for protection and used the abandoned buildings as shelter during snow storms. The fort was briefly reoccupied in 1867, then abandoned for the last time.

Fort Belknap is the only fort in Texas which is owned by a county. Young County now maintains the Fort as a historic site and county recreation area.

We were fortunate to meet-up with the fort manager. He, his wife and five children live on-site. He is responsible for all the maintenance and is the curator of its museum. During the Fort’s many special occasions, as a person-in-character, he portrays a Texas Ranger as well as a Union Officer. He holds a Master’s Degree in History. Interesting, he is well versed in Jefferson history as his thesis focused on Antebellum Texas.

 

Hondo Iris Farm

No surprise (for those of you who know Meriam), our first designated stop along the way was Hondo Iris Farm, located near Roswell, NM. While not overwhelming in size, the farm has quite a large collection of Irises, many integrated into their overall lovely designed garden…and yes, Meriam now has a pot of irises coming home to Texas (and of course this WOULD have to be at the beginning of the trip).

 

 

 

The entrance to Fort Belknap

 

 

A portion of the beautiful grounds and many of its old oak trees. If you look closely, just to the left of the center tree, you will see an RV hookup. We discovered the County offers free electrical hookups (so we accepted their offer and stayed the night).

 

The fort’s original well, located just in front of the commissary.

 

One of several barracks.

 

As we strolled around the grounds of the fort, we came upon this incredible find…a massive arbor of grapevines. The arbor was built in 1940, but the larger vines (like MB is investigating) appear to be much older, perhaps dating to the time the fort was occupied.

 

A view of the overall size of the arbor. We stepped off its size…60×120 feet! The building to the right is the old armory.

 

 

An Old Catholic church (at least pre-1914 according to the manager of Hondo Farm) next door to the farm.

 

You probably do not realize this photograph represents “life and death”. But let me assure you it does. The plant is an heirloom lily given to Meriam at one of our various stops. The green thermos is Harold’s water bottle. It seems Harold left his thermos standing where it is as we traveled over 100 miles. It remained standing there the whole time. Death would have occurred if the bottle had fallen and broken MB’s plant (guess who’s death). Fortunately it remained standing where HB forgot it. Hence life remains…and the lily continues it six weeks journey.