Cruising The Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle

Son Steve and DIL Helen were off to Ft Worth with grandson Cameron who had a doctor's appointment so granddaughter Morgan and I were having a girl's day out. We headed down to Ft Sam Houston where we picked up friend Mary Jane. Morgan got to see the Ft Sam FamCamp where Mary Jane is staying. Then we were off to find the Quadrangle. Ft Sam is very large with lots of nooks and crannies and it isn't easy to find someone who knows their way around the whole post. Most of the young troops only know their way around their own areas. We did a lot of driving and got to see a lot of the post including most of the old family quarters which are very nice and completely different from the new housing areas. I visited the Quadrangle with friends about 30 years ago but it was a challenge to find it.....but find it we did. First view was the equipment on display out front.

Then we headed into the Quadrangle itself.

The Quadrangle was built in 1876-77 as a supply depot. It has housed six Army headquarters beginning with the Department of Texas in 1881 followed by the Southern Department, the VIII Corps Area, the Third Army, the Fourth Army, and the Fifth Army which is now called Army North.

I borrowed this overhead of the Quadrangle to give a better birdseye view of what we are talking about.

We entered the Quadrangle through the Sally Port. I couldn't find an explanation of the named but this arched gateway was the main entrance to the Quartermaster Depot. If you look at the photo above, you can see the Sally Port on the lower center of the picture. General Pershing had an office here in 1917 and General Eisenhower worked in the office just east of the stairwell in 1941.

I remembered peacocks and deer in the Quadrangle when I visited 30 years ago and was hoping to be able to show Morgan something like the picture below.

We did find the peacocks but this is the view they presented. They are very used to people walking around.

I am not sure if these were white peacocks or not.

This borrowed picture shows a good view of the overall grounds with the deer.

 

I thought this bird was real until we got real close. There were also koy in the pond.

Somebody was busy nesting here.

Another view of the Tower. It is 90 feet tall. It was built to house a water tank that was originally with water pumped from the Acequia Madre on the west end of the post. When the post was connected to city water lines, the water tank was removed. A clock was installed in 1882 and the clock faces were mortared into the tower in 1907. Geronimo and his band were housed in Army tents wet up between the Tower and the shops along the back wall.

No one knows why there are animals in the Quadrangle but they first appeared in photos from the 1880's.

Yes, the deer are still there too. They probably arrived at the end of 1886 after Geronimo and his band left.

One other site I wanted to point out was the Gift Chapel which is located a few blocks away from the Quadrangle. It was built with funds donated by members o the garrison and citizens of San Antonio and was dedicated by President William Howard Taft in 1909.

 

Next up was a tour of the Fort Sam Museum in the Quadrangle. It was extensive so gets it's own post.