3/13/1849: Fort Inge established on Texas frontier

[Craig Tx]

On this day in 1849, frontier artist and military officer Capt. Seth Eastman and his companies established Camp Leona on the Leona River in southern Uvalde County.

The outpost, which was soon renamed Fort Inge, was part of a federal line of forts in Texas. Army troops and Texas militia used the camp as a base while they provided protection for settlements and escorted supply trains and mail carriers. For most of its history Fort Inge operated as a one-company, fifty-man post. Notable officers through the years included captains John G. Walker and Edmund Kirby Smith, as well as William A. A. (Bigfoot) Wallace and his Texas Rangers. The presence of Fort Inge brought a greater sense of security to the Hill Country frontier, and by the late 1850s farmers had established the nearby community of Uvalde. Fort Inge was closed for federal service in 1869. Today Fort Inge County Park includes the site of the old outpost.