Fort Phantom Hill: Ten miles north of present day
Abilene
This fort was established on Nov. 14, 1851 as a unit in a chain of
forts from the Red River to the Rio Grande, to defend frontier settlers
and West-bound 49'ers. Officially called the "Post on Clear Fork
of the Brazos", its everyday name became "Phantom Hill",
either from prevalent mirages or sighting of ghostly Indian in moonlight
 .
Phantom Hill like most forts in northwest Texas was exceptional only
in hardships shortages and supplies. Fortunately for Phantom Hill's
short span, only one major Indian occurrence was recorded. A buffalo
hunt brought twenty-five hundred Comanches near, they scornfully observed
the construction of the fort. A message was sent to Major Sibley, promising
when the grass became good again they would be coming back down to whip
him.
From the book, Along Texas Old Forts Trail, by Rupert N. Richardson,
B.W. Aston, Ira Donathan Taylor:
On approaching the post from the north you will see the remaining
chimneys standing like sentinels on what looks like a formidable hill
overlooking the Clear Fork of the Brazos. As one nears, the hill it
disappears and becomes a gentle slope, barely perceptible when one
arrives; thus one of the stories of how the post got its name. A second
account has to do with a nervous sentry firing on what he thought
was an Indian on the hill. A following investigation failed to discover
the presence of any Indians, and one of the troopers suggested that
the man had seen a ghost. Whatever the case, Maj. Gen. Persifor F.
Smith, commanding the Fifth Military Department (Texas), in General
Orders Number 91 ordered a post established "at, or in the immediate
vicinity of, a point known as Phantom Hill" on the Clear Fork
of the Brazos. (Richardson 1963, 68).
Maj. J.J. Abercrombie was given the task and arrived on the scene
on November 14, 1851. His introduction to the region was not kind, as
exposure to a wet norther cost him one teamster and twenty horses, mules,
and oxen-all frozen to death. Not only was the environment hostile,
but Major Abercrombie soon discovered that the site had been chosen
from an earlier survey on the assumption that the needs for the construction
and maintenance of a post-wood and water-were available. He immediately
reported to his superiors that neither wood for construction nor water
suitable for men or animals was to be had. Unfortunately, General Smith
had left the field to escort an ill General Belknap to Fort Washita,
and could not be contacted for several weeks. There was no one who could
change the orders. Abercrombie had to make the best of a bad situation,
and construction of Fort Phantom Hill began.
The hardships of surviving that first winter are well described by
Lt. Clinton W. Lear in a series of letters to his wife in New Orleans.
Somewhat of a romantic, Lieutenant Lear was taken by the beauty of the
area with its abundant fish, deer, wild turkeys, and bear. He felt it
unfortunate that such a beautiful place had so little to offer a military
post. He said that he spent most of his time searching for timber-the
best stand for construction purposes was six miles away. The winter
of 1851-1852 was spent in tents, pitched in a grove of black jacks.
The most immediate problem-water-was solved when a spring was found
nearby, but it disappeared during the dry summer. A well of good water
was dug some four miles from the site. (Richardson 1963, 89-91).
With the coming of summer a permanent post was begun, when a good stone
quarry was located on the east bank of Elm Creek about two miles distant,
and with the arrival of a stone mason. A stone storehouse, creditable
stone quarters for the commanding officer, a hospital of rude logs,
and a half dozen or more quarters for officers built principally of
logs (jacal huts of upright poles interlaced with bough and daubed with
mud) were built.
Fort Phantom Hill was garrisoned by Companies B, C, E, F, and K of
the Fifth Infantry. The plans called for one hundred horses to mount
one company of infantry for scouting. The military failed to understand
at the time that putting an infantryman on a horse did not make a cavalry.
That problem, however, was not Abercrombie's as he was transferred out
on April 27, 1852, and was replaced by Ltc. Carlos A. Waite. On September
23, 1853, four companies were transferred out to be replaced by Company
I of the Second Dragoons, bringing post strength to 139 men. Maj. H.H. Sibley took command of the post then, but only stayed until March
of 1854, when he was replaced by Lt. N.C. Givens. Lieutenant Givens'
command was short-lived, as the troops finally shook the dust of Fort
Phantom Hill from their shoes when they marched out on April 6, 1854.
(Richardson 163, 92-95).
Photo of the restored guardhouse taken by Charles M. Robinson, III from the book, Frontier Forts of Texas.
Life at Fort Phantom Hill had been arduous for the men. The lack of
a post garden, which created a shortage of vegetables in the men's diet,
led to scurvy, intermittent fever, dysentery, colds, and pneumonia.
Nor were necessities provided by settlers in the area, as happened at
most posts, because there were no settlers, and no town had grown up
around the fort. The only break in the monotony of fort life was excursions
into the field, which meant extended marches across arid land with inadequate
supplies of food and water.
Shortages prevailed in all areas of the life of Fort Phantom Hill,
from uniforms to arms. Fortunately the men were not engaged in hostile
action, although it was reported that Indians did visit the post where
they made a general nuisance of themselves. The post did receive a major
scare when Buffalo Hump's tribe of 2,500 passed by the fort. The men
were placed in battle array as son as the Northern Comanche tribe was
spotted. Whether the Indians would have attacked the post is speculative,
for once they saw the preparations, they passed it by with scowls and
angry looks. One arrogant Northern Comanche did send Major Sibley a
message that "when the grass became good again he was coming down
and whip him." (Richardson 1963). The Indian never came.
One final story of interest regarding Fort Phantom Hill deals with
who burned the post. There are three versions of its destruction. One
says that is was burned by trooper Scullion and a slave who slipped
back the first night after abandonment because of their distaste for
the post. A second has the Indians destroying the post, while a third
says that it was destroyed by Confederate troops. All that is known
for sure is that by November 9, 1854 when Charles A. Crosby camped there
it had been burned. (Rister 1938, 9. Richardson 1963, 95).
The withdrawal of the military did not mean the end of occupants of
Fort Phantom hill. In 1858 a Mr. Burlington and his wife operated a
stage station for the Butterfield line until it was abandoned during
the Civil War. After the war Fort Phantom Hill became a subpost of Fort
Griffin. Accordingly, on June 5, 1871, Capt. Theodore Schwan and Company
G of the Eleventh Infantry were sent to Fort Phantom to protect the
traffic through the area, and to provide a detail of one noncommissioned
officer and six men to guard the mail station at Mountain Pass, the
first stop south of Phantom Hill. In 1874, a detachment from the fort
was engaged by a force of seventy-five Comanches and Kiowas. Following
a brief battle of one and a half hours the Indians broke off hostilities,
with six killed and several wounded. (Rister 1938, 11-12).
As hostiles moved further west and thousands of immigrants began to
settle in West Texas the troopers left Phantom, but in their place grew
a thriving frontier town of Phantom Hill, complete with hotel, saloons,
gambling halls, and various shops. When Jones County was created it
was hoped that Phantom would become the county seat, but it lost out
to Anson. It was not long before Phantom was once again abandoned. (Rister
1938).
Today the remains of the fort are located on private land. The owner,
Jerry Eckhart, is doing his best to restore some parts of the post and
to make it a pleasant stop for travelers. It is interesting to note
that Fort Phantom Hill was originally built on land that had been sold
on August 3, 1851, to A.C. Daws for fifty dollars and the only reason
that it did not create a problem was its isolation. The old powder magazine
to the west of the road still stands, as well as the post guard house.
A part of the stone commissary can still be seen on the east side of
the fort, and of course the chimneys still stand like sentries on the
prairie. A poem written by ranch poet Larry Chitenden fully catches
the spirit of Phantom in the first stanza which reads:
On the breezy Texas border, on the prairies far away
Where the antelope is grazing and the Spanish ponies play;
Where the tawny cattle wander through the golden incensed hours,
And the sunlight woos a landscape clothed in royal robes of flowers;
Where the Elm and Clear Fork mingle, as they journey to the sea,
And the night-wind sobs sad stories o'er a wild and lonely lea;
Where of old the dusky savage and the shaggy bison trod,
And the reverent plains are sleeping 'midst drowsy dreams of God;
Where the twilight loves to linger, e'er night's sable robes are cast
'Round grim-ruined, spectral chimneys, telling stories of the past,
There upon an airy mesa, close beside a whispering rill
There to-day you'll find the ruins of Old Fort Phantom Hill.
(Rister 1938, 18)
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