Turn of the Century - Fort Huachuca - U.S. Army

There was an aggregate of 3,506 officers and men in the Arizona department, assigned to 54troops and companies, spread out over 14 posts. These were Forts Apache, Bowie, Grant,Huachuca, Lowell, Thomas, Whipple Barracks, and San Carlos in Arizona; Forts Bayard, Marcy,Stanton, Union, and Wingate in New Mexico; and San Diego Barracks, California.Forts Thomas, McDowell, Mohave, Selden, and Verde were abandoned by the Army inArizona and New Mexico during the year and either turned over to the Department of the Interiorfor use by Indians or returned to the public domain. The closures were made for reasons ofeconomy. In March 1890 the military post of Fort Selden was turned over to the Department ofthe Interior and converted into an Indian industrial school.On 24 May Troop I, Sixth Cavalry, moved out of Fort Wingate, NM, trading places withTroop E of the same regiment which had been at Fort Lewis, Colorado. During the month ofJune the Second Cavalry Regiment in the Department of California changed places with theFourth Cavalry in Arizona. The 2d Cavalry’s Headquarters Troop, Band, and Troops D, H, L,and M took station at Fort Lowell. Troops B, C, G, and I went to Fort Huachuca. Troop E wasstationed at San Carlos. Troops L and M were inactivated pursuant to War Department orders,with Troop L later being formed as an Indian scout troop.Pursuant to an authorization from the Secretary of the Army, the Arizona Department commanderenlisted an additional 30 Indian scouts to serve along the Mexican border.Lt. Col. D. S. Gordon commanded Fort Huachuca in 1890 which housed four troops of his 2dCavalry and two companies of the 9th Infantry, for a total of 14 officers and 332 enlisted men.The quartermaster budget for repair and construction of buildings at Huachuca totaled $4,242.26.Large-scale field maneuvers were planned which envisioned concentrating sixteen troops ofcavalry and twelve companies of infantry at Tanner’s Canyon [Garden Canyon] near Fort Huachuca.The plans were canceled by Washington for economic reasons.At Huachuca 21 enlisted men were undergoing instruction in military signaling. During Julythey practiced sending messages with the heliograph between Fort Huachuca and stations atBisbee and Mescal Springs. Each man received 54 hours of training, including preliminaryinstruction, and practice with flag and heliograph signaling.A Signal Corps Second Lieutenant, William A. Glassford, writing in 1890 a scientificreport on rainfall and irrigation in Arizona, observed:In an interesting report on the post gardens at Camp Huachuca, Major Julius H.Patzki, U.S. Army, surgeon of the post, notes that with the single exception of potatoes a goodsupply of vegetables is grown under a very moderate degree of irrigation in the four monthsApril to July. These gardens are in Tanner’s Canyon [Garden Canyon], 7 miles east of thepost. This exception of potatoes deserves a particular mention to stimulate further inquiry orto lead to the institution of further experiment, because the head of this canyon has been widelyheralded as the first and almost only spot on the American continent where have been foundspecimens of this plant growing in a free and wild state, although it is known to be indigenousto this hemisphere. This interesting discovery which has been known to botanists for yearswas made in 1882 by J. G. Lemmon, a vendor of herbarium supplies [and American botanistfor whom Mount Lemmon is named.].The men, 1 who would spend their time drilling and keeping up the post were without a fixedaddress. They would spend sometime less than a year at a given post before moving on toanother. It was the result of a War Department policy that recognized that it was unfair to haveany one outfit for too long at any given hell-hole. Accordingly, a regiment would relocate its8 HUACHUCA ILLUSTRATED