Today, with my son Tieg and 2 of his children, went to the Ft. Sam Houston Quandrangle. As some of you know, or even may not no, Ft. Sam Houston, right here in San Antonio is one of, if not the oldest active military installations in the United States.
The Quandrangle built in 1876-77 originally as a supply depot. In 1917, General Pershing was stationed here as well as General Eisenhower. Also as a little history of your movie buffs, two scenes from the movie WINGS were filmed in the Quadrangle. WINGS was the first film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The tower pictured above was built in the center of the courtyard, is 90 feet tall and was originally used as a watch tower and as a water tank. The sentries were posted at the 60 level and a clock was installed in 1882 with the faces of the clock changed in 1907.
The Quandrangle, not only was used as a Headquarters, but was the main part of the post. Inside were the workshops for blacksmith and wheelwrights, stable for the horses and mules. A Signal Corps shop was added on the north wall along with a telegraph office and supply office in the courtyard.,
Aside from great American heroes being stationed here, the Quandrangle had one more guest in 1886. And, that was the great Apache war chief Geronimo (Goy-ah-kla. One Who Yawns). This I didn't know until today, that is his real name and what it meant.
On Sept 1, 1886, after a grueling battle across New Mexico and Arizona, Geronimo surrendered to Gen Mills and was ordered to be sent to Florida as a PoW. He and 32 other Apaches boarded a train on Sept 8 and headed East, arriving at the Quandrangle on Sept 10.
To make a long story short, Geronimo departed San Antonio on Oct 22, 1886 for Florida. Germino was sent to Ft. Pickens, Florida and the rest of the prisoners , women and children were sent to Ft. Marion, Florida.
After two years at Ft Pickens, Geronimo and his group were transferred to Mt Vernon Barracks, Alabama. In 1894 they were transferred to Ft. Sill OK with Geronimo dying in 1909.
There was considerable public interest in Geronimo when he was in San Antonio. Some soldiers took him up in the tower to show him the surrounding countryside. The bell in the clock struck the hour and, so the story goes, frightened Geronimo such that he jumped out of the tower. A part of the story is true in as such the he did ascend up the tower, but he was afraid the soldier were going to throw him off the tower so he did not go out onto the balcony. Could he have survived a fall from 60 feet and die of natural causes in 1909? Highly unlikely.
Presently, in the Quandrangle are offices, it is a tourist destination and located in the courtyard are deer, peacocks, duck, geese and chickens.
The white birds you see here are white peacocks. I have never seen white peacocks before.
No comments:
Post a Comment