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| Fort Concho Parade Grounds |
Fort Concho, located in what is now the middle of San
Angelo, Texas, was built in 1867 to protect settlers when the area was still
subject to Indian attacks. The fort was actively used until it was
decommissioned on June 20, 1889.
The original plans called for the construction of 40 buildings situated on 40
acres with a large, open parade ground in the middle. When the first soldiers
began trying to construct the buildings with pecan wood as planned, they found
the wood to be too hard and difficult to work with so they switched to using
adobe bricks. However, none of the soldiers had any experience with making
adobe bricks so they were mighty disappointed when almost 2 months of
hard work making bricks and starting to construct buildings with them proved to
be wasted when the bricks literally melted in a heavy rain storm. It was
finally decided to use sandstone from several nearby quarries and to import
stone masons from the town of Fredericksburg.
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| Original ruins along Officer's Row |
Once the Indians had been effectively removed from the area,
the fort was decommissioned and abandoned and the buildings fell into
disrepair. During this time the first reports of unexplained activity began to
be heard - mysterious lights floating in and around the buildings even though
nobody was there; the sound of horse's marching in the night, vague men's
voices shouting commands. Before long, nobody would go near the ruins after the
sun set.
In 1935, the city was able to purchase the old fort and
began to save the 23 buildings deemed to be salvageable and started
reconstruction of the other 17 from old photos and the layout of the ruins. And something strange began to happen. The
workers told of tools left overnight that disappeared with no trace only to
mysteriously reappear several days later in the same exact spot where they had
been left. In 1961, Fort Concho was declared a National Historic
Landmark. Once the buildings were opened to the public, people began
reporting ghostly activities mainly in 3 of the buildings; the fort's
headquarters, the officers' living quarters, and the fort chapel.
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The current site of the visitor center and
museum is the area where the ghost of
Sergeant Cunningham is often seen. |
Although the soldiers posted at Fort Concho were active
participants in several battles against Indians and Comanchero's (Mexican
and American traders conducting illegal profiteering, kidnapping and looting),
the battles all took place in the surrounding area and the fort was never
itself attacked. Due to this, there was only one casualty recorded in the fort.
Second Sergeant James Cunningham, a hard-core alcoholic, did not die in
battle, but rather from cirrhosis of the liver. Despite his nightly
drinking, he had managed to report for duty each morning and was by all
reports, a good soldier who was well liked by his fellow soldiers.
Unfortunately, the alcohol finally caught up to him and upon being
informed by the post doctor that he had only a few months to live, he was
removed from active duty. A few weeks later, Sergeant Cunningham returned to
the fort and requested he be allowed to spend his last days at the headquarters
so he could be with his colleagues and friends, the only family he had. His
request was granted. Six weeks later, he died in his sleep. A uniformed soldier
has been seen walking near and even inside the old fort headquarters which has
been converted into a museum. In nearly all cases, the apparition appears for
only a few seconds, but the smell of whiskey will linger. Witnesses who see the
ghost consistently pick out an old photograph of Sergeant Cunningham,
apparently still hanging around the last earthly home he knew.
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| Reconstructed Officer's Row |
Benjamin Grierson, the regimental commander of the 10th
Calvary, lived on Officer’s Row with his wife and young daughter, Edith.
Shortly before Edith's 12 birthday, she became very ill and died in the
upstairs bedroom. Since the building was restored, many people have told of
seeing a young girl sitting on the floor of an upstairs bedroom quietly playing
jacks. The game was known to be Edith's favorite and her grieving parents
placed a cloth sack containing a small ball and jacks in her coffin before her
burial. The bedroom where she is seen was the exact room in which the little
girl breathed her last. The apparition usually appears to be oblivious to
anyone who sees her, but occasionally she will look up and smile
before slowly vanishing. Visitors often state that room is colder than any other even when no ghostly visitor is seen.
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Colonel Ranald MacKenzie
(historical photo) |
Colonel Ranald MacKenzie was the commanding officer of the
fort when it was decommissioned. In
letters and records, Colonel MacKenzie often stated Fort Concho was one of his
favorite duty stations. In fact, Colonel MacKenzie retired as the fort was
decommissioned and he elected to remain, living in his home on Officers' Row
until he died several years later. One December several years ago, a female
staff member was working in the Mackenzie house preparing for a Christmas
event. She said she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see who was there,
but just as she turned, she was pushed up against the wall by a strong hand and
felt a blast of cold air. Seeing nobody in the room with her, the frightened
woman stood there for several seconds trying to make sense of what had just
happened when she heard the sound of knuckles cracking. Before she could bolt
from the room, a misty, almost transparent figure of a man in soldier's uniform
materialized in front of her. It seemed to somehow be floating just above the
floor and as the woman looked down, she noted the apparition seemed to be
invisible below the knees. As abruptly as it appeared, the misty man
disappeared. Colonel Mackenzie had been known for the habit of cracking his
knuckles. There was no doubt the lady staffer had come face to face with the
fort's last, and perhaps forever, commander.
The 3rd building where unexplained things happen is the
chapel. The chaplain, George Dunbar, was said to be a very devout Christian, a
loving, devoted husband, and a dedicated father to his 6 children, all of whom
lived with him at the fort. He was known to get so involved in his sermons that
his voice could be heard across the fort on Sunday mornings shouting that
week's message of God. After several years at Fort Concho, the chaplain was
transferred to Fort Sill. It was unsafe for his wife and children to accompany
him however as Fort Sill was often being attacked by Indians. His family was
allowed to stay at Fort Concho until it was safe for them to travel to Fort
Sill. On the morning he left, George promised them he would return. Several
months had passed when a messenger arrived one day with sad news from Fort Sill.
While under attack by a large group of Comanche’s, one of the soldiers inside
the fort had been mortally wounded. As he lay dying, Chaplain Dunbar ran to his
side and began praying over him. While comforting the dying soldier, the
chaplain was himself killed. He was eventually brought back to Fort Concho
where his wife claimed the body and a proper burial was conducted. Today,
visitors and staff report hearing a loud and powerful male voice delivering a
sermon. There have also been sightings of a soldier in
uniform kneeling in prayer inside of the chapel. Occasionally,
a female voice is heard accompanying the male voice, speaking quietly, perhaps
in prayer. The staff likes to think this is the good chaplain's wife, the two
of them spending eternity together.
On the day I visited Fort Concho, there were only a couple of people walking around the grounds. I made my way to the gift shop and since I was the only visitor, I struck up a conversation with the male staff member working there. After discussing the history of the fort for a while, I brought up the rumors it was haunted. At first reluctant to talk about it, he finally told me they were not supposed to discuss it as it often made people uncomfortable. He did tell me he hated to be the only one at the fort after dark and that many of the staff members simply refused to stay after the sun went down. I said, "So the ghost stories are true then?" He replied, "I wouldn't say this place is haunted, but I will say that I and a lot of the other staff have at one time or another personally experienced something not easily explained. It's just really spooky around here in the dark."
Floating balls of lights, the sounds of horses being rode as
if in a parade, men's voices in the middle of an empty parade ground, and even
an occasional unexplained loud boom as if a ceremonial cannon has been
fired are still heard today. There were no large battles with horrible loss of
life at the fort, no unsolved ghastly murders, no desecrated burial grounds, so
It is unknown why Fort Concho seems to be haunted. Perhaps not all ghosts are
tortured souls unable to cross over. Perhaps Fort Concho simply was the place
of good memories for the dearly departed and it is where they are content to
spend eternity. Only they know for sure.
