Just a few miles north of Abilene are the picturesque ruins of Fort
Phantom Hill, a frontier fort that shouldn't have been there in the first
place.

In the 1840s and 1850s, the U.S. Military ordered several military
forts constructed to guard settlers from Comanche raids - and to
establish the lands for the U.S. General William G. Belknap had
decided to place a fort southwest of Fort Belknap along the Brazos
river, but General Persifor F. Smith, unfamiliar with the area, ordered
the fort to be built on a hill on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River
instead.

That was a bad idea: this area was sparsely timbered, and for miles
there was no source of potable water. The fort had to be
constructed of stone quarried a good two miles away, and the wood
used for most buildings had to be brought in by oxen. (Ironically, a
reservoir now lies just a few minutes away, and timber planted by
later farmers seems quite abundant. Very strange what a few years'
worth of human interference can do to a landscape!)

In its short life, the fort - which was plainly called Fort on the Clear
Fork of the Brazos River and not by its colorful name until years later
- saw little action. Several tribes friendly to the Texans came to
trade and visit. The soldiers had to fight boredom and the elements,
but not men.

The fort was abandoned in 1854. Though the wooden buildings
mysteriously burned soon after, what remained found a second life
as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage Coach route. During the
Civil War the outpost acted as a sort of way station for Texas
Rangers, and  both General William Tecumseh Sherman and Colonel
Ranald S. Mackenzie spent time there during the Red River War
campaigns.

Fort Phantom Hill centered a small town of the same name in the
1880s, where the main source of income derived from buffalo
slaughter. When the supply of animals diminished and the railroad
bypassed the town in favor of Abilene, the town and the fort faded
from maps.

Today, the fort sits on private land. A local historical society has
made the fort accessible, with informational brochures available to
guide the visitor along foot paths.
Fort Phantom Hill -
Where the Ghosts Come
Out to Play
The fort's former
buildings are marked by
chimneys left over from
the 1854 fire.
The Fort Phantom Hill Historical Society has done a great
job keeping up the fort. This old schooner sits on the
grounds as if waiting for a pioneer to hitch it up for a long
journey.
The fort's magazine sits across the highway from the rest of the buildings. With its
stores of live ammo, it was probably a good idea to set it away from most of the fort
back in the 1850s.
How to get there from wherever you
are:

From Abilene (located on Interstate
20 between Fort Worth and El Paso -
you can't miss it!), take FM 600 north
for about 11 miles. The fort will be on
your left.