Historic Scene Management Plan: Fort Davis National Historic Site

Soulliere, Laura

Fort Davis National Historic Site consists of 460 acres of land at the east edge of the Davis Mountains in Southwest Texas. The park is bounded on the north by Limpia Creek and Highway 118 and to the east by Highway 17. To the south is the town of Fort Davis, and to the west is Davis Mountains State Park. Hospital Canyon cuts through more than half of the east-west axis of the park. That box canyon is formed by Sleeping Lion Mountain to the south and North Ridge to the north. The site of the first fort extends from the rear of the present Officers’ Row back into the canyon. The second fort extends from the mouth of the canyon to Highway 17 on the east boundary and the highway 18 on the north. The appearance of the natural landscape at Fort Davis has changed considerably in the past hundred years. The Fort was occupied from 1854-1861, and then from 1867-1891. After its abandonment for military use, changes and impacts on the vegetation included continued livestock grazing--a practice that had been underway since its fort days--and subsequent introduction of exotic plant species. Since the National Park Service took over the area in 1961, the only management actions taken to reclaim the historic vegetation scene have been to remove mesquite from limited portions of the site and to mow certain areas periodically. The result is a distorted impression of the historic appearance at Fort Davis. To approach some semblance of the historic scene through vegetative management is a preservation measure: it eliminates non-historic intrusions and perpetuates the natural landscape qualities that contribute to the significance of the historic resources. Preservation of the historic resources, and the perpetuation of the natural historic landscape are set forth in the park’s legislation and statement for management, respectively. With those management thrusts in mind, a two-step process was undertaken for this report. The first step was to determine the existing landscape condition of the fort during the 1880’s, the period of fullest development and the period best documented by photographs, maps and specific botanical observations. That information was compared with the fort at the time of this report and all changes were noted. The second step was to devise an action plan to bring the landscape up to a maintenance standard looking as similar to the 1880s landscape as practicable, within the limits of proper cultural and natural resource management. This study is that action plan.

Historic Scene Management Plan: Fort Davis National Historic Site

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