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As early as 1843 representatives of William Bent established a trading post in the area and operated out of Tipis . In 1845 an Adobe structure was built and named Fort Adobe. Hostile Natives forced the fort to close by 1848. That same year a peace treaty was signed and Indian hostilities ended for a time. The peace gave Bent the opportunity to make several attempts to re-open the post. One of the earliest groups sent included Kit Carson . None of these attempts had any long lasting success. In 1849 Bent personally went to revive the post. Indian hostilities forced Bent to abandon the panhandle for good. Before he left he blew up the fort leaving the ruins behind. These ruins became a significant landmark to the Natives and Whites alike. While the American Civil War raged to the east, Indian hostilities on the Plains began to grow. In November, 1864 Kit Carson, now a Colonel, was sent out with over 300 men to deal with hostile Natives in the panhandle. Carson sacked a nearby Kiowa village then used the ruins as a shelter for his men. The next day Carson's force withstood several assualts from a significantly larger Indian force in what would become the First Battle Of Adobe Walls . After the closure of the Civil War merchants returned to the ruins and established a large store near the old fort. This trading post attracted buffalo hunters and in June 1874 nearly 300 hunters were in the area. On June 27, Quanah Parker attacked the trading post which was defended by 28 hunters and merchants (including Bat Masterson ). This attack was known as the Second Battle Of Adobe Walls and the hunters successfully repulsed the Indian's attack but soon after left the area. During the late 1800's and early 1900's the Turkey Track Ranch, a post office and a school were built up around the origional fort ruins. The post office operated until 1921 and the community never grew to more than a few ranchers. During the 1920's efforts were made to preserved the site of the 1864 and 1874 battlesites. The area was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Sources |
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