Comanche Springs Butterfield Stage Payroll — Fort Stockton

Fort Stockton was established January 17, 1859, at Comanche Springs on the Comanche War Trail and the upper and lower San Antonio–El Paso roads. The post also sat on the Butterfield Overland Mail route and the San Antonio–Chihuahua Trail. Trans-Pecos folklore often places unrecovered stage and military pay near frontier forts when escorts were ambushed between water holes. The Ninth Cavalry (buffalo soldiers) reoccupied the post in 1867 and patrolled the Pecos corridor until Apache campaigns ended in the 1880s. Coordinates mark historic Fort Stockton and Comanche Springs in downtown Fort Stockton. Much of the old post is preserved as Fort Stockton Historic Site.