Ground Plan of Fort Garland.
Copy of the ground plan of Fort Garland, Colo., by 1st. Lt. J. W. Bean, 15th. Infantry, A.A.GM., November 17, 1877.
| 1 to 7 | Officers’ Qrs. |
| 8 | Cavalry Barracks |
| 9 | Infantry Barracks |
| 10 | Post Hospital |
| 11 | Inf. Co. Kitchen |
| 12 | Inf. Laundress Qrs. |
| 13 | Cav. Laundress Qrs. |
| 14 | Guard Room |
| 15 | Prisoners’ Room |
| 16 | Prisoners’ Cells |
| 17 | Grain Room |
| 18 | Shoemaker’s & Tailor’s Shop |
| 19 | Post Bakery |
| 20 | Stove Room |
| 21 | Lumber & Coal Room |
| 22 | Adjutant’s Office |
| 23 | Commanding Officer’s Office |
| 24 | Ordnance Store Room |
| 25 | Chapel & Lodge Room |
| 26 | Telegraph Office |
| 27 | Condemned Store Rm. |
| 28 | Cavalry Kitchen |
| 29 | Cav. Dining Room |
| 30 | Carpenter Shop |
| 31 | Blacksmith Shop |
| 32 | Qm. & Comsy. Off. |
| 33 | Subsistence Stores |
| 34 | Subsist. Issue Rm. |
| 35 | Clothing Room |
| 36 | Q.M. Store Room |
| 37 | Q.M. Corral |
| 38 | Cav. Stables |
| 39 | Ice House |
| 40 | Ice Pond |
| 41 | Parade Ground |
| 42 | Acequia |
| 43 | Water Boxes |
| 44 | Post Trader’s Store |
May 7, 1866. Colonel (and Brevet Brigadier General) Kit Carson is our new commander. He commanded a regiment of New Mexico Volunteers during the war and was sent on here with some of his old men. Good thing they sent a man like Colonel Carson to old Garland—those cantankerous Utes have been raising cane around the settlements for several months and seem to be getting worse. About the only reason they haven’t declared war on all of us is that one of their chiefs, called Uray or Ulay,[4] has been keeping them in harness.
June 28, 1866. Started building hospital northeast of parade. Adobes not baked properly—rain all the time. Building won’t stand for many seasons.
July 18, 1866. Our commander is a man to be respected. He’s keeping this Indian Pot from boiling in these parts by his will alone. The Utes are short on rations, some of them starving. They come to the fort and beg food almost every day. Maybe they’re not as hungry as they act, but they are hungry enough to be dangerous. Colonel Carson sends them away with what he can spare and has written to the Indian Agent for rations for the nearby tribes. The guard in the crow’s nest on the flag pole keeps a wary eye on the valley these nights. This fort has never been attacked, but the settlements about have been molested on several occasions.
September 12, 1866. Molly let me know that I’m to be a father come next spring. An old blue coat like myself a father! Good news comes in bunches; I was made Sergeant Major today, with a salary increase to $23. That should keep a family of five!
Army Escort Wagon. From diorama in Fort Museum.
“The Guard is Mounted, Sir.”