Established in August 1879 as a temporary encampment known as Camp Rainbow Cliffs in the Big Bend area of West Texas. Improved and became Camp Peña Colorado with the construction of adobe and timber built buildings.
The post was built to prevent Indian attacks on railroad construction crews and to protect trails used by settlers and travelers in the Big Bend area. The post was raided by Apaches in 1881.
With the end of hostilities in the area, the post was abandoned on 11 Feb 1893.
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.
Current Status
Fort Peña Park Marker
Now a county park in Marathon, Brewster County, Texas. Hart mentions two locations, the first is a ranch headquarters just north of the county park (shown by the "G" GNIS map marker) and the second is at the county park (shown by the "F" marker).
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Location: Post Road, Marathon, Brewster County, Texas.
Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 772.
