Camp Rice, Fort Hancock, Texas, marker by Kathy Alexander.
Fort Hancock, Texas, was first established as Camp Rice in 1881 as a sub-post to Fort Davis. It was established to defend the area against Indians and bandits from across the Rio Grande.
The post was situated along the San Antonio-El Paso Road. Camp Rice was formerly Fort Quitman and was established by troops of the 10th U.S. Cavalry, the “Buffalo Soldiers.” Camp Rice did not grow after moving to this community and rarely hosted more than 60 men. After Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock died in 1886, the post was renamed in his honor.
At that time, Captain Theodore A. Baldwin commanded the fort, and the Tenth United States Cavalry formed the first garrison of the independent post. Afterward, mixed infantry detachments garrisoned it. These troops patrolled the Rio Grande to prevent illegal crossings by smugglers, Mexican bandits, or insurrectionists.
A flood damaged the fort that year, but it was rebuilt. Fires damaged it again in 1889, and it was abandoned in 1895. The site was located in what is now a cotton field about 1.5 miles West of Fort Hancock.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
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