Soldier

Fort Bliss, home of many U. S. soldiers over the years, has a long and interesting history with the U. S. military. In 1849, the U.S. Government established a military post on the Rio Grande in El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juarez). The troops were housed on Coon’s Ranch. In September 1851 the War Department withdrew the troops to Fort Fillmore. A military post was reestablished in January 1854 when Lt. Col. Edmund Brooke Alexander rented quarters at Magoffinsville, a hacienda near Coon’s Ranch. In March of that year, the post was officially named Fort Bliss in memory of Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss, Gen. Zachary Taylor’s chief of staff during the Mexican War.

Fort Bliss was surrendered to the Confederate authorities of Texas in March, 1861, but was reoccupied by Union soldiers under the command of Col. James H. Carleton. In 1867 the post at Magoffinsville was swept away by a flood, so the troops were forced to move three miles north to Camp Concordia. The camp was renamed Fort Bliss in 1869. The War Department closed the post in 1877, but reopened it in 1878. At this time, the post was moved to downtown El Paso. In 1879 the government purchased land at Hart's Mill, and Fort Bliss became a way station for troops pursuing renegade Indians. Fort Bliss moved to its sixth and final home in late 1893.

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