From Fort Marion to Carlisle: 74 Plains prisoners (1875–78), 502 Apaches (1886–87) (St. Augustine)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1875 · Places: Mexico, South America
SUMMARYFrom Fort Marion to Carlisle: 74 Plains prisoners (1875–78), 502 Apaches (1886–87) (St. Augustine) [Connections: Masonic color line, asylums, castles, wight, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDAfter the Red River War, "74 prisoners, mostly male warriors" were sent to the fort: 33 Cheyenne, 27 Kiowa, 11 Comanche, 2 Arapaho and 1 Caddo, plus 10 Mexicans who had been taken into the tribes. "They wore chains and shackles, were kept under lock and key." Lt. Richard Henry Pratt (10th Cavalry) took command. In 1878 22 men stayed east and 17 went to Hampton. Pratt founded Carlisle in 1879. On 16 April 1886 "the military placed all 502 Apaches within its walls as prisoners," in a fort built for about 150, with most living in 130 tents on the fort's top. The army doctor recorded 24 deaths: "1 man, 7 women, and 16 children." Pratt came in 1886 and "selected 103 children" for Carlisle. Geronimo's daughter was born at the fort, and the army named her Marion. HOSTILE
WITNESSArmy and Indian Office records
PATTERNThe fort-prison was the trial run for the boarding-school system. Pratt carried his prison methods straight into Carlisle
LENS (WW9)The boarding school began in a dungeon
OPENLedger drawings made by the 1875–78 prisoners survive. Locate the collections that hold them
SOURCENPS: Plains Indian Incarceration; NPS: Apache Incarceration.