Site of Fort Mason

<center>Established July 6, 1851<br>by the U. S. Army<br>as a protection to the frontier<br><br>Named in honor of Lieut. George T. Mason,<br>killed in action near Brownsville,<br>April 25, 1846<br><br>Albert Sidney Johnston,<br>George H. Thomas, Earl Van Dorn<br>and Robert E. Lee,<br>of the 2nd U. S. Cavalry,<br>were stationed here at intervals<br>from 1856 to 1861<br><br>Evacuated by Federal troops,<br>March 29, 1861<br>and reoccupied after the Civil War<br>until 1869.</center>