Fort Chadbourne functioned as a U.S. Army frontier garrison established in 1852 in present Coke County, built to protect westward travelers and area settlers from Comanche raids along the route that later became the Butterfield Overland Mail line between St. Louis and San Francisco. Garrisoned chiefly by infantry companies, the post also served a diplomatic function, hosting extended negotiations in 1853 between Indian agent Robert Neighbors and Comanche leaders. Confederate forces took the fort in early 1861, and though federal troops briefly reoccupied it after the Civil War, it was abandoned for military use by the late 1860s, after which it continued as a working ranch headquarters and stage stop into the twentieth century. Today Fort Chadbourne operates as a privately preserved historic site and museum rather than a government-run property, owned and restored by the descendants of the ranching family that later held the land and operated through the nonprofit Fort Chadbourne Foundation, established in 1999. The Foundation has carried out ongoing archaeological investigation and reconstruction of officers' quarters, enlisted barracks, and a Butterfield stage station, alongside a visitor center and museum exhibiting military artifacts, firearms, and material on both Comanche and ranching history. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, the site is open to the public on a donation basis and continues to be developed as a heritage tourism attraction in West Texas.