Fort Clark functioned for nearly a century as a key U.S. Army cavalry and infantry post anchoring the chain of forts guarding the Texas-Mexico border. Established in 1852 at Las Moras Springs near Brackettville, it protected the military road to El Paso, area settlers, and travelers from cross-border raids, and served as a staging point for cross-border campaigns, including Colonel Ranald Mackenzie's 1873 raid into Mexico. From 1872 to 1914 the post was home to the Black Seminole Scouts, an elite detachment of Indian scouts recruited from Black Seminole communities who served under officers such as Lt. John Bullis and whose service produced four Medal of Honor recipients. In the twentieth century Fort Clark garrisoned Buffalo Soldier regiments and the Fifth Cavalry, whose commanders included George S. Patton Jr., and during World War II it trained horse cavalry units and held a German prisoner-of-war subcamp before the Army inactivated the post in 1946 amid the wholesale mechanization of the cavalry. Rather than falling into ruin, the fort was redeveloped beginning in 1971 as Fort Clark Springs, a private residential and resort community built around the historic post. Today it functions as a gated neighborhood and vacation destination where many original 1870s-era limestone buildings still stand, the natural springs feed a large spring-fed swimming pool, and the grounds and small museum remain open to visitors interested in the fort's military history.