Fort Anahuac is one in a series of forts and settlements built by Mexico in the 1830's to control the increasing political and cultural influence that American influence that American immigrants had on Mexico's northern territory.  Two other forts were established roughly concurrently as part of a chain of measures responding to General Manuel de Mier y Terán's 1828 inspection of Texas.  The three forts were strategically positioned not only to politically control American settlement, but also to command key trade routes in Texas.  The militaristic policies adopted by Mexico as a result of Mier y Terán's recommendations enraged American colonists, and fostered distrust and dissatisfaction between occupying Mexican troops and independence-minded colonists.  The ultimate result of this period of unrest was the Texas Revolution and Texas' eventual independence.  Fort Anahuac played a particularly significant role in the course of these events, as the site of the first armed uprising associated with the Texas Revolution.

Yet despite this era's prominent role in the shaping of Texas history, archeological and material culture data about settlements of the 1830's, archeologists have gathered only skeletal information about Fort Anahuac and Fort Lipantitlán, while no work has been done at Fort Tenochtitlán.  Few of the early settlements such as Nueva Jaén, Mina, and Trinidad, have received treatment at all in the archeological literature.  Archeological work was conducted at Fort Lipantitlán by David Ing in the 1970's and Jim Warren in the 1980's.  However these efforts failed to locate the fort, though they did find midden deposits from the 1830's.  Previous archeological work at Fort Anahuac has consisted of amateur test excavations (1968), magnetometer surveys (Arnold 1977, THC 2001) and a general survey (Guevin and Henson 1991), all of which indicate the presence of buried intact fort foundations and ancillary features.  This testing project then, aims to help fill the archeological data gap for tis foundational aspect of Texas history.  Archeological testing at Fort Anahuac will potentially define the fort structure, provide more information on the location of the customs house, landing, and outlying structures.  It can also address the presence or absence of remains that could contribute to more focused research questions later on.  In support of this attempt to better understand the culture of this tumultuous period, the research design for testing at Fort Anahuac will incorporate the following:

• Hicks & Company will closely coordinate with the THC regarding the field methodology for the project.  Hicks & Company will obtain a Texas Antiquities Code permit in order to conduct investigations at Fort Anahuac.
• Prior to field investigations, the grid system and datums used by the THC during the 2001 magnetometer survey will be relocated and re-established.  All features, trenches, units, etc. will be mapped in reference to the datums, using a total data station.
• Texas excavations of the fort will focus on the main fort structure, and concentrate on establishing the dimensions and configuration of the fort.  These investigations will confirm the walls documented during the recent magnetometer survey, and assess their state of preservation.  To accomplish this, a series of hand-dug trenches will be dug along the projected foundation alignment.  These trenches will be placed ideally so that they intercept and traverse the project wall foundation.  Recent magnetometer surveys have provided clear evidence of the location of intact walls west of the road.  Working from the known locations and dimensions of walls and corners, a predictive model will be used to target the two exterior walls and east bastion, which were not apparent through the magnetometer survey.  Initially, several trenches will be placed across the known locations of exterior walls, and at the predicted locations of the north and south corners of the fort.  This will provide basic information about the size, depth, orientation, and construction technique of the exterior fort walls.  The bulk of the trenching, however, will concentrate efforts on parts of the fort thought to be located east of the park road traversing the site.  The trenches will vary in depth, depending on the amount of fill material covering the fort.  Trenched will average roughly 30 centimeters wide, and will vary from four to up to 10 meters in length.  The goal of this effort will be to establish the exact size, dimension, location, and condition of each of the fort's exterior walls.
• This series of trenches will be hand-dug to reduce impact to the foundations and to the park.  Soil from each trench will be selectively screened through a 1/8" inch wire hardware cloth, and all artifacts noted within the trench will be saved.  Any artifacts encountered in situ, significant concentrations of artifacts, or features will be subject to hand excavations and detailed recording.  These will then be electronically mapped within the site grid system.  This aspect of the project will include a sufficient number of trenches to thoroughly define the dimensions of the fort foundation.  The trenching efforts will also note any midden or other features associated with the exterior of the fort.
• Once the walls of the fort have been documented, additional excavations will be done within the plaza of the fort in order to locate a magazine, a possible well, or other features.  Two long, intersecting hand-dug trenches will be excavated within the center of the fort.  This effort will help to locate interior walls, and features.  Additionally archeologists will place up to 12 square meters of hand-excavated units at various locations in and around the fort.  A 2 x 2 meter unit will be placed in the center of the fort area, or at the likeliest location of the magazine.  Test units will be placed at the discretion of the principal investigator within the fort interior to test for interior floors, walls or other features.  Previous investigations (Gerald 1968) at similar sites have documented very predictable patterns in refuse disposal at forts.  Middens are typically located outside the main gates of the structure.  Hence, using this information as a predictive model, hand excavations will also target the exterior walls of the fort in the effort to locate the main gates and middens.  At least two test units will be placed along the exterior of the walls in this effort.  All soil from test units will be screened and artifacts will be saved.  Each test unit will be dug to culturally sterile sediment.
• Previous survey investigations have suggested that the area south of the fort leading to the beach of the bay may contain both prehistoric and historic features (i.e. the remnants of the stockade, external structures, magazines, ditches, customs house, brick kilns, etc.)  Auger testing found a number of bricks in the area in addition to evidence of prehistoric midden debris.  This area may have been the boat landing for the fort and customs house, which has been documented through historical accounts only, or it could be the possible location of the brick kilns.  A series of trenches is proposed that will mainly target this area outside the fort perimeter.  The trenches will be dug by a backhoe.  These trenches would be closely monitored for the exposure of bricks, early nineteenth century artifacts, prehistoric artifacts, or features.  Depending on findings of the trenching, between 4-6 square meters of hand-excavated test units (in 1x1, 2x1, or 2x2 units) will be dug to explore the findings.  Among the hand dug units, all will be excavated to sterile (Beaumont) clay deposits and will be checked for prehistoric deposits.  All soil will be screened through a 1/8" wire hardware cloth, and all artifacts will be saved for analysis and ultimately curation.
• One of the goals of the project will be to identify the location of the kilns utilized to fire the bricks to construct the fort's walls and foundation.  Common practice at Spanish and Mexican period forts was to place kilns along a creek or river bank, which would have allowed them to be stacked and fueled from below.  The kilns in San Francisco de la Espada mission in San Antonio were at the bank of the San Antonio River near the compound.  At San José y San Miguel de Aguayo mission, as well, the kilns were at the bank of the river terrace.  This pattern was also followed by many Anglo sites, such as Fort Lancaster.  If that pattern was followed here, there may be evidence of the kilns at bluff edge near the fort.  A surficial inspection of the bluff near the fort combined with two or three small trenches at the base of the bluff may yield features relating to kilns.  However, the modern bluff line is known to be several hundred feet closer to the fort than it was in 1832, and consequently, it is possible that all evidence of the brick kilns and other associated features may be destroyed.
• All trenches, test units, features, and in situ artifacts encountered during the testing phase of this project will be mapped using a total data station and tied to the permanent datums.  A detailed topographic site map will be made of all areas investigated, showing topography, present features, and the results of finding of this project.
• A thorough literature review will be conducted prior to and concurrent  with this testing project.  This will include gathering all of the published secondary sources, and an inventory of the known primary sources pertaining to the fort and its history.  As a part of this testing stage, it may also be appropriate to inquire with the Archivo de Las Provencias Internas Oriental and the Archivo Nacional Marino y Militar in Mexico about records pertaining to Fort Anahuac.  In the firt instance, the web site index of the Documentary Sources of the Southwest can be checked, and in the second, initial contact can be made by phone with library archivists.  The goal of this effort is twofold:  first, it will familiarize investigators with the documented history of the fort in order to assist them with effectively targeting field investigations; second, it will also help to expose potential gaps in the existing historical literature.  No original research will be conducted in support of the project at this time.  The results of this research will be compiled into a chapter in the final testing report.  This chapter will outline and make recommendations for future historical research.
• This testing strategy not only aims to identify physical features pertaining to the site, but also seeks to address a few basic research questions.  Of primary interest is the issue of how well-preserved the fort is, and what type of artifacts can subsequent efforts expect to yield?  Are the artifacts museum quality and are they in situ?  The answer to these questions will ultimately direct future research at the fort.  Another questions that may be answered pertains to the type of bricks used in the construction of the fort.  Are the bricks that were made on the site of the Romano-Hispanic pattern or the Anglo-American?  Data on this issue can be informative about the material culture choices of pre-Texas Revolution settlers.  The choice of ceramics used at the site is also significant toward an understanding of early Texas lifeways.  Are they principally Mexican, in conformance with the ethnicity of the soldiers, or were they (English (as at Fort Lipanantitlan), imported by the Americans from the United States?  A more accurate delineation of the fort configuration will address similar sorts of questions regarding architectural influences.  Historical sources suggest that the fort design - square will two bastions at opposite corners followed a very common configuration for European forts from the sixteenth to the nineteenth.  This design has been documented elsewhere in the Spanish colonies such as at the presidio of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores designed by the Marqué de Aguayo in east Texas in 1721 (Santos 1981) or the presidios of San Bernadino, Valerde, Pilares, and San Carlos (Gerard 1968).  However, at Fort Anahuac, the architectural plan has yet to be confirmed.  The degree to which the fort design conformed or departed from the common Hispanic model should be an interesting research question.
• Finally, based on the findings resulting from the procedures described above, a final report will be written that will document the results of testing excavations, artifact analysis, and make recommendations for further work.  All artifacts and records generated from the project will be professionally curated.
• All work pertaining to this project will be complete on or by July 1, 2003, and project billing will not extend beyond that time.

Last Updated:    April 29, 2003