Soldiers posted at Fort Lowell made the adobe blocks with the help of Mexican and Indian laborers.
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The adobe blocks used to build the U.S. Armyโs Fort Lowell were made on site by the soldiers posted there, working with Mexican and Indian laborers.
The soil used for the adobe walls included shards of pottery from previous inhabitants of the site, where the Tanque Verde and Pantano washes converge to form the Rillito.
The Hohokam had settled the area for much the same reason the U.S. Army had โ here there was reliable water.
The Army had other reasons, according to a history of the area written for the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood.
Captain W. Henry Brown wanted to move his Cavalry troops away from Tucson, with its prostitution and bars.
Camp Lowell, located in Tucson where downtownโs Armory Park now sits, moved 7 miles northeast in 1873.
The fort was situated strategically to defend settlers from Apache raids, especially those coming from the notch in the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains at Redington Pass.
Campaigns against the Apaches culminated with Geronimoโs surrender in 1886.
The fort closed in 1891 and today is site of a city park with soccer fields, swimming pool, nature trails and adobe ruins. The Arizona Historical Society has a branch museum on the site.
