T hroughout the Presidio are marke r s indicating points of histori cal interest, such as the one l ocating the Old Indian B urial Ground~, situat ed in front of Buildi ng 103 on Montgomery Street, and another a t the j unction of Ruger Street and Lincoln Boulevard near the Lombard Street entrance, which reads , "On the hillside south of this point and in the area i mmediately t o the north was loc.ated Camp M e rriam. The 1st and 7th California, 5 lst Iowa, 1st Idaho, 20th Kansas , 1st New York and 1s t South Dakot a Volunteer Regiments of Infantry and other unit s which partic ipated in the war w ith Spain were quartered in this camp. 11 Standing on the high hills of the Presidio, one gets a spectacular OF SAN view in every direction. T o the southeast, one can look down on the City of San Francisco; t o the west, the flag flying above F ort Miley ca:i be s een, and beyond, the Pacifi c Ocean with 'the Farallo n Islands fa r Ul the distance; t o the nor thwest across the Golden Gate are F o rt Barry a....! F ort Cronkhite, where batte ries of fast-firing missiles a r e pois ed and ready to repel a sudde n a ir attack by an en e my. To the north is F ort Baker, h o m e of the 6th Region, U. S. Army Air Defens e Command; to t he northeast across the bay is Angel Island; slightly t o the east of ~I I s land is Alcatr a z I sland, formerly a U. S . M ilitary fortification , later a Federal Penitentiar y, now abandoned (1 963); and to the east a long t he bay shoreline is F o rt Mason.
T he Presidio today is the home of the Headquarters, Sixth United States Army, which has an a rea of responsibility extending from t he Canadian to the M exican Border and from the P acific O cean to the Rocky Mountains. Within this area are l ocated 30 installations and activiue.s at which almost 5 0 , 000 military and 10, 000 c ivilian perso nne l perf rm their d uties unde r the direct control of this headquarters . In addit iO
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SAH M·3 Rev J an 62 30 MAR 66 ARMY-PRPS-8228-66 for m of a hors e sho e with 10 - foot thick palisade-type walls. Eight bronze Wh en a m a jor earthquake, followed by a devasta t ing fire , s t ruck cannons, cast in Lima, P e ru, in the 17th century, were placed in the HISTORY San Franc isco in the early h ours of April 18, 1906, Presidio t roops, embra sures tha t pi erced the fort walls. Six of these c annons m a y b e unde r the command o f General Frederi ck F unston, repo rted to the c ity's seen toda y ; t wo fla n k the e ntra nce t o the Offic ers ' Club, t w o others In 1776, while the American col onies on the Atlantic Coast were c hie f of po lice t o help keep o rde r , assist r e fugees , and fight the fire . flank the m ain flag p ole, and t wo a r e at Fort Mason. In 1847, wh en the putting into effect the Declaration of Independence, the Spanish rulers A model r efugee c amp was set up o n the Presidio grounds where ratio ns , U . S. Arm y occupied the Presidio, the Castillo was falling into ruin. of Mexico sent exploring parties northward along the California Coast, t ents, blankets , and medical a ttention were provided for thousands of D ur ing 18 5 3, the old Castillo wa s r a z e d by the U . S. Army, and the establishing missions and military posts and taking possession of the the city's homeless. 100 - foot cliff on whic h it had stood was c ut away t o a s olid roc k founda land in the name of Spain. The northernmost of the se posts was the t ion I 6 feet above t h e wate r. Work on Fort Point b e gan the same y ear Presidio of San Francisco. Du r ing World War I. the P residio was an offi cers ' training c amp and, in 186 1, it was garrisone d by two c ompanie s of the 3rd Artille r y . for I 1 weste rn states . At the out b r eak of Wo r ld War !I, the Presidio F o rt P oint, somewhat o n the F o rt Sumter plan, i s in the f o rm of an At a point that is now the c enter of the main po st, the Spaniards serve d a s t h e Headquarte r s for the F ourth Army and the Wester n D efense i rregular quadrangle. The width is 150 feet, the longest side i s 2 50 laid out their Presidio. The name, "Presidio, " is derived from the Comman d und er Lieut enant Gen e ral J ohn R. Dewitt. E arly in 1946, the f eet, the height 4 5 feet, and the thickn e ss of the walls about 7 feet. On Roman word, 11 praesidium, 11 meaning a garrison of a fortified c amp. Sixth U . S. Army, which ha d fought t h r ough 25 majo r assaults from New Novemb e r 25, 18 82, Fort Point was renamed Fort Winfield Sc ott in honor The original Presidio was a walled camp of approximately 200 yards Guinea t o the P hilippines dur ing Wo rld Wa r II, was stationed at the of Brevet Lieutenant Gene ral Winfie ld Scott. The fort was c onsidere d square surrounded by palisade-type walls. The old quadrangle is Presidio when the War D epartme nt r epla c ed the nine ser vice c ommands o b solesc e nt i n 1905 whe n construc tio n was starte d on a new fort on the marked by bronze plaques placed by the Daughters of the Ame ric an in the Zone of Int e rio r with six C ont in enta l Army commands. T he Sixth h ill s t o the south. The new fo r t was named Fort Winfie ld Scott a nd the Revolution in 1928. The Presidio continued to be used by the Span ish U. S. A rmy a r ea comprises the s ta t es of Washington, Oregon, Califo rnia, old fort was on ce again r e f e rred to a s F o rt P oint. In 1914, the old fort until it was taken over by the Mexicans when they gained the ir inde Idaho, Montana. Nevada, Utah and Arizona. was abandone d, after 60 year s of servic e. During \\iorld Wa r I, it was pendence in 1822 and was garrisoned by the Mexicans until the United u sed for a time to house German pr1so ne r s, and in World Wa r II a States took forcible possession in 1846. The Presidio was forma lly 3" gu n battery and a searc hlight det achm e nt m a nn ed the old fort in occupie d by American troops under the c ommand of Majo r Jame s A. POINTS OF INTEREST s uppo rt of San Francis co 1 s harbor defenses . T oday, massive Fort Hardie on March 27, 1847. P oin t s t ands as a classic e x amp le of t he fortific ation of i ts time-- Crissy F ield, o nce a racet rack, was select ed by the lat e General the g reatest on t he West Coast of North Ameri ca a nd one o f the very The Presidio reservation consists of approximately l, 400 a c res H enry H . Arno ld as a s ite for a n airport in 1919. It is now a landing best e xamples of this t yp e o f arc hitecture in the United States. occupying the northernmost point of the peninsula of San Francisco. The strip for light a i r c raft . Crissy Fie ld wa s name d in honor of Major entire reservation originally consisted of bare sand hills and rocks and Dana H. Crissy, U. S . A rmy Air C o rps , who l o st his life October 8 , 1919, Sill ser ving the func tion for whic h it was c onstruc t e d in 18 56 i s the was in that condition until the 1880's when large areas were planted with while on the first transcontinental mass flight, whic h o riginated f rom P ost Di s pensary, the first building erected after American occupancy eucalyptus and pine trees. This, with the building of roadways a nd Crissy Field. of the Presidio . other general improvements by the U. S. Army, has made the Presidio o ne of the beauty spots of San Francisco. L etterman G e neral Hospital, t he Army ' s lar gest hospital west of T e o ld pow d e r m a ga z ine at She ridan A venue and Anza Street has the Mis s issippi, was founded during the Spanish - A merican War to acc om changed little s inc e its cons tru ction i n 186 3. It h as walls of na tive s t one m o re than 3 fee t thick. T he walls a re do uble , w i th an a i r s pace to ens ure modate th e wounded being returned from th e Philippines . It has ser ved The reservation contains many points of interest, and some of the drynes s, and tw o narrow slot s for ventilation pie r ce th e e ast wall near as a d ebar kation hospital through four wars --the Spanish - Americ an Wa r , Army's most illustrious names are assoc iated with the Presidio. Major the heavy d oor . General Irwin McDowell, General William T e cumseh Sherman, Lieuten Wo rld War s I and II, and the Korean Wa r . It was named for Major ant General Phillip H. Sheridan, Lieutena nt General Hunter Liggett, J onathan L et terman, Medical Direc t o r of the Army of the P otomac, one A lso of int e r est i s the g roup o f o ffic e rs 1 family quart e r s , s t.ill i n Brigadi er General Frederick Funsto n, a nd Lieutenant Gene r a l A rthur of the Union a rmies in the Civ il War . Major Le tterman was al so the us e , whi ch we r e constructed along F unston A venue in 18 7 3. MacArthur, the father of Gene ral of the Army Douglas MacArthur, all organizer of th e Army' s first Ambulance Corps . c ommande d the post at one time during the ir Army c areers. Ge n e ral On J uly 23, 18 52, Privat e Joh n Brown b ecame the first American John J. P e rshing, when in c ommand of the Eighth Brigade, was sta T he Presidio Offic ers' Club, l ocated a t the head of t he parade soldier to b e inte rred in the San Franc i sco Natio nal Ceme tery. Since tioned at the Presidio in 1914 before lea ving on the Mexican Expedition. ground, is the s ite of what is generally cons i der ed the o lde st building then, many famous s o ldi e r s have been buried with in its walls. A f e w It was here that his great personal tragedy occurred, the death of his in San F rancis co. The original struc tur e. a c rude flat-topped log house, are : Lie utenant Ge n e ral Hunt er Liggett, Major Ge ne ral Irwin Mc Dowe ll, wife and three daughters in a fire whic h destroyed their home on the was con s t ruct e d in September, 1776, t o hous e the fi r s t Span ish Com Major General William R . Shafter , Major General Frederic k Funston, post on August 27, 1915. T o day, the are a surrounding the main flag mandante. The building was still in use w he n the first Americ an troops Brigadi e r G e neral John Henry P a rke r, Briga d i e r Gene ral R ob e rt 0: pole is known as Pershing Square, in memory of the General's fami1y. formally occupied the Presidio in 1847. Ext e ns ive r epairs were m a de Van Horn, a nd Brigadie r Ge n e ral Ha rry 0. R e the r s . Of roma ntic i n In February 1963 the Presidio was named as a Registered National on the building, which then became Headquarte r s fo r the nev~r ly - arrived terest is the name of Pauline Cu shman Fryer, a beautiful and t a l ente d Historic Landmark. Two hug e Rodman c annons and a historic plaque U . S . Army. After many years of u se in t hat c a pacity , it b ecame the actress, who b ecame famous as a Union spy du ring the Civil War . She near the s outh end of Pershi ng squa re comme morate this hono r. Dur Officers ' C lub. In 1934, the bu ildin g underwent extensive r e m od e ling was m ade a Brevet Majo r afte r the war. ing the Civil War, the Army trained Union regiments at the Pres idio and was retsored a s nearly as possible to it s o rig inal a r chitecture. and maintained the defense for the We stern frontiers during the Indi an Also of intere st is El Polin Springs which was the s ourc e of campaigns of the 70 's and 80 's. During the Spanish-American War, O n D ece m b e r 8 , I 794, the Spanish completed the fo rtific ation, water for the early Spanish settlers. According to an old Indian legend, volunte ers trained for service overseas on what is now known a s El Cas tillo de San J oaquin, at what is now th e s out h e nd of the Gold en all maidens who drank of its wate rs in the full of the moon would b e Infantry Terrace. Gate B rid g e where Fort P oint is lo cat ed. T h e C a stillo was built in t he happily married and have large families.
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IEW OF NNER HAP.001>. GOOD VllW OF SIXTH ARMY Ho AP.EA ANO INNEP. HAASOP.
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