Camp Cooper, C.S.A.

Camp Cooper stood on the Clear Fork of the Brazos. Established in January 1856 and named for Adjutant General Samuel Cooper, it was meant to guard the frontier and watch over the Comanche reservation nearby, and Col. Albert Sidney Johnston founded the post. Severe weather, insects, dust and irregular supply trains plagued it. Lt. Joseph F. Minter sketched its stone and picket officers' quarters and mud-brick barracks. A post office ran from March to October 1860. It was abandoned on February 21, 1861, and Capt. S. D. Carpenter surrendered it to Col. W. C. Dalrymple four days later.

What the plaque says

Located 17 miles south. Surrendered by U.S. at outbreak Civil War. Used as Confederate frontier outpost on the defense line from Red River to the Rio Grande. Manned by Texas Cavalry, mounted riflemen, Rangers. Constant patrol and scouting maintained guard against Indian raids, Union invasion, marauding deserters, "Jayhawkers". Always short on food, supplies, ammunition, and horses these troops fought the Comanches in numerous engagements while effectively protecting supply train and pioneer families along edge of settlement. A Memorial to Texans Who Served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas 1963

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Griffin State Historic Site — 18 mi
  The ruins of an 1867 cavalry post on a plateau above the Clear Fork of the Brazos, judged unfit for habitation and used nine more years, now home to the official state longhorn herd.
• Fort Belknap — 25 mi
  The 1851 northern anchor of the first Texas frontier forts, on the Brazos below Newcastle, a Butterfield stop and the post beside the Brazos Reservation until its people were driven out in 1859.

More markers nearby

• Throckmorton County — 1.0 mi
• Great Western Trail — 2.7 mi
• Bush Knob Massacre — 6.0 mi
• Frontier Town of Fort Griffin — 17 mi