Last updated: June 10, 2024
Place
Front Bastion
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit
Excavations in 1964 placed the diameter of this tower at 16.0 ft, with walls 2.2 ft. thick. A drain trench of cut limestone was uncovered that exited from the tower floor through the arc of its east wall. There were also 22 postholes found in the floor here, undoubtedly floor supports for the massive tower above. There is speculation on how the tower was entered; Dr. Herbert Dick believed it was through the wall shared with the trade room adjacent to it, while Moore thought entry was gained through a doorway off the inner corral.
This bastion was "pierced for cannon" as noted by Garrard in 1846, and the drawings of Boggs and Abert both confirm this, each showing embrasures encircling the bastion. With such defense in mind, it is no wonder that George Bent remembered the bastion housing "guns, pistols, swords, and lances." It is believed that upstairs access to the bastion was via an exterior ladder.
The interior of the bastion may have held more than ammunition. An 1849 eyewitness mentioned seeing "pack saddles and riding apparatus" inside. Relying on the sketch of William Boggs, which shows here a small ground level opening labeled as a "coal hole," the bastion is currently filled with bags of coal and loose chunks of coal. Small amounts of rope, wood posts, and gunny material are also stored inside.
The archeological excavations in this bastion turned up such interesting artifacts as ox-yoke pins, the "nozzle" of a powder flask, and a number of whetstones. Archeological information has also confirmed that this bastion was some 4 feet smaller than its southwest counterpart.
This bastion was "pierced for cannon" as noted by Garrard in 1846, and the drawings of Boggs and Abert both confirm this, each showing embrasures encircling the bastion. With such defense in mind, it is no wonder that George Bent remembered the bastion housing "guns, pistols, swords, and lances." It is believed that upstairs access to the bastion was via an exterior ladder.
The interior of the bastion may have held more than ammunition. An 1849 eyewitness mentioned seeing "pack saddles and riding apparatus" inside. Relying on the sketch of William Boggs, which shows here a small ground level opening labeled as a "coal hole," the bastion is currently filled with bags of coal and loose chunks of coal. Small amounts of rope, wood posts, and gunny material are also stored inside.
The archeological excavations in this bastion turned up such interesting artifacts as ox-yoke pins, the "nozzle" of a powder flask, and a number of whetstones. Archeological information has also confirmed that this bastion was some 4 feet smaller than its southwest counterpart.