Last updated: October 16, 2021
Place
Fort Bowie Ruins Tour- Stop 9
Quick Facts
Location:
Bowie, AZ
Post traders were civilian businessmen who operated retail establishments at military posts. The post trader's store at Fort Bowie was operated by Sidney DeLong. DeLong first found himself at Fort Bowie when he served here with the California Volunteers and helped to build the first fort.
For over twenty years, Sidney DeLong operated the post trader's store for a firm in Tucson. In addition to the storefront, the establishment had a bar, billiards room, and officer's club. DeLong left the fort when the army purchased the store and turned the building into a post canteen. Just a couple of years later, in 1893, the post canteen caught on fire.
Photos from the fire show that it originated in the dining room, engulfing both that room and the adjoining bar. Having suffered damage from the fire, it is not known if the buidling was used during the last year of the fort's operation.
For over twenty years, Sidney DeLong operated the post trader's store for a firm in Tucson. In addition to the storefront, the establishment had a bar, billiards room, and officer's club. DeLong left the fort when the army purchased the store and turned the building into a post canteen. Just a couple of years later, in 1893, the post canteen caught on fire.
Photos from the fire show that it originated in the dining room, engulfing both that room and the adjoining bar. Having suffered damage from the fire, it is not known if the buidling was used during the last year of the fort's operation.