The Fort-oholic

Now, I know that “Fort-oholic” is not really a word.  Spell check hated it.  But it does seem that if someone has a real passion for something that suffix seems to have become appropriate.  So, I will use it to emphasis the passion Steve has for forts.

When we got married in April 1972, I was somewhat of a history buff.  I have long passed the “buff” stage and now consider myself a historian.  We bought a pop-up camper.  One of our first trips was to the Lake George, New York area.  We went with another family (husband, wife, girl, boy) and met another family that Steve knew, quite unexpectedly.  This family was almost identical to the family with whom we chose to travel.  We had agreed ahead of time that we would do “things” together and separate. 

I wanted to visit Fort Ticonderoga.  When I said I wanted to go there, I met a great deal of resistance from everyone, especially Steve.  He rebelled loudly, “History, history, I hate history!!!!!!!!!!!!”  Well, I whined my way into going to the fort.  He was impressed enough to also want to go to Fort William Henry, a reproduction of the original wooden fortress at the south end of the lake.  Fort Ti, of course, is a “real” fort, not a reproduction and is much more than a wooden stockade. 

A couple of summers late (1975) I read that Fort Ti was having a re.enactment of its capture by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys from the British.  The portrayer of Ethan Allen was one of his descendants.  I proclaimed that I wanted to go.  Again, I got “History, history, I hate history!!!!!!!!!!!!”  I said that I was going to go with my parents whether he came or not.  Well, of course, he came. He loved the fort and the re.enactment.  And a monster was born.  MR. FORT-OHOLIC came into being.  When we travel, if there is a fort to be seen, we will see it.

Forts, of course, were built for protection.  Inland, they were primarily a safety net from marauding Indians—almost always made of wooden ramparts.  In Florida and many of the western states a series of forts were built to be a form of protection and also a supply depot for pioneers, traders, etc.  These were mostly of the wood stockade variety.  A string of these forts were built across the state of Florida during the Seminole wars.  Many towns or portions of towns and cities in Florida still maintain the historic names of the original forts—Forts Lauderdale, Myers, Meade, White, King, McCoy, Clinch.  These forts were usually named for the designing engineer or original commander.   Fort Meade, for instance, was named for Gettysburg’s Union General George G. Meade when he designed it as a young Lieutenant and was stationed in Florida.

A series of coastal forts were also built over many years. These were made primarily of stone and or brick and often had underground tunnels and paths.

Steve is not really fussy as to which type he visits.  I think he leans slightly toward the coastal rock/brick facilities with the many miles of unseen and oft secret passageways.  Since they are coastal, the vista is usually a great seascape.  Many of the forts (not the towns) that are still in existence are now located in what has become city, county, state or national parks.  Some of the forts are held in trust, but are still located within the boundaries of a park.  Steve seems often to make friends with the park rangers, who, in turn, take him to all the secret portals of several of the forts.