Fort Concho National Historic Landmark

Over 100 guests rounded up inside the historic Quartermaster Galleries for the opening of the American Plains Artists show! With lively music, guests and artists were able to enjoy beautiful western art in a cool climate!
Remember, the show will stay open until August 2, 2026. The art will be viewable Tuesday - Saturdays, 10 AM - 4 PM. And Sundays, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM. Closed on Mondays.
This display is free and open to the public! And all the art displayed is for sale with proceeds benefiting the artists and Fort Concho.

Let us know which is your favorite! (Oh! BTW, you can actually vote for your favorite at the gallery! So many to choose from!)

Fort Concho, home of the famed African-American Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th & 10th Cavalry regiments and the 24th & 25th Infantry regiments, notes the Juneteenth holiday, when freedom for all enslaved peoples was declared in Galveston, Texas.

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We got Power in the house!!!

Well, the Commissary actually.
Check out the last of the speakers of the USA 250th and Texas series….Dr. Powers! 💥

The annual American Plains Artists Show is almost ready!

Guest curator Joan Mertz has done another outstanding job in unpacking/sorting/spacing and placing 64 paintings and seven sculptures in the Quartermaster Galleries at the fort.

Opening reception is THIS SATURDAY, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm.

Free and Open to All!

Tasty snacks and sandwiches; beverages, entertainment; photo ops with the Concho Cowboys; and art for show and for sale!

Due to a scheduled maintenance on Barracks 1, we will be closed to the public until after lunch.
If you have any questions, feel free to message or email us at [email protected].
Or call 325-812-7411.

Here is a cartoon version of our curator, Cory just because.
Enjoy!

Angelo State University and Historic Fort Concho will present the sixth and final installment of the public speaker series, U.S.A. 250th & Texas: The Concho Valley Commemorates U.S. Independence, on Thursday, June 18, at 6 p.m. in the Fort Concho Commissary, 704 Burgess St.

Dr. Michael Shane Powers, an ASU assistant professor of history, will deliver a special presentation titled “Patriotism in the Past: How Americans Celebrated U.S. Independence from Fort Concho to Philadelphia.”

The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

Powers’ presentation will explore the ways Americans have celebrated the nation’s independence, particularly during the centennial of 1876 and bicentennial of 1976, as a way to more fully understand how Americans applied Revolutionary War-era ideals to their own time.

Specifically, Powers will examine how the country’s centennial in 1876 overlapped with Fort Concho’s role as a prominent Western fort during the so-called Indian Wars – as well as the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, where Americans celebrated U.S. independence while being introduced to the latest modern technologies and goods. Finally, he will highlight West Texas commemorations in 1976 in the midst of developments that have shaped Texas to the present day.

Stop by our Living History Stables today at 2pm to learn about Flag code and see how flags should properly be retired!
Happy Flag Day! 🇺🇸

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave!!!

June 14, 2026
2 PM - 3:30 PM
Living History Stables - Fort Concho

Fort Concho Flag Day Program flyer with event details, American flag imagery, and information on flag retirement and etiquette.

The annual American Plains Artists Juried Exhibit and Sale returns to Fort Concho National Historic Landmark with a grand opening in the fort’s Quartermaster Galleries on Saturday, June 20, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm. The opening is free to all. Refreshments and beverages will be available.

All art is for sale with purchases benefiting the artists, the American Plains Artists Association and Fort Concho. The show is located near the intersection of Flipper and Burgess Streets on the fort’s northeast corner.

This year’s show features sixty-three paintings and seven sculptures from forty-one artists of the American Plains Artists group, representing fourteen states.

Organized in Denver City, Texas, in 1982 by a small group of artists, the APA promotes all art and sculpture works that depicts the nation’s Great Plains. This marks the 41st annual show and the sixth time since 2016 the show has come to San Angelo and Fort Concho.

Themes covered by this year’s show include cowboys, Native Americans, wildlife of the Great Plains, farming and ranching scenes, natural vistas, and characters of the Old West.

Noted Fort Concho site manager Bob Bluthardt, “this show represents our efforts to interpret history through another means. We cover our shared western heritage with music, arts/sculpture, sports, special exhibits and many programs. We also invite everyone to the annual National Cowboy Day program of Saturday, July 25, held at the show.”

The exhibit is housed in the Quartermaster Galleries, one of the first two buildings erected at Fort Concho in 1868. It was renovated in the early 1980s as the first home of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. When the art museum moved into its new facility in 1999, Fort Concho converted it for its own special displays, travelling exhibits, and as a rental venue for private events.

The show will be open, free of charge, until August 2 on Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 am – 4 pm; Sundays 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm; closed on Mondays.

For more information about the show, please contact Fort Concho at (325) 481-2646

Fort Concho was honored to host the annual Change of Command ceremony for the US Army’s 344th Military Intelligence Battalion stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

The unit has held all its change of command ceremonies at Fort Concho since the early 1990s.

Nearly 500 members of the Battalion plus several hundred guests enjoyed the event under cloudy skies and mild temperatures. The Fort Concho Living history program provided several ceremonial salutes.

COL Patrick Schorpp of Fort Huachuca, AZ, home of the parent command of the 344th, oversaw the transfer of command from departing LTC Raymond Kuderka to incoming commander LTC Jonathan Lovelace.

We thank LTC Kuderka and his family for their time in San Angelo and wish them well in the new assignment at Carlisle Barracks, PA.

And we welcome LTC Lovelace and his family to San Angelo!

Sancho Mazique was a Buffalo Soldier for Company E of the 10th United States Cavalry. He enlisted on February 25, 1875 and arrived at Fort Concho on July 1875. During his time at Fort Concho, he was assigned a job as a carpenter at the Quartermaster, which allowed him to earn extra pay on top of his enlisted man's salary. Because of his unique assignment, he spent most of his military career at the fort instead of participating in the scouting expeditions like his fellow cavalrymen. He was also said to have played in the 10th Cavalry's band under Lt. Robert Smither.

Mazique was born on June 10, 1849 in Columbia, South Carolina to enslaved parents, and was but a teenage boy when the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted into law. During the Civil War, he lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina with his family after being given to a nephew of the widow who owned them in Columbia, only returning to his birth town after the end of the war.
During his military career, he was known to be on good terms with Col. Benjamin Grierson, with whom he sometimes joined on hunts. He also sold anything he hunted for a good dollar as supplementary income, particularly buffalo hides and meat. He was discharged from the military on February 24, 1880 upon the expiration of his service. Following his discharge, he worked various jobs from carpentry to cook to ranch hand with the latter being his last major job prior to retiring to care for his ailing wife, Alice.
Towards the end of his life, Mazique remained a sharp man who found enjoyment in fishing. His memory and ability to remember the names of the early settlers of San Angelo became one of his well-recognized characteristics.

On April 20, 1951, Sancho Mazique died of pneumonia at 102 years old. He was one of San Angelo’s oldest residents. He is buried beside his wife at Fairmount Cemetery. His death marked the end of an era—he was the last known living former Buffalo Soldier who served at Fort Concho, preceded in death by William Ellis in 1928 and Elijah Cox in 1941.

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