In 2013-14, Fort Concho made three purchases of Grierson family letters from Frohne’s Historic Military, a dealer in historic documents and photographs, after a staff member found a letter from Alice Dunbar listed on eBay. The purchase of that single letter led to his offer of the collections.

The letters range in date from 1833 to 1885, with the good deal of them dealing with the time the family was at Fort Concho. The letters add greatly to our understanding of life at Fort Concho. They confirm ideas we had about fort life gleaned from other sources through the details that Alice includes in her letters to Charles kept him connected to the family and work well to keep us informed of fort life as well. She tells of weddings, deaths, hunts, parties, “ranking outs,” illnesses, children, and many other aspects of life at the fort for the commander’s wife.

The Grierson Family

Benjamin Grierson