Camp Rabb, 15 miles northeast, was one of 18 Confederate outposts placed a day's horseback ride apart, from Red River to Rio Grande, to prevent Indian attacks and Federal invasion. Named for captain in Frontier Regiment, Texas Cavalry; guarded ford on the Cotton Road, used as major Southern supply line. Fort Duncan, at this site, a former U.S. outpost, protected Civil War trade of cotton for vital supplies and arms. Fort served the counter threat from Federals in upriver El Paso and the Davis Mountains. (1964)