Tenney: 1880 baseball in Fort McDowell, Arizona

From SABR member John Tenney at Base Ball in Arid Land on October 16, 2013:

North of Phoenix, in the scrub of the sonoran desert are the remains of an old Military post. Founded in 1865 by the California Volunteers of Civil War fame on the West bank of the Rio Verde river seven miles North of the junction between the Verde and Salt Rivers in Maricopa County. The fort was established to protect travelers and fight the Native American tribes of the surrounding area and mountains.

First named Camp Verde, then later erroneously called Fort Badger the post was later named Camp McDowell after Major General Irwin McDowell. The post was abandonded in April of 1890 and later would become apart of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation.  Today, there is nothing more than a few foundations on the site..

Base ball was present as early as 1880.  To get an idea of how sparse the terrain was, and the living condition of the solders from Troop I, 6th Cavalry and Company G, 12th Infantry lived in and played in, take a look at the photo below

Read the full article here: http://baseballinaridland.blogspot.com/2013/10/base-ball-on-post-fort-mcdowell-1880.html



Originally published: October 16, 2013. Last Updated: October 16, 2013.