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Lot
193
"Ft Belknap Tx., Oct 21st/58", manuscript postmark on 3¢ red Nesbitt buff entire to Port Byron N.Y.; wear and soiling, Fine and rare Fort on the Butterfield route, Helbock R-8. Estimate $200 - 300.
Fort Belknap was the northern anchor of a chain of forts founded to protect the Texas frontier from the Red River o the Rio Grande…From it troops pursued raiding band of Indians, and on occasion mounted expeditions from the fort carried the war to the enemy on the plains as far north as Kansas. Fort Belknap became the hub of a network of roads stretching in every direction, the most notable being the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco.
Realized: $150