Page 57 - cullimore_oldadobes

OLD ADOBES OF FORGOTTEN FORT TEJON 51
from headquarters. The headquarters, company quarters,
hospital, and commissary, are built on a slight elevation, on
either side of the parade ground. For instance, at the head
of the parad~ ground are three fine buildings, two stories,
with all t-he modern improvements, on the right are the com-
panies' quarters, on the left, the hospital and commissary
department. All the quarters are furnished in the best style,
and it is generally acknowledged to be one of the finest, if not
the best Post on the Pacific Coast---and, with the exception of
Fort Kelly, K.T., the finest in the army There is one build-
ing partitioned off as follows carpenter, blacksmith, wheel-
wright, and harness shops. So you will perceive that every-
thing is complete about the Post. The temporary stables are
in the rear of the Quartermaster's store, and in the corral is
usually stowed about 200 tons of good hay in bales." 2
Mrs. R. J Garner, who as a child played at the Fort many
times, gives her recollect·ions of the Fort buildings to Mrs.
Charles E. Yates in a personal interview, stating that
"My father, Dave McKensey, was one of the men who
helped build Fort Tejon."s
Examlination of present buildings and ruins. From an exam-
ination of the adobe brickwork of the walls of the present barrack
building No. 1, it is quite evident that the adobe walls of this old
Fort building were very well built. The bricks themselves are,
after a period of more than eighty-five years, quite firm and well
mortared into the structure. The mortar was probably the same
adobe mix as the bricks. In several places, however, large struct-
1 These considerably weaken the
ural cracks have occured•
structure and have evidently caused the owners of ths property
to introduce iron tie rods at various points to strengthen it.
(See Figure 6.)
The builders did not know that they were building the Fort
almost directly over an earthquake fault, and but three miles from
the now well-defined and occasionally active, San Andreas fault.
Realizing this fact, we may wonder how this barrack building
has so well withstood the several major earthquake shocks that
have rocked it.
No conscious provision for earthquake resistance. With
heavy timber plates serving as bond to cap the adobe walls, yet,
with perhaps no conscious consideration of lateral stresses in the
design, the old barrack has indeed stood up well. High adobe
walls, two story in one portion, are less apt to withstand earth
shocks. Perhap~ the roof structure which consists of adequate,
well-designed, timber trusses has served a double purpose by also
transmitting horizontal forces and holding the adobe walls in
place. (See Figure 11.)
Rain and snow take their toll. The elem~nts of rain and
mountain snows, in spite of the wide over-hanging eaves, have
taken their toll of the unprotected, unstabilized adobe brick