Fort Concho Re-Enactors to March in Governor’s Inauguration Parade

Fort Concho’s living history program will march in Governor-elect Greg Abbott’s inauguration parade in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

The parade, which starts at 2 p.m., organizes at the Congress Street bridge and heads north past the State Capitol.

Fort Concho expects to take its ambulance wagon and its team of mules, Mac and Tom, to the festivities. Several members of the Fort Concho Cavalry will ride as escorts, and members of the Infantry and Buffalo Soldier units will ride inside or march with the wagon.

Fort Concho is assisting in recruiting participants from other West Texas forts and expects representation from forts Chadbourne, Griffin and McKavett, among others. Fort Concho Manager Bob Bluthardt noted the fort will be working with a number of statewide programs that will “combine forces” to make an impressive entry.

“This is an exciting honor,” said Bluthardt, who could recall the fort’s living history troops marching in several sesquicentennial parades in 1986, including in Austin and Fort Worth, plus the Cotton Bowl parade in downtown Dallas in 1991.

Brian Groves, the City’s multimedia coordinator, will attend as an embedded uniformed member of the Fort Concho contingent, filming the experience from beginning to end, chronicling the many behind-the-scenes  issues and challenges Fort Concho staff and volunteers will manage as they bring people, equipment, rolling stock and animals to and from Austin.