Fort Phantom Hill, founded in 1851 above the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in West Texas, was part of a chain of frontier posts established to protect migrants heading to California during the gold rush. Ordered by General Persifor Frazer Smith and occupied by companies of the 5th Infantry under Lieutenant Colonel John Joseph Abercrombie, it soon suffered from scarce water, timber, game, and supplies, and was abandoned in 1854. Though its army life was brief, the site later served the Butterfield Overland Mail, Confederate troops, and Fort Griffin, then became a short-lived settlement before preservation efforts saved its ruins.