FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — More than a dozen cemeteries can be found dotted across the training areas of Fort Cavazos, making them difficult to visit throughout the year. However, every year for more than 30 years, the installation pauses all live-fire training and opens each cemetery on the Sunday before Memorial Day to visitors and the descendants of the families who once lived in this area.
It provides the opportunity to honor the heritage of those families of those who lived here prior to Fort Cavazos, set against the holiday known for honoring America’s heroes.
Clear markers were put out, American flags dotted the way and headstones throughout the cemeteries boasted new flowers this May 25 by those visitors, including on the headstones of the Dixon family, located in the Hubbard Cemetery.
Billy Dixon was able to visit the gravesites of A.D. Dixon, his wife, Mary Christian, and three of their deceased children. This was Billy’s first time visiting their graves.
“It means a lot to me,” Billy expressed. “I’m a direct ancestor. … It’s historical, it’s history. These were pioneers here in Central Texas in the 1870s; this was unsettled land. This was frontier back then. … It just connects me, obviously, to that American history going all the way back. It’s great. I’m very thankful that the fort maintains this cemetery for the descendants to be able to come pay their respects.”
The Dixon family moved to Texas from Georgia after the Civil War to restart their lives, owning farms in the Central Texas area. In early 1942, though, the federal government took over the property, acquiring 41 settlements and communities in Bell and Coryell Counties for a large training center, officially establishing Camp Hood on Sept. 18, 1942. The families who once lived in those communities and settlements, including the Dixon family, moved and settled in other areas. Despite that, Billy’s family remembers a time they lived within these grounds.
“My grandfather, … he grew up here,” he shared. “My father did as well. My father picked cotton somewhere here … when he was a little 5-year-old boy.”
Billy took an interest in his ancestry, diving into the histories of A.D. and Mary. When he learned this annual event was an opportunity for him to actually see the graves, he took it and drove up from Houston.
“My family has a long history, 150 years, in the Central Texas area,” he expressed, adding he plans to share photos at the annual Dixon family reunion, a traditional gathering that has been going on for 55 years.
The cemeteries across the installation are named after the former settlements and communities taken over, as well as the prominent families who occupy them. This includes the Ruth Cemetery, named for the Ruth Community that was located on the Gatesville to Killeen public road. The oldest dated gravestone is that of J.J. Stovall, who died April 27, 1878.
Ruth Cemetery is also one of two on the installation that has a Historic Texas Cemetery designation by the state of Texas.
While the annual event provides guaranteed visiting for all cemeteries, including those in the “red line,” which is either on or near high-impact training areas, families are welcome to request a visit year-round.
For those interested, or for those who wish to learn more about the cemeteries located on Fort Cavazos, call Range Operations at 254-287-3321.
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