The original military cemetery on the Fort Clark reservation was established around 1856. Early travelers and settlers as well as military men were buried in the cemetery. The plat containing about 245 burial sites was surrounded by a stone fence. Some military graves had both headstones and footstones. One stone was furnished by the military and the other was furnished by the family of the deceased. Ninety recorded burials in the Old Fort Clark Cemetery are documented in this report. In 1879 a second cemetery was opened south of the main post and the original cemetery site became inactive.
The newer cemetery located to the south of the main post can be recognized in pictures by the wooden fence which enclosed the plat. The first burial in the new cemetery took place in 1879. The wooden fence enclosing the cemetery area was built in 1883. When the government closed Fort Clark, families of those interred in both cemeteries on the post were given a choice. The body of their loved one could be moved to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery or to a cemetery of the family’s choice. Most headstones and footstones were buried in the pit remaining once the bodies were removed