Locating Fort Gatlin

Orange County, Florida's Fort Gatlin (also see "Finding Fort Gatlin").


Information from an Orlando Sentinel article, Old Buttons, Maps, Point Way To Orlando's Origins:

"The most authoritative clue to the fort's site comes from a survey of Orange County -- then called Mosquito County -- conducted in 1843 by Benjamin F. Whitner. Whitner wrote in his notes that when he placed a survey stake at the midpoint of the east-west boundary of Sections 12 and 13 in Township 23 South, Range 29 East, he saw ``Ft. Gatlin on the right.''"

"A map drawn in 1845 from Whitner's notes shows the fort in the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of Section 13. The map also shows the military road from Fort Mellon (at present-day Sanford) winding down to Fort Gatlin from the north."

Whitner's Survey - BLM/GLO

Military correspondence from Fort Gatlin in 1852 mentioned that David Thompson was accidentally killed by his friend, Reuben Hogans:

Source

An earlier death [16 June 1839] at Fort Gatlin:

Source