“WELCOME, GRANT. IT’S so nice to meet you,” Sally Rutherford said as they shook hands. “You made pretty good time.”
“I almost didn’t make it down here at all,” he replied sheepishly. “There are some very, very active deer populations in this area. More than once I had to slow down to keep from running into one as it crossed the road in front of me without even looking.”
“That does tend to happen around here,” Sally confessed. “And they’re even more active at night. Best advice I can give you while you’re here is, don’t plan on driving outside town limits after dark.”
They walked toward the single structure remaining.
“How big was the fort originally?” Grant asked.
“Fort Mason was established in 1851, and originally it encompassed 1,200 acres,” came the reply. “And it was referred to a
