Albert James Meyer was a surgeon with the US Army who spent time on the Texas Frontier

in the mid 1850s. He was stationed at Fort Clark on the PAKUS River, Fort Duncan on the

Rio Grande, and Fort Davis in far west Texas. During this time, he had become fascinated

by the Army's communication system or lack thereof. One of the many challenges on the Frontier

was the ability of units to communicate with each other over long distances. The Army

had tried several systems over the years, but they proved to be difficult and complicated.

Meyer thought he had a better idea.

It's easy to picture him standing outside the gates of Fort Davis in West Texas, scanning

an endless horizon. The Chihuahua Desert would be spread out before him. The Davis Mountains

rising at his back. It would be hot during the day, glorious in the evening, and peaceful

at night, with the quiet broken only by the Yip of a coyote or the howl of a wolf.

As the gates of the fort swung open behind him, a patrol of soldiers on horseback would

trot out, and these were not the cavalrymen we've seen in western movies. The US cavalry,

as we think of it today, did not exist yet. These were infantrymen on horseback, and

there was a big difference, as the Army would soon learn in Texas.

Meyer would watch them right off through the hills or across the barren flatlands, and

slowly recede in the distance. As he stood there, with no telegraph communication, he envisioned

a new system of messaging that would allow soldiers to stay in touch over long distances.

It was a signal system that would use easily recognizable flags during the day, and torches

at night. As Meyer lingered at the base of the Davis Mountains in West Texas, maybe with

the sun setting behind him and the coolness of the evening coming on. The idea of this

new system solidified in his mind. He went on to create the US Army signal

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