Fort Cummings
Encyclopedia
Fort Cummings (1880–1884 ), (1886) a former U. S. Army post located near Cooke's Springs, in Luna County, New Mexico
. It is located 20 miles northeast of Deming, New Mexico
.
2nd U.S. Dragoons the former commander of the Mormon Battalion
, that was exploring this area of New Mexico in 1853. It was the only large supply of fresh water between Mesilla, New Mexico
and the Mimbres River
for wagon trains heading to California as well as the later Butterfield - Overland Stage. The Cooke's Springs Stage Station of the Butterfield - Overland stage route was located near Cooke's Springs from 1858 to 1861.
Cooke's Springs were located at the eastern mouth of Cooke's Canyon a narrow gap in the Mimbres Mountains. Between 1848 and 1861 the pass had become a dangerous place for hundreds of travelers who were often ambushed and killed by the Apache as they passed through it. Following the Bascom Affair
things were even worse as the Apache, formerly friendly to the stage company destroyed most of the stations and destroyed many coaches and killed their passengers. Cooke's Pass was a favored location for these ambushes and it acquired the name Massacre Canyon after incidents like the Battle of Cooke's Canyon
.
, of the California Column
. Fort Cummings was established to control the Apache Indians, and to protect the Butterfield - Overland stage route and the southern overland road to California where it passed through Cooke's Pass.
The fort was built up over the next ten years as an adobe walled fort, surrounded by a 10-foot high wall that enclosed a parade ground, corral and several single-story adobe buildings around the wall.
The fort was evacuated and entered a caretaker status in 1870 and abandoned in 1873. However it was reoccupied later when Apache under Victorio
, launched a campaign against the white American settlers in 1880. It was known as "Camp at Fort Cummings" from 1880 to 1884 and in 1886 during later Apache troubles. Again abandoned it only remains as some eroding adobe walls, and along with the nearby sited of the stage station and post graveyard to the south.
Luna County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*77.7% White*1.1% Black*1.3% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.6% Two or more races*16.8% Other races*61.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. It is located 20 miles northeast of Deming, New Mexico
Deming, New Mexico
Deming is a city in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, located 60 miles west of Las Cruces. The population was 14,116 at the 2000 census. Deming is the county seat and principal town of Luna County.-History:...
.
Cooke's Springs
Cooke's Springs were named for Philip St. George CookePhilip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called the "Father of the U.S...
2nd U.S. Dragoons the former commander of the Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
, that was exploring this area of New Mexico in 1853. It was the only large supply of fresh water between Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2000 census...
and the Mimbres River
Mimbres River
The Mimbres River is a river in southwestern New Mexico. It forms from snow pack and runoff on the south-western slopes of the Black Range and flows into a small endorheic basin east of Deming, New Mexico. The uplands watershed are administered by the US Forest Service, while the land in the...
for wagon trains heading to California as well as the later Butterfield - Overland Stage. The Cooke's Springs Stage Station of the Butterfield - Overland stage route was located near Cooke's Springs from 1858 to 1861.
Cooke's Springs were located at the eastern mouth of Cooke's Canyon a narrow gap in the Mimbres Mountains. Between 1848 and 1861 the pass had become a dangerous place for hundreds of travelers who were often ambushed and killed by the Apache as they passed through it. Following the Bascom Affair
Bascom Affair
The Bascom Affair is considered to be the key event in triggering the 1860s Apache War. The Apache Wars were fought during the nineteenth century between the U.S. military and many tribes in what is now the southwestern United States...
things were even worse as the Apache, formerly friendly to the stage company destroyed most of the stations and destroyed many coaches and killed their passengers. Cooke's Pass was a favored location for these ambushes and it acquired the name Massacre Canyon after incidents like the Battle of Cooke's Canyon
Battle of Cooke's Canyon
The Battle of Cooke's Canyon was an engagement of the Apache Wars fought in August of 1861, between settlers from Confederate Arizona, and Chiricahua Apaches. It occurred about forty miles northwest of Mesilla, in Cooke's Canyon...
.
Fort Cummings
The Fort was first established nearby the stage station on October 2, 1863, by Captain Valentine Dresher, Company B, 1st California Infantry1st California Infantry
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.-History:...
, of the California Column
California Column
The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...
. Fort Cummings was established to control the Apache Indians, and to protect the Butterfield - Overland stage route and the southern overland road to California where it passed through Cooke's Pass.
The fort was built up over the next ten years as an adobe walled fort, surrounded by a 10-foot high wall that enclosed a parade ground, corral and several single-story adobe buildings around the wall.
The fort was evacuated and entered a caretaker status in 1870 and abandoned in 1873. However it was reoccupied later when Apache under Victorio
Victorio
Victorio was a warrior and chief of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apaches in what is now the American states of New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua....
, launched a campaign against the white American settlers in 1880. It was known as "Camp at Fort Cummings" from 1880 to 1884 and in 1886 during later Apache troubles. Again abandoned it only remains as some eroding adobe walls, and along with the nearby sited of the stage station and post graveyard to the south.
Garrisons
- Company B, 1st California Infantry Regiment, October 2, 1863 - June, 1864
- Company I, 5th California Infantry Regiment, June, 1864 - October, 1864
- Company F, 5th California Infantry Regiment, 1864 - November 1864
- Company F, 1st California Veteran Infantry Battalion1st Battalion of Veteran InfantryThe 1st Battalion of Veteran Infantry was a California Volunteer infantry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States....
, January 1865 - Disbanded at Fort Cummings, March 16, 1865. - Company B, 1st California Veteran Infantry Battalion, April 1865 - August 1866
- Scout from Fort Cummings April 28 - May 13, 1865
- Company D, 125th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops, August 12, 1866 - October 2, 1867
- Company A, U.S. 38th Infantry Regiment, October 1867 - June 6, 1868
- Company F, U.S. 38th Infantry Regiment, June 4, 1868 - March 15, 1869
- U.S. 24th Infantry RegimentU.S. 24th Infantry RegimentThe 24th Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and again from 1995 until 2006. The regiment is notable for having a colorfully checkered history, with a record of mostly meritorious service and valorous combat performance interspersed with episodes of...
, March 15, 1869 - 1870 Fort evacuated. - U.S. 3rd Cavalry Regiment, 1866 - 1870 Detachments assigned to fort.
- U.S. 4th Cavalry RegimentU.S. 4th Cavalry RegimentThe 4th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage is traced back to the mid-19th century. It was one of the most effective units of the Army against Indians on the Texas frontier. Today the regiment exists as separate squadrons within the U.S. Army...
, 1880 - 1882 Periodically used the fort site as a camp during operations against the Apache. - U.S. 8th Cavalry RegimentU.S. 8th Cavalry RegimentThe 8th Cavalry Regiment was constituted 28 July 1866 and organized as a regiment on 21 September 1866 at Camp Reynolds, Angel Island, California. Enlisted personnel were "composed chiefly of men enlisted on the Pacific Coast, and included many of the class styled 'Forty-niners'; men who had worked...
, 1882 - 1886 Periodically used the fort site as a camp during operations against the Apache.
Source
- William Thornton Parker, Annals of old Fort Cummings, New Mexico, 1867-8, Published by Author, Northampton, Mass., 1916.
- Records of California men in the war of the rebellion 1861 to 1867, By California. Adjutant General's Office, SACRAMENTO: State Office, J. D. Young, Supt. State Printing. 1890.