Fort Stanton
Encyclopedia
Fort Stanton was a U.S. military fort built in New Mexico
in the United States
. It was established to protect settlements along the Rio Bonito in the Apache Wars
. Kit Carson
, John "Black Jack" Pershing, Billy the Kid
, and Buffalo Soldiers of the 8th and 9th Cavalry all lived here.
Confederate forces occupied the outpost in the beginning of the American Civil War
after the post was abandoned with the withdrawal of U.S. forces in the region.
The Mescalero Apache
live in the area near the Fort.
Fort Stanton property became America's first federal tuberculosis hospital. In World War II it interned both German and Japanese.
Today, Fort Stanton is a popular site for military reenactments and recreational horse riding. It has over 360 miles of trails and is the venue of an annual endurance riding
event that has grown to be 6 days long. Fort Stanton is on BLM
land surrounded by the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest
.
In 2008, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson announced plans to establish Fort Stanton as a living history venue, Fort Stanton State Monument, and funds to renovate headquarters, officers quarters, and stables.
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was established to protect settlements along the Rio Bonito in the Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
. Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
, John "Black Jack" Pershing, Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
, and Buffalo Soldiers of the 8th and 9th Cavalry all lived here.
Confederate forces occupied the outpost in the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
after the post was abandoned with the withdrawal of U.S. forces in the region.
The Mescalero Apache
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
live in the area near the Fort.
Fort Stanton property became America's first federal tuberculosis hospital. In World War II it interned both German and Japanese.
Today, Fort Stanton is a popular site for military reenactments and recreational horse riding. It has over 360 miles of trails and is the venue of an annual endurance riding
Endurance riding
Endurance riding is an equestrian sport based on controlled long-distance races. It is one of the international competitions recognized by the FEI. There are endurance rides worldwide....
event that has grown to be 6 days long. Fort Stanton is on BLM
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
land surrounded by the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest
Lincoln National Forest
The Lincoln National Forest is a protected national forest in the State of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. It was established in 1902 and covers 1,103,828 acres...
.
In 2008, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson announced plans to establish Fort Stanton as a living history venue, Fort Stanton State Monument, and funds to renovate headquarters, officers quarters, and stables.
See also
- Ruidoso, New MexicoRuidoso, New MexicoRuidoso is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, adjacent to the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 8,029 at the 2010 census...
- Capitan, New MexicoCapitan, New MexicoCapitan is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located north of the Lincoln National Forest between the Capitan and Sacramento Mountains at an elevation of 6,530 feet . The population was 1,443 at the 2000 census...
- Lincoln National ForestLincoln National ForestThe Lincoln National Forest is a protected national forest in the State of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. It was established in 1902 and covers 1,103,828 acres...
- Battle of MesillaBattle of MesillaThe First Battle of Mesilla, fought on July 25, 1861 at Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, was an engagement between Confederate and Union forces during the American Civil War. The battle resulted in a Confederate victory and led directly to the official establishing of a Confederate Arizona...
- Gallinas MassacreGallinas MassacreThe Gallinas Massacre or the Gallinas Mountains Massacre was an engagement in the Apache Wars between a war party of Chiricahua Apache warriors and four Confederate soldiers in the Gallinas Mountains of Confederate Arizona, now within the present day New Mexico.-Massacre:On September 1, 1861, at...