Fort Wingate
Encyclopedia
Fort Wingate is near Gallup, New Mexico
. There were two locations in New Mexico that had this name. The first one was located near San Rafael. The current fort was established on the southern edge of the Navajo territory in 1862. The initial purpose of the fort was to control the large Navajo
tribe to its north. It was involved with the Navajo's Long Walk
. From 1870 onward the garrison was concerned with Apaches to the south and hundreds of Navajo Scouts
were enlisted at the fort through 1890.
The above extracted from (AMCIS-102 dated 1 July 1970 Ft Wingate).
Gallup, New Mexico
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
. There were two locations in New Mexico that had this name. The first one was located near San Rafael. The current fort was established on the southern edge of the Navajo territory in 1862. The initial purpose of the fort was to control the large Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
tribe to its north. It was involved with the Navajo's Long Walk
Long Walk of the Navajo
The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo , refers to the 1864 deportation of the Navajo people by the U.S. Government. Navajos were forced to walk at gunpoint from their reservation in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. The trip lasted about 18 days...
. From 1870 onward the garrison was concerned with Apaches to the south and hundreds of Navajo Scouts
Navajo Scouts
The Navajo Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts between 1873 and 1895. Generally, the scouts were signed up at Fort Wingate for six month enlistments. In the period 1873 to 1885, there were usually ten to twenty-five scouts attached to units...
were enlisted at the fort through 1890.
History
- 1860 A temporary post, Fort Fauntleroy, was established at Bear Springs (Ojo del Oso), a place visited by Navajos. Later it was renamed Fort Lyon, when General Thomas T. Fauntleroy, for whom the fort was originally named, joined the Confederates.
- 1862 The post was renamed Fort Wingate after the abandonment of an army post of that name located sixty miles away in San Rafael, New Mexico. It was named for Major Benjamin Wingate, 5th U.S. Infantry, who received wounds to his legs during the Battle of ValverdeBattle of ValverdeThe Battle of Valverde, or the Battle of Valverde Ford from February 20 to February 21, 1862, was fought near the town of Valverde at a ford of Valverde Creek in Confederate Arizona, in what is today the state of New Mexico. It was a major Confederate success in the New Mexico Campaign of the...
.- September General Edward CanbyEdward CanbyEdward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War, Reconstruction era, and the Indian Wars...
ordered a new fort to be placed at the headwaters of the Gallo River. It was designed to house four companies of troops.
- September General Edward Canby
- 1864 Colonel Kit CarsonKit CarsonChristopher 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...
was ordered by Canby to bring four companies of the First New Mexico Volunteers to the fort to control the Navajo. - 1865 there were 3,089 troops in the New Mexico Military District, 135 at Fort Wingate.
- It was the staging point for Navajos being sent on the Long Walk
- 1873 - 1886 Participated in Apache WarsApache WarsThe 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...
with troops and recruited Navajo ScoutsNavajo ScoutsThe Navajo Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts between 1873 and 1895. Generally, the scouts were signed up at Fort Wingate for six month enlistments. In the period 1873 to 1885, there were usually ten to twenty-five scouts attached to units...
. - 1878 there were 137 troops at Fort Wingate.
- Was asked to settle disagreements between Navajo and citizens in New Mexico 1868-1895.
- 1891 Assisted Arizona units with angry HopiHopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
s - 1907 Two troops of the 5th Cavalry went from Fort Wingate to the Four Corners area after some armed Navajo. This was the last armed expedition the US Government ever made against the Navajo. One Navajo was killed and the rest escaped
- 1911 A company of cavalry went from Ft. Wingate to Chaco Canyon and camped there several days to quell a possible uprising by Navajo
- 1914 Over 2,000 Mexican soldiers and their families were given refuge at the fort from the Mexican Civil War
- 1918 Fort Wingate focus turned from Navajo to World War I .
- 1940 Used to store munitions from World War II onward.
- 1950 Bureau of Indian Affairs given part of the land for Indian boarding school
- RedstoneRedstone (rocket)The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range surface-to-surface rocket, it was in active service with the U.S. Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe...
and the Pershing 1 rockets were tested among other things at Wingate - 1993 the Base Realignment and ClosureBase Realignment and ClosureBase Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
Act (BRAC) closes the post. Environmental cleanup and land transfer to the surrounding community continues to the present day.
Famous military figures
Several famous military commanders cycled through Fort Wingate's history.- Lt. Gatewood (later convinced Gerinimo to surrender) led many patrols out of Wingate
- 1881-85 General Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthurGeneral of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
lived at the fort as an infant, with his father who was a Captain in command of Company K, 13th US Infantry13th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 13th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment whose battalions are currently tasked as basic training battalions.- History :...
. - 1889-90 General John J. (Black Jack) Pershing served as Lieutenant at the fort.
The above extracted from (AMCIS-102 dated 1 July 1970 Ft Wingate).
External links
- http://www.astronautix.com/sites/forngate.htm Includes chronology and launch log.
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-wingate.htm Includes comprehensive history on Fort Wingate.
- http://www.ftwingate.org/ Website dedicated to the cleanup