Ruins of Fort Craig - New Mexico
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Ruins of Fort Craig - New Mexico
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The ruins of Fort Craig, New Mexico, not much remains but the flag pole and a few adobe and stone walls.
Fort Craig, a U.S. Army fort, sits on the Rio Grande along the El Camino Real in south-central New Mexico's Soccoro County. The Fort is between the rugged San Mateo Mountains to the west, and the brooding Black Mesa, a volcanic mesa to the east, is punctuated by the desolate Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death). Jornada del Muerto was a trail segment with no water that took more than a week to travel back in the day.
Constructed in 1854, the Army spent the early years at Fort Craig conducting campaigns against the Native Americans.
By 1861, with the Civil War threat on the horizon, Union Fort Craig was now the largest Fort in the Southwest with over 2,000 soldiers.
On February 21 1862, the Battle of Valverde, the most significant Civil War battle in the Western Territories, was fought at Valverde Crossing on the Rio Grande just north of the Fort. Both sides took heavy casualties. While the action was considered a major Confederate success on the battlefield, they could not take Fort Craig. The Union located the Confederates supply wagons and burned them, forcing them to march northward without supplies.
After the Civil War, the Fort returned its attention to the Indian Campaigns, protecting the central portion of the El Camino Real and controlling Apache and Navajo raiding.
Fort Craig, permanently abandoned in 1885, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Coyright 2022 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
March 4th, 2022
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