Fort Stanton

Early photograph of Fort Stanton.

Fort Stanton (built 1855) 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 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 Fort was originally established in part as the Mescalero Apache reservation. In 1873 the reservation was moved 30 miles southwest and that location remains the current reservation.

Fort Stanton property became America's first federal tuberculosis hospital. In World War II it interned both German and Japanese. 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.

In 2009, the area around Fort Stanton and Fort Stanton Cave was designated by the U.S. Congress as a National Conservation Area (NCA), with more than 25,000 acres in order to protect a unique cave resource, Snowy River Passage in Fort Stanton Cave National Natural Landmark. Snowy River was discovered in 2001 by members of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Project. The new NCA, called Fort Stanton – Snowy River Cave, is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Roswell Field Office. The NCA has over 90 miles of multi-use trails for horseback riding, mountain bike riding and hiking. It is the venue of an annual endurance riding event that has grown to be 6 days long. The NCA is joined on its south and northeast boundaries by the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest.

In 2012, members of the Southwestern Region of the National Speleological Society completed a restoration project on the second floor balcony of Building #9, located on the Fort Stanton Quadrangle.

See also

• Escape from Fort Stanton
• Battle of Mesilla
• Gallinas Massacre

References

Sanitarium

• Cobb, J. O. (December 1899). "The Arid Region Of The United States For Consumptives". New York NY: The Medico-Legal Society Of New York. pp. 501–511. http://books.google.com/books?id=O4YCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA501#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• Cobb, J. O. (December 1900). "The Sanitarium for Consumptive Sailors Established: The U.S. Marine Hospital Service At Fort Stanton, N.M.". pp. 290–296. http://books.google.com/books?id=ga9XAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA290#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• Huber, John Bessner (1906). Consumption: Its Relation To Man And His Civilization. Philadelphia PA: J. B. Lippincott. pp. 265–274. http://books.google.com/books?id=yKRYx2NWEF8C&pg=PA265#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• Newman, Oliver P. (July 1904). "Government Care Of Consumptives". pp. 59–64. http://books.google.com/books?id=PDIzi0NYqucC&pg=PA59#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• Reed, Alfred C. (April 1913). "United States Public Health Service". New York NY: The Science Press. pp. 353–375. http://books.google.com/books?id=LK8VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA359#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• Rosenau, R. J. (1900). "Report on the Work of the Marine Hospital Service at Fort Stanton, New Mexico". New York NY: The Medico-Legal Society Of New York. pp. 504–508. http://books.google.com/books?id=2RcCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA504#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• "Marine Hospital Sanatorium, Fort Stanton, New Mexico". January 1918. pp. 7–9. http://books.google.com/books?id=_FAhAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA7#. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 

World War II Internment Center

• Anderson, William E. (1993). Guests for the Duration, World War II and the Crew of the S.S. Columbus: Historical Archaeological Investigation of the Fort Stanton Internment Camp (1941-1945). Eastern New Mexico University. 
• Fiset, Louis (Spring 2001). "Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II". Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/spring/mail-censorship-in-world-war-two-1.html. Retrieved May 2, 2012. 
• McBride, James J. (1996). Interned: Internment Of The SS Columbus Crew During World War II. University of New Mexico. 
• "Stores and Germans "Sever Relations"". April 29, 1941. pp. 7. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PvFXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SvUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4519%2C6612896. 
• "Chief Of Interned Men Threatens To Move "Business"". April 29, 1941. pp. 1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0zBSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5384%2C2139086. 
• "Posse Recaptures Fugitive Germans: Ranchers and Cattlemen Round Up Quartet From New Mexico Camp". November 4, 1942. pp. 20. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sL4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=05gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4300%2C671310. 
• "Kuhn Goes On Hunger Strike: Increased Recreational Facilities Sought". August 30, 1944. pp. 9. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5e9iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rXUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7054%2C6164473. 

External links

• Friends of Fort Stanton historical page
• Fort Stanton, Lincoln County New Mexico
• American Southwest, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• AERC.org: Fort Stanton Cave (slideshow)