Fort Craig (Socorro County, New Mexico)
Socorro County · New Mexico · Civil War, Indian Wars
History & Significance
The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment began constructing Fort Craig in 1853, naming it in honor of Captain Louis S. Craig, a Mexican-American War officer murdered by deserters in California in 1852. The fort's mission was to safeguard settlers and traders on El Camino Real from Apache, Navajo, and Comanche raiders.
By July 1861, Fort Craig had become the largest fort in the Southwest, with over 2,000 soldiers. When Confederate forces under Brigadier General Sibley approached in early 1862, Union troops fortified the garrison with earthen ramparts, a perimeter moat, and positioned both real cannons and "Quaker guns" (wooden fake cannons) to intimidate the advancing rebels.
At the Battle of Valverde, the Confederates held the field but suffered when New Mexico Volunteers burned their supply wagons, forcing Sibley to march north without provisions intended for Fort Craig. The fort housed Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and 38th and 125th Infantry, predominantly Hispanic New Mexico Volunteers, and figures like Kit Carson and Rafael Chacón.
Fort Craig was permanently abandoned in 1885. Archaeological digs in the 1930s led to its recognition on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and the site later came under Bureau of Land Management stewardship in 1981.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Extensive adobe and stone ruins of a Civil War-era fort along the Rio Grande
- Visitor center with exhibits on frontier military life and Apache Wars
- Commanding views of the Rio Grande valley and surrounding desert landscape
- Established 1854 to protect settlers on the Santa Fe Trail and territorial routes
Sources
- https://www.blm.gov/visit/fort-craig-historic-site
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/new-mexico-fort-craig.htm
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-craig-historic-site.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Craig
- https://www.socorrocounty.net/general-information/history
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=253260
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=253284
- https://hmdb.org/m.asp?m=24312