Fort Fauntleroy (Bear Springs (Ojo del Oso), New Mexico)
Bear Springs (Ojo del Oso) · New Mexico · Navajo Wars
History & Significance
Established in August 1860 at Bear Springs (Ojo del Oso) in response to mounting tensions between Navajo bands and American settlers, Fort Fauntleroy served as an outpost of Fort Defiance for Colonel Edward R. S. Canby's 1860 campaign. Named after Colonel Thomas T. Fauntleroy of the 1st U.S. Dragoons, the installation was designed as a temporary tent camp to monitor Navajo movement and distribute government rations intended to reduce raiding pressure.
On February 18, 1861, a second treaty with the Navajo was signed at the fort. However, the post gained tragic notoriety on September 22, 1861, when a dispute erupted during a friendly horse race between Navajo attendees and New Mexico Volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Antonio Chaves.
Following allegations of cheating, Chaves ordered his men to fire into the Navajo crowd, killing twelve—mostly women and children—and wounding approximately forty others. The massacre ended all future ration distributions and severely damaged diplomatic efforts.
When Colonel Fauntleroy subsequently resigned to join the Confederacy, the post was renamed Fort Lyon on September 25, 1861. With the onset of the Civil War, the garrison was ordered to Camp San Rafael near present-day Grants on December 12, 1862, and the fort was abandoned. The site at Bear Springs became militarily inactive but remained historically significant as it would later be reoccupied by Fort Wingate in 1868 to administer the return of Navajo from the Bosque Redondo.
Key Facts
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Sources
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-wingate-historic-district.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Walk_of_the_Navajo
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Wars
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wingate
- https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/38092
- https://newmexicohistory.org/places/fort-wingate-1
- https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/apache-and-navajo-war