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 8th and 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 Mescalero Apache live in the area near the Fort.
Fort Stanton property became America's first federal tuberculosis hospital. In World War II it interned both German and Japanese.
Today, Fort Stanton is a popular site for military reenactments and recreational horse riding. It has over 360 miles of trails and is the venue of an annual endurance riding event that has grown to be 6 days long. Fort Stanton is on BLM land surrounded by the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest.
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.
Famous quotes containing the words fort and/or stanton:
“For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you are a wise man, Van Helsing.”
—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)
“Whether our feet are compressed in iron shoes, our faces hidden with veils and masks; whether yoked with cows to draw the plow through its furrows, or classed with idiots, lunatics and criminals in the laws and constitutions of the State, the principle is the same; for the humiliations of the spirit are as real as the visible badges of servitude.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)