The Village of Fort Sumner, New Mexico is a nostalgic symbol of the American Old West, but it also represents a sad time in American history as the location of atrocities committed against the Navajo and Mescalero Apache.
Fort Sumner was built in 1862 when Brig. General James Carleton was granted permission by Congress to transform a former trading village in eastern New Mexico into a United States Army post. Fort Sumner was a response to accusations that the United States government failed to protect settlers from attacks by Navajo and Mescalero Apache. In addition to the creation of Fort Sumner, the United States Congress also designated the nearby Bosque Redondo Reservation for the relocation of the Mescalero Apache and Navajo people.
The Long Walks
Beginning in 1864, approximately 9000 Navajo and Mescalero Apache were forced to relocate from their lands in Arizona and New Mexico to the Bosque Redondo Reservation near Fort Sumner in a "Long Walk" led by Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson. Carson followed General Carleton’s orders to take all Navajo in Arizona’s Canyon de Chelle as prisoners and kill anyone who resisted. Carson did so by scorching the land to eliminate all food sources. At least 200 Navajo died of starvation and exposure during the 18 day, 300 mile walk through New Mexico and many women and children were stolen during the process for use as slaves. According to the New Mexico State Monuments website, an additional 1/3 of the prisoners died in captivity.
The Long Walk Back Home
In 1868, following numerous investigations, the U.S. Army admitted that both Fort Sumner and the Bosque Redondo Reservation were failures and General Carleton was relieved of duty. By that time, most of the Mescalero Apache escaped. A treaty was signed with the Navajo allowing them to return to their former homeland and granting them a 3.5 million acre reservation. On June 8, 1868, the Navajo captives left Fort Sumner for the "Long Walk Home." A museum now marks the site of the Bosque Redondo Reservation and explains the history of these events.
Charles Goodnight, Oliver Loving, and the Goodnight/Loving Trail
During this same time period, in 1866, former Texas Ranger Charles Goodnight and cattle rancher Oliver Loving joined their herds for a historic cattle drive north. They stopped in Fort Sumner and sold a large number of cattle to the U.S. Army then continued on to Denver, establishing the Goodnight/Loving cattle trail. Goodnight returned to Texas for a second herd and Loving rode ahead to secure government contracts. Loving was attacked by 500 Comanche and seriously wounded. He managed to escape and made his way back to Fort Sumner where he later died from his wounds.
Lucien Maxwell
After the U.S. Army left Fort Sumner it was purchased by Lucien Maxwell, the largest private landowner in the world, who owned a total of 1,714,765 acres in New Mexico and Colorado. Maxwell was a former fur trapper and mountain man from Illinois who traveled in the John C. Fremont expeditions with Kit Carson in the 1840s. He inherited a large quantity of land from his wife’s father and built a cattle empire, then sold most of his holdings. When he purchased the abandoned Fort Sumner, he remodeled the office quarters into a 20 room mansion and lived in this mansion for the remainder of his life. Maxwell died at Fort Sumner in 1875.
Peter Maxwell and Billy the Kid
Lucien Maxwell had a son, Peter Maxwell, who was also a close friend of the Regulator/outlaw, William Henry McCarty, or Billy the Kid. In 1881, Billy the Kid returned to Maxwell’s ranch seeking refuge after escaping from jail. Although there are some historians who dispute this, it is widely believed that Sheriff Pat Garrett tracked Billy the Kid to the Maxwell property and shot him in Maxwell’s home. Billy the Kid’s grave is in Fort Sumner, along with an extensive collection of memorabilia in the Billy the Kid Museum.
NASA’s Scientific Ballooning Program
Fort Sumner has an interesting modern history, as well! The Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner in the 1920s, but the airline closed this airfield during the Great Depression when the company shut down. The Army Air Corps took over, using the fort as a World War II training base. After the war, the airfield became the Fort Sumner Municipal Airport. It is also the second permanent launch site of NASA's Scientific Balloon Flight Facility. There are two operational balloon launch campaigns conducted at Fort Sumner each year in spring and fall. The old World War II hangar is still used as a work area.
Sources:
- Banks, Phyllis Eileen. "Bosque Redondo--Destination of the long walk." SouthernNewMexico.com. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- " Bosque Redondo Memorial." New Mexico State Monuments. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- Forbis, William H. The Old West: The Cowboys. Time Life Books. Canada:1974.
- NASA's Scientific Balloon Flight Facility. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- Village of Fort Sumner , New Mexico Website. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
Darla Sue Dollman - Darla Sue Dollman, BA, MFA, has expertise in classic films, the Old West, boating, and animals.
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