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Overview- Front Side of Brochure
The front side of the brochure opens with a picture of Fort Craigs Captains Quarters from left to right, as it stands today, pillars of rock formations in a long-standing wall separated by open space between the pillars; the blue sky behind it in the horizon, the desert floor sprinkled with wild grasses and tumble weeds, the picture is surrounded by a white border. In the upper right-hand corner, in a black box with blue lines separating the text, is the symbol for the BLM, in an upside-down triangle that is blue green with trees in a horizon, reads from left to right, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Between the blue lines reads left to right Fort Craig, 1854- 1885.
Detailed Text, Map, and Photographs under their own sections within this audio brochure.
Surrounded by a white border, are three seperate sections divided by a long brown line that is horizontally placed below each section. Each section holds text and photographs for each period covered.
Opening title in large brown lettering “Before Fort Craig”. Text reads from left to right in black text on a light gray background.
Fort Craig lies in south central New Mexico on the Rio Grande, with the rugged San Mateo Mountains to the west and a brooding volcanic mesa punctuating the desolate Jornada del Muerto to the east. Native Americans, The Piro made their home in this area of the Rio Grande Valley. They lived in scattered villages (pueblos), and grew corn, beans and squash on the floodplains. The Apache also lived here, though they preferred mountainous areas, and alternately traded with and raided the Piro settlements. The arrival of the Spanish marked the beginning of the end of a way of life for both the Piro and the Apache. Although the Piro had a tense coexistence with the Spanish, mission churches were established including the San Miguel Mission at Pilabó, present day Socorro. After the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, many of the Piro moved south to the El Paso, Texas area with the Spanish, probably against their will. Others scattered and joined other Pueblos, leaving the Apache in control of the region. The Spanish returned in 1692 but did not resettle the central Rio Grande valley for a century. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, or The Royal Road of the Interior, was the lifeline that connected Mexico City with Ohkay Owingeh, (just north of Santa Fe). After a week or more on a segment of the trail known as the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death), traveling without water and in constant fear of Apache raids, weary northbound caravans rested and watered their exhausted animals near Fort Craig. As travelers proceeded north, they funneled their livestock herds along a narrow passage between a prominent volcanic mesa and the Rio Grande just northeast of Fort Craig. Here, at Mesa del Contadero or “Counter’s Mesa,” an observer on the mesa top counted the livestock that survived the deadly journey as they were herded through the narrow passage.
Opening title in large brown lettering “Civil War”. Text reads from left to right in black text on a light gray background.
The Army had spent the early years at Fort Craig conducting campaigns against Native Americans when a new threat appeared on the horizon — Confederates. By July of 1861, Fort Craig had become the largest fort in the Southwest with over 2,000 soldiers and growing. The same year, the First New Mexico Volunteer Infantry Regiment was formed. This largely Hispanic regiment served with courage and honor under the command of Colonel Kit Carson. In 1862, after capturing several military installations in southern New Mexico, General Henry Hopkins Sibley led an enthusiastic but poorly equipped brigade of about 2,500 Confederate troops up the Rio Grande to Fort Craig. Colonel R.S. Canby, the military governor of the New Mexico Territory, moved his troops from Santa Fe to Fort Craig with full knowledge of Sibley’s movements through information received from Paddy Graydon’s Spy Company and local New Mexicans. Fort Craig’s new massive gravel bastions were ‘reinforced’ with Quaker Guns (fake wooden cannons) and empty soldiers’ caps alongside real cannons and caps with real Union soldiers under them. This impressive show squelched any Confederate plans for a direct assault. After days of unsuccessfully trying to lure Union forces from their heavily protected fort, Confederates moved north in an attempt to maneuver around Fort Craig and cut off Union supplies. With the Confederates on the move, Canby started north to ensure Fort Craig was not left isolated and vulnerable.
DESCRIBING: A medium sized photograph
DESCRIPTION: This rectangular, horizontally placed colored photograph of a reenactment of the confederate lancers in their gray uniforms, carrying long poles with red confederate flags atop, riding horses from towards the horizon of a desert landscape full of desert yellow, brown and green grassland and a tabletop black mesa in the background. The sky is a cloudy gray in the background adding contrast to the black mesa.
CAPTION: Confederate Lancers, Battle of Valverde Reenactment, February 2004.
CREDIT: Bureau of Land Management
Opening title in large brown lettering “Indian Wars to present”. Text reads from left to right in black text on a light gray background.
After the end of the Civil War, the Army returned its attention to the Indian Campaigns. The primary function of the fort was to control Apache and Navajo raiding, and to protect the central portion of the Camino Real. Military excursions from the fort pursued such notable Apache leaders as Geronimo, Victorio and Nana. By the late 1870s, attempts to control Indian raiding began to succeed. The Western Apache were subdued and forced to abandon their traditional homelands and move onto reservations. The conditions on the reservations—disease, famine, cultural misunderstandings, and shifting or dishonest policies —incited numerous escapes. The most famous of these rebellions was the escape of the Chihenne (Warm Springs Apache) first led by Victorio, then by Nana. After seeing the decimation of their numbers on the reservations, Chief Victorio decided to escape from the San Carlos reservation and return his people to their homeland. Fort Craig became a staging area for the Army— this time to pursue the Apache. Victorio died in an ambush at Tres Castillos, Mexico where most of the band—over half of whom were women and children —were killed or captured by the Mexican Army. Eighty-year-old Nana joined forces with Geronimo and fought the Army for four more years before surrendering. Nana died in captivity at the age of 96, still unbroken. Geronimo and Nana surrendered in 1885, and Fort Craig was permanently abandoned —its military function no longer needed. Nine years later, Fort Craig was sold at auction to the only bidder, the Valverde Land and Irrigation Company. The property was eventually donated to the Archaeological Conservancy by the Oppenheimer family and transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1981. The site is a BLM Special Management Area and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2014 the Bureau of Land Management reconstructed a portion of the historic earthworks in honor of the soldiers who built and defended Fort Craig. The plans used modern materials with dimensions based on historic photographs, blueprints and cross-sections found in National and State archives. The intent was to convey the magnitude of the fortifications, and the labor required to build them. The original earthworks were built during the winter of 1861-62 as the Confederate army approached from the south and Fort Craig braced for attack.
DESCRIBING: A medium square photograph
DESCRIPTION: A medium square black and white photograph with a brown border. The background is a deep wooded forest background with bare leafed trees. Leaves are thick on the ground. In the left side of the foreground sitting on the leaves are three men in hats, long sleeved shirts, and pants, one has a long handlebar mustache. Sitting next to the three men, near the middle of the photograph is an older Indigenous man with sharp cheekbones, head covered by a cloth bandana, this is Geronimo. Sitting next to him in a shaded darker area, are four more indigenous men in the shade, one directly behind Geronimo. All men are wearing hats except the man behind Geronimo, which is wearing a dark colored bandana. Behind these men, in the lit-up background, out of the shade are two indigenous men wearing light colored clothing. Standing next to them directly in the middle background is a man standing with his hands on his hip in front of a horse. Standing in the background right hand side amongst the tree branches is many indigenous individuals. In the foreground of the right-hand side of the photo is seven men sitting on the ground in leaves and on rocks. They are all wearing hats, long sleeves and pants with riding boots for horse riding. The man second in from the foreground is wearing light colored gloves. General Crook and Geronimo deliberate over the Chiricahua Apache's terms of surrender. Geronimo is third from the left wearing a bandana, and Crook is second from the right. They are among US soldiers, Chiricahua warriors, and Apache scouts.
CAPTION: Geronimo and Nana surrender to General Crook
CREDIT: Public Domain/ Library of Congress, C.S. Fly 1886
Surrounded by a white border, a timeline sits on a gray background, with a horizontal brown line at the bottom. The left side has large brown text that says Timeline placed vertically along the middle crease of the brochure. The timeline is in black letters on a light gray background. There are dates lining vertically to the Timeline text, the dates are set vertically from the corresponding events, separated by a brown line that sits vertically between the two.
1540 Coronado expedition; Area inhabited by Piro and Apache. 1598, Spanish colonial era begins. 1821, Mexico wins independence from Spain. 1845, Texas annexed by the United States. 1846, New Mexico invaded by U.S. General Stephen Watts Kearney; Territorial period begins. 1849, Garrison established in Socorro. 1849 –1851, 1851 Fort Conrad activated. 1851–1854, 1854 Fort Craig activated.
The transition from Spanish to Mexican rule in 1821 didn’t bring many changes. When U.S. General Stephen Watts Kearney invaded in 1846 with his Army of the West, he promised that the U.S. would put an end to Indian raids. The U.S. established a network of forts in the new U.S. Territory of New Mexico, including a garrison at Socorro in 1849. The Socorro Garrison was replaced by Fort Conrad in 1851 and ultimately Fort Craig, in 1854.
Surrounded by a white border, a rectangle shaped photograph surrounded by a brown border sits on a parchment brown background. Text underneath with a horizontal brown line at the bottom separating sections.
DESCRIBING: A medium rectangular photograph
DESCRIPTION: A medium sized, black and white rectangular photograph, surrounded by a brown border, surrounded by a background in parchment brown. Small text on left hand side vertically stretching the side of the photograph reads Photo courtesy of the National Archives. Underneath the photograph stretching horizontally reads, Fort Craig circa 1865–1868: U.S. soldiers in front of the enlisted men’s quarters.
In the background stands the enlisted men's quarters, a white building, with five pillars in the front. Four trees are standing in front of the building. A line of twenty soldiers in uniform are standing on the dirt ground in the foreground of the photograph, lining up horizontally from left to right stretching across the photograph.
CAPTION: Fort Craig circa 1865–1868: U.S. soldiers in front of the enlisted men’s quarters
CREDIT: National Archives
Text under photograph reads: Life at Fort Craig - Information on life at the fort, both positive and negative, has come from post returns, family letters and official correspondence. Although the routines of military life could be tedious, and sometimes dangerous, Fort Craig was apparently not a bad duty station. By 1859, post returns indicate that many of the amenities of life, including newspapers, magazines, books and social events were available to the occupants of the fort.
Surrounded by a white border, a timeline sits on a gray background, with a horizontal brown line at the bottom. The left side has large brown text that reads Timeline placed vertically along the middle crease of the brochure. The timeline is in black letters on a light gray background. There are dates lining vertically to the Timeline text, the dates are set vertically from the corresponding events, separated by a brown line that sits vertically between the two.
Text reads: 1861 Confederate States of America is formed. 1861 Confederates invade New Mexico from Texas. 1862 Battle of Valverde. February 21, Battle of Glorieta. March 28, 1863, In the “Long Walk,” Navajos and Apache are relocated to Bosque Redondo. 1864 General William T. Sherman’s march through Georgia. 1865, End of the Civil War. April 9, 1865, President Lincoln is assassinated, April 14.
On February 21, 1862, the Blue and the Gray clashed at Valverde Crossing, with both sides taking heavy casualties. At the end of the day, the Confederates held the field of battle, the Union still held Fort Craig, and the New Mexico Volunteers under Col. Miguel Pino found the Confederates’ supply wagons and burned them. What remained of Confederate supplies were lost at the Battle of Glorieta (east of Santa Fe) on March 28th, forcing them to retreat to Texas and ending the Confederate push for military conquest of the West.
IMAGE 4 of 6: A photograph
DESCRIBING: A small, square photograph
DESCRIPTION: A medium sized, black and white rectangular photograph, surrounded by a brown border, surrounded by a background in parchment brown. In the foreground of the photo, a Buffalo Soldier sits atop a dark brown horse in his uniform. A blanket is draped over the saddle in front of the soldier. The soldier is holding the horses' reigns. In the background there are a few buildings. There is snow on the ground that contrasts highly with the dark horse, and dark clothed soldier.
CAPTION: None
CREDIT: Courtesy Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
Text sits next to photo on the right-side reading left to right. After the Civil War African American soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and the 38th and 125th Infantry served at Fort Craig in the segregated frontier army. The infantry units served from 1866 to 1869, and the cavalry units in 1876, 1877, 1880 and 1881, during the Apache Wars. The courage and dedication of these “Buffalo Soldiers” was such that General William Tecumseh Sherman was moved to remark “They are good troops; they make first rate soldiers, are faithful to their tasks and are as brave as the occasion calls for.”
Surrounded by a white border, a timeline sits on a gray background, with a horizontal brown line at the bottom. The left side has large brown text that says Timeline placed vertically along the middle crease of the brochure. The timeline is in black letters on a light gray background. There are dates lining vertically to the Timeline text, the dates are set vertically from the corresponding events, separated by a brown line that sits vertically between the two.
Text reads: 1868, Navajos and Apache are allowed to return to their homelands after thousands die of disease and starvation. 1877, Victorio and the Warm Spring Apache escape from San Carlos Reservation. 1880, Victorio dies at Tres Castillos, Mexico. 1881, Army wages campaign against Nana and his band Billy the Kid shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner. 1885, Nana & Geronimo surrender. Fort Craig permanently de-commissioned. 1912, New Mexico Statehood. 1981, BLM acquires Fort Craig. 2004, Fort Craig's 150th Anniversary commemoration. 2014, BLM reconstructs a portion of Fort Craig bastion.
Underneath the Timeline is a photograph.
DESCRIBING: A small, square photograph
DESCRIPTION: A small sized, color square photograph, surrounded by a brown border, surrounded by a light gray background. In the background of the photo, sits a blue sky over a desert brown earth. In the foreground, all wooden bastion stands in a dry moat that stretches across the photograph from the back to the front. The bastion is made from wooden logs standing vertically from the ground up, side by side, to make an earthen wall. In the right foreground is a mound of earth attached to the bastion. The original earthwork bastions were built using materials and dimensions based on historic photographs, blueprints, and cross-sections. The reconstruction in 2014 aimed to convey the magnitude of the fortifications and the labor required to build them.
CAPTION: None
CREDIT: None
A small vertically placed black and white rectangular photo.
IMAGE 6 of 6: A photograph
DESCRIBING: A small, rectangle photograph.
DESCRIPTION: A small sized, vertically placed black and white rectangular photo, surrounded by a brown border, surrounded by a parchment paper brown background. The photograph is of Apache prisoners, Geronimo in the lower right foreground wearing a white shirt, white pants, and a white hat. In the background, an unknow individual wearing a white shirt and black vest is sitting next to Lozen. Lozen is in the middle top left wearing a gray shirt and dark skirt, second from her left is Dahteste who is wearing a white skirt. An unknown individual sitting next to her in the upper right is wearing all dark clothing.
CAPTION: Apache prisoners, 1886. Lozen is in the top row, second from left; next is Dahteste and Geronimo is at the lower right.
CREDIT: Bureau of American Ethnology Photo
Lozen, the great Warm Springs Apache woman warrior, is not as well-known as the male warriors, but to the Apache she is possibly more revered. Her brother, Chief Victorio, said “Lozen is my right hand….strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy. Lozen is a shield to her people.” Her people relied on her supernatural powers to know the location of the enemy, and to heal the wounded. Lozen and Dahteste, another woman warrior, helped negotiate the final surrender. It took an army of 5000 soldiers, as well as the Apache Scouts, to secure the surrender of this last Apache group, which consisted of about 17 men and 19 women and children. Lozen died of tuberculosis after 5 years in captivity at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama. Dahteste survived the 27 years of captivity and lived out her remaining years on the Mescalero Reservation.
Backside page, separated into two parts, top and bottom, both photos.
Surrounded on the left side, bottom side and right side by a white border, the top side is headed with a dark blue thick border. Underneath the blue is a photograph on the left side, that takes up three quarters of the page. On the right side is a much smaller photo, also with a blue border, which underneath it also has a thick blue border with white text inside.
DESCRIBING: A large photo.
DESCRIPTION: A large sized, brown photo of a map of Fort Craig. Top right-hand corner in black cursive writing says, Ground Plan of Fort Craig N. Mexico by un-legible. 1866, Scale, un-legible. Map shows a drawing of Fort Craigs layout with the top being North and right side being West, facing the Northwest is the Offices, Guard House, and Adjuncts Office. In the Southwest corner is the Commanding Officers Quarters, and more South to that is the Commissary. Along the Southwest to the South is the Soldiers Quarters. On the outer Southeast Wall lies the stables and Corrales, along the inside of the Southeast wall lies the Sutlers Store, Quartermasters Offices, Blacksmith, Carpenter, Quartermasters Store, Offices, and to the East Corner lied the Old and New Hospital. On the Northeast side lay the Officers' Quarters. In the center of the fort lay the Magazine. Surrounding the forts exterior was a bastion surrounded by a dry ditch. On the outer outlay on both the Northeast and Southwest sides were sets of sinks. Two on the North and three on the south. Directly on the South corner past the ditch was the Hay Yard. On the bottom left of the picture of the map is another inlayed of a map of the freeway, I-25 pointing North with directions to Fort Craig using exits 115 or 124.
CAPTION: None.
CREDIT: None
DESCRIBING: A medium, rectangle photograph.
DESCRIPTION: A medium sized, vertically placed color rectangular photo, surrounded by a blue border on the top and bottom, connected to the map on the left. The photograph is of Buffalo Soldiers reenactment riding their horses through the green and brown grasslands, an American flag flying in the background. The sky is gray with partly cloudy skies. The blue border below the photograph is a small rectangle shape with whit text inside.
CAPTION: The New Buffalo Soldiers, from Shadow Hills, California, reenactment at Fort Craig's 150th Anniversary commemoration, 2004. Bureau of Land Management Socorro Field Office 901 S. Highway 85 Socorro, NM 87801 575/835-0412 or www.blm.gov/new-mexico BLM/NM/GI-06-16-1330
CREDIT: Bureau of Land Managment