Local landmark: Fort Selden offers look into prehistoric, post-Civil War New Mexico

Editor's note: This is one in a series of landmarks — southern New Mexico historical institutions and landscape features that you may or may not be aware of before reading the article. We'll write about one landmark a month in 2022. To nominate a destination, email LRomero@lcsun-news.com.

RADIUM SPRINGS – North of Las Cruces are the ruins of Fort Selden, a Civil War-era military camp that is now a state museum open to locals and visitors alike.

Prior to the Civil War, the area Fort Selden sits upon was home to the Mogollon people. The Native American people lived there as early as 400 A.D., according to New Mexico Historic Sites.

Spanish conquistadors established the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail through the area in 1598. The over 1,500-mile path connected Mexico City to New Mexico’s San Juan Pueblo, crossing through the Village of Doña Ana and other communities. The Fort Selden area was known as Paraje Robledo, or a welcome campsite. Use of the path continued through 1882.

In 1865, Fort Selden was built along the Rio Grande using adobe by the U.S. military. This was at the end of the four-year-long U.S. Civil War, when emotions still ran high among those who respectively supported the Union and the Confederacy.

The American Indian Wars, or the Frontier Wars, were also still ongoing as members of native tribes pushed back against arriving European settlers. According to the National Park Service, the fort was established to help bring peace for settlers in the Territory of New Mexico — which did not become a state until 1912.

A few hundred units of infantry and cavalry occupied the base for several decades, including Buffalo Soldiers. The future Gen. Douglas MacArthur spent some of his childhood at the army fort where his father served as commanding officer.

Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady was also stationed at the fort in the 1870s up until his death. Brady was shot by outlaw Billy the Kid, who was later convicted of the murder.

By 1891, the fort was decommissioned and military units were re-stationed. This followed the capture of Apache leader Geronimo and the construction of a railroad in the area.

The ruins of the fort are now adjacent to the small town of Radium Springs, about 20 miles north of Las Cruces.

Fort Selden was designated a New Mexico State Monument in 1974 and is operated by the state’s museum system. Experts work to preserve the remaining adobe infrastructure. Visitors get the chance to take a peek into prehistoric and frontier-era New Mexico via exhibits, living history demonstrations, guided tours and other hosted events.

Museum personnel hosted a community day at the site Saturday, June 25 where adobe-building demonstrations were given, along with tours of the ruins. Ranger-guided tours have returned to the site and will be held on June 29, July 13, July 20, Aug. 6 and Aug. 31 this summer. Other activities scheduled for this summer include:

• July 2: “An Outdoor Kitchen,” learn what an horno is, about outdoor cooking and how soldiers cooked while on patrol.
• July 20: “Campfire Cooking,” learn the basics of campfire cooking with recipes and tips provided.
• July 23 from 4-9 p.m.: “Extended Nights: A Night of Folklore,” enjoy the sunset, activities, food, music and folklore at Fort Selden. Actor and vocalist Rosalia Pacheco will present La Llorona, The Wailing Woman.
• Aug. 10: “Native Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert,” learn about the plants native to the area.
• Aug. 20: “Animals of the Chihuahuan Desert,” learn about the animals that are native to the area.

The site’s trails and irrigation system are also being maintained this summer, with the addition of gravel on the trails to protect from erosion.

Fort Selden, 1280 Fort Selden Road in Radium Springs, is open for general admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Tickets cost $5 for adults, children 16 and under are admitted for free. New Mexico residents over 60 are admitted for free on Wednesdays.

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Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

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