Tuesday Sites

Fort Craig

Maybe 2/3 of the way up I-25 from the southern end of New Mexico, there’s a turn off. Take it and drive 10+ miles of dusty road, and one reaches the remains of Fort Craig. It’s a national historic site, operated by the Bureau of Land Management. The kind of place where retirees can park a trailer and live free/cheap in return for keeping it open

View of mountains

The fort itself is mostly a matter of crumbling walls, though some still stand higher. It was part of a chain along the Royal Road (El Camino Real) leading to Santa Fe. The United States Army spent time there during campaigns against the Apache in particular (Apache no doubt have very different names for it!) Some Buffalo Soldiers were stationed there. I picked up a book in the shop containing papers delivered at a Fort Craig conference. (I confess, I haven’t read them in depth yet — my historical fantasy/magical realism writings are currently taking a more southerly route from El Paso to San Diego.

Ruined walls with path leading around them

I took a lot of pictures — but there’s only so many ruined walls one can post. So here’s a log playing the role of a cannon, placed atop a crumbling perimeter barrier

Log in the shape of a cannon lying on remains of fort wall
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