Near Watrous in Mora County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)
The First Fort Union
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
1. The First Fort Union Marker
More like a village than a military post was how one soldier described the First Fort Union located across the valley where you now see adobe ruins of the later Fort Union Arsenal.
Begun in the summer of 1851, First Fort Union was built by unskilled soldiers using green logs. Roofs were dirt-covered. Within a year one set of barracks had to be torn down because of decay. Nevertheless, this outpost served for ten years as base of operations for military campaigns against Indian warriors skilled in deadly hit-and-run warfare.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical year for this entry is 1851.
Location. 35° 54.289′ N, 105° 0.77′ W. Marker is near Watrous, New Mexico, in Mora County. It can be reached from New Mexico Route 161 7½ miles north of CanAm Highway (Interstate 25). Marker is located along the park trail at Fort Union National Monument. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3115 New Mexico Route 161, Watrous NM 87753, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Northern New Mexico. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, and on the Santa Fe Trail Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Dust Bowl, and the Republic of Texas.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Six Mule Army Wagon (within shouting distance of this marker); The First Ten Years: 1851-1861 (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Ready to Repel the Confederates
this page online
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Fort Union National Monument
Also see . . . The First Fort Union. By 1851 nearly 1,300 soldiers served in the New Mexico Territory. They were scattered throughout eleven small outposts, with the headquarters at Fort Marcy in Santa Fe. Unhappy with the performance of troops in New Mexico, Secretary of War C.M. Conrad, commanded Lt. Col. Edwin V. Sumner, 1st. Dragoons, to take control of the territory and "revise the whole system of defense." Sumner's first action was to relocate the department headquarters and the main supply depot from Santa Fe, "that sink of vice and extravagance," to a location on the eastern frontier. The chosen site was strategically situated near the junction of the Mountain and Cimarron Branches of the Santa Fe
2. Marker detail: First Fort Union Sketch, 1859
In 1859 Joseph Heger made this sketch of the First Fort Union as he viewed it from the distant bluffs behind the ruin you see.
3. Marker detail: Fort Union Map
4. Marker detail: First Fort Union Layout
1. Officers Quarters 2. Soldiers' Quarters 3. Ordnance Office 4. Ordnance Depot 5. Hospital 6. Dragoon Stable 7. Quartermaster's Stores 8. Commissary Stores 9. Quartermaster Corral and Shops 10. Bakery 11. Offices 12. Laundresses 13. Sutler's Store 14. Flagstaff
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
5. The First Fort Union Marker
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
6. The First Fort Union Site
Credits. This page was last revised on March 11, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 27, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 335 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on April 28, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
