Near Watrous in Mora County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Enough to Feed an Army
Quartermaster Depot Storehouses
Fort Union National Monument
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
1. Enough to Feed an Army Marker
Imagine 2,000 to 3,000 freight wagons a year being off-loaded into these enormous buildings. In these five warehouses, the United States Army stored, inventoried, organized, and redistributed thousands of tons of food and equipment to support the troops operating in the Southwest.
Here you would have seen both civilian storekeepers and enlisted personnel bustling and toting an endless stream of crates, boxes, and barrels of salted meat and fish, hardtack, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, vinegar, hominy, corn meal, onions, potatoes, canned foods, bottled foods, flour, clothing, bedding, tents, cooking gear, paper and ink, heating stoves, furniture, lamps, lanterns, tools, and building materials. In 1870 there were 100 civilian employees here at Fort Union. About 40 were teamsters driving wagons to deliver the supplies from these warehouses to distant outlying posts.
A Typical Shipment
7,000 lbs of Bacon 520 lbs of breakfast Bacon 650 lbs of Flour 2,500 lbs of green Coffee 1,000 lbs of roasted Coffee 500 lbs of Java Coffee 500 lbs of Corn Meal 1,000 lbs of Hominy 2,000 lbs of brown Sugar 50 gallons of Vinegar
this page online
Special Orders No. 102 Fort Union to Fort Marcy, July 1868
Twelve other similar shipments left these storehouses for southwestern Army posts during the same month.
Where These Supplies Went
In New Mexico: Post of Albuquerque Fort Bascom Fort Bayard Fort Craig Fort Cummings Fort Lowell Post of Ojo Caliente Fort Marcy Fort McRae Post of Santa Fe Fort Seldon Fort Stanton Fort Sumner Fort Tularosa Fort Wingate
In Colorado: Fort Garland
In Arizona: Fort Apache Camp Beale's Springs Fort Bowie Camp Colorado Fort Crittenden Camp Date Creek Camp Goodwin Fort Grant Fort Huachuca Camp Hualapai Camp Ilges Camp La Paz Camp Lewis Fort Lowell Fort McDowell Fort Mohave Camp Pinal Camp Reno Camp Rucker Camp San Carlos Fort Thomas Fort Verde Camp Wallen Camp Willow Grove Fort Yuma Whipple Barracks
In Texas: Fort Bliss Camp Concordia
In Oklahoma: Fort Supply Camp Nichols
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
2. Enough to Feed an Army Marker
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1870.
Location. 35° 54.582′ N, 105° 0.902′ 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: Commissary Storehouse (within shouting distance of this marker); The End of the Road (within shouting distance
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
3. Enough to Feed an Army Marker
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Fort Union National Monument
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2015
4. Fort Union Quartermaster Depot Storehouse Ruins
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 390 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 30, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
