Fort Craig

Fort Craig. . , The Third U.S. Infantry built Fort Craig in 1852, after the Mexican-American War, to replace ill-sited, poorly constructed, and short-lived Fort Conrad, a few miles north of here. The new fort's location on this low bluff overlooking the Rio Grande provided protection from flooding and insects, and ample horse forage due to its elevation above the river. It was constructed of adobe and stone, and named after popular young Mexican-American War Captain L.S. Craig, killed by deserters while surveying the new international boundary. Fort Craig served the region from 1854 to 1884 by protecting settlements and travelers in the Rio Grande Valley from raids by Apache and Navajo Indians, by guarding the north-south El Camino Real route along the Rio Grande, and by helping to open agricultural, mineral, and grazing lands to econontic development. A succession of post commanders mobilized and deployed regular army and civiling militia forces to defend an operational range extending from the southern end of the Jornada del Muerto to the north of Albuquerque, westward to the headwaters of the Gila River, and eastward to the Pecos River. Their efforts eventualiy eroded the ability of the Indians to defend their homelands against encroachment. Fort Craig also played a strategic role during the Civil War by deploying Union troops to fight Texas Confederates in the bloody battle of Valverde, across the river from here, which dimmed Southern аѕрirations for military conquest in the West.