Fort Sumner in De Baca County, New Mexico — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site
Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025
1. Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site Marker
Following the disastrous failure of the U.S. Government's Bosque Redondo experiment, the land set aside as reservation returned to the public domain. The Army sold the fort buildings and other improvements to the famous frontiersman Lucien B. Maxwell in 1870, and he moved his family into the former military post in 1871. Within a year, Fort Sumner had transformed into a small farm and ranch community consisting of about 200 people.
A Frontier Town
During the 1870s and 1880s, Fort Sumner was a small isolated village located near the southern boundary of San Miguel County. The Sheriff and his deputies were based in the county seat at Las Vegas - about 120 miles away - so rarely found sufficient reason to visit Fort Sumner. This isolation attracted drifters and outlaws looking to avoid the law.
Billy the Kid and several friends, including Tom Folliard and Charlie Bowdre, sought refuge in Fort Sumner after the end of the Lincoln County War. Charlie and his wife Manuela made a home in the old Post Hospital building and Billy the Kid was recorded on the 1880 Census as part of their Fort Sumner household.
Captions
(Photo #1) Maxwell house and Officers Quarters, Fort Sumner, New Mexico where Billy the Kid was shot by Pat Garrett. Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA) neg. no. 045559.
(Photo #2) View of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, 1883, Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA) neg. no. 001818.
Erected by New
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1870.
Location. 34° 24.256′ N, 104° 11.632′ W. Marker is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in De Baca County. It is on Billy the Kid Drive south of Pecan Drive, on the right when traveling south. The marker is located at the parking lot for the Old Fort Sumner Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3501 Billy the Kid Dr, Fort Sumner NM 88119, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern New Mexico and in the Pecos Valley. It is also in the American Southwest, on the Great Plains, on the Southern Plains, and specifically on the High Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Comancherνa, the Dust Bowl, and the Republic of Texas.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers
Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025
2. Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site Marker
Another marker is no longer nearby. Old Fort Sumner and Billy the Kids Grave (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . Fort Sumner. Wikipedia
Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.(Submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Photographed by James Hulse, March 24, 2025
3. The entrance to the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site
Credits. This page was last revised on April 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 220 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 5, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.
