Military
Between 1854 and 1884, Fort Craig was deeply involved in wars between the U.S. army and the native Indian peoples of the region. A succession of U.S. army post commanders mobilized and deployed army and civilian militia forces throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, primarily to protect settlements and travelers from raids by Mescalero, Mimbres, Mogollon, Warm Springs and Copper Mine Apaches, and Navajo groups. They also helped settlers open agricultural, mineral, and grazing lands to economic development. The army focused on the Rio Grande Valley and the areas from the southern Jornada del Muerto to north of Albuquerque, westward to the headwaters of the Gila, and eastward to the Pecos River. As in many wars, both sides committed horrible atrocities, including murder, plunder, imprisonment, and enslavement. For nearly 30 years, the Union army relentlessly tracked, sometimes aided by Indian scouts, captured, and punished individual raiding parties. Ultimately, it burned crops and villages, confiscated stock, and essentially succeeded in bringing about the full-scale surrender of Indian homelands.
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New Mexico · United States
