For over 20 years in New Mexico Territory, two buildings along the company street at Fort Union helped military and civilian authorities uphold law and order. In the guard house that once stood on the corner ahead and in the prison, deserters, drunkards, burglars, brawlers, assassins, rustlers, horse thieves, and Comancheros were punished for their crimes. As a frontier Army post with hundreds of soldiers, military families, and civilian employees, Fort Union functioned as a small town under martial law. The provost marshal and daily guard patrols kept the peace and handled problems in this volatile community much as a town marshal and deputies might elsewhere. Enlisted men often disliked guard duty, which required them to remain fully clothed throughout a 24-hour shift as they paraded before the post, escorted prisoners to empty trash barrels, guarded the stables and wagon corrals, and took charge of all government property in sight, with little time for rest at the guard house. Men guilty of minor offenses served their time in the adobe guard house, known as "the mill," while dangerous felons were confined in the more secure stone cells of Fort Union's prison.