Fort Bayard, one of several posts created on the Apache frontier, protected the Pinos Altos mining district. Company B of the black 125th Infantry served here, as did Lt. John J. Pershing. In 1900 the fort became a military hospital, and today serves as Fort Bayard Medical Center. Originally established in 1866 as the military cemetery for Fort Bayard, Fort Bayard National Cemetery contains the graves of many troopers, veterans, and civilians. It became a national cemetery, one of two in New Mexico, in 1973.