Fort Union National Monument
is 8 miles northwest of Watrous on New Mexico Highway 161, near the junction
of the Cimarron and Mountain routes. Fort Union was the foremost military post
of the Santa Fe Trail from 1851-1891, and for a time it was the largest
American military post in the Southwest.
Founded primarily to protect the Trail, the original wood structures had already deteriorated
by the Civil War. At that time, a second, star-shaped, earthen fortification was built. After the Civil
War, a third Fort Union was completed which included a garrison and a traditional post,
a regional quarter master depot and an arsenal on the site of the first fort.
The adobe ruins of the third fort and extensive Santa Fe Trail ruts comprise the bulk
of the national monument, a National Park Service area that is open to the public.
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Additional Fort Union photographs:
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