Santa Fe Trail

The Santa Fe Trail was a link in Indian trade networks ancient before the Spaniards arrived. It would serve the Spaniards of New Mexico as a route of exploration, frontier defense, and trade with the Plains Indians. In the 1700's, despite Spanish rules against it, a small trade began with Frenchmen from the Mississippi Valley. Later, Americans exploring the Louisiana Purchase visited New Mexico and recognized an isolated province starved for manufactured goods and eager for mercantile exchange. With Mexican Independence from Spain in 1821, the gates of trade opened wide. 

First Fort Union

Following the Mexican-American War (1846-48), the United States began to establish their institutions throughout the western territories, often interrupting the patterns of life of the Mexican and Native American people that had evolved during 250 years of Spanish and Mexican rule. Their first objective was to eliminate the Native American boundaries that hindered the path to westward expansion. The first Fort Union was constructed in 1851, and was intended for this purpose. It stands as a reminder of the developmental years of the New Mexico Territory.

Second Fort Union

Third Fort Union

With the threat of Confederate invasion eliminated, Col. Edward R.S. Canby turned command of the Department of New Mexico to General Carleton and left for a new assignment in the East. Then, in November 1862, he gave orders to begin construction on the third and final Fort Union in the same vicinity as the previous two. The expansive fort took six years, 1862 to 1868, to complete and was the largest in the region. Fort Union served multiple purposes and contained three installations, the Post, the Fort Union Quartermaster Depot, and the Fort Union Ordinance Depot.