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As United States Army soldiers – including Buffalo Soldiers, the Black infantry who were among the most decorated soldiers in the American Frontier Wars – abandoned Fort Selden in 1891, they dismantled and took away anything made of wood.
Without the support of window frames, doors and roofs, the fort’s walls – once 10 feet tall and two feet thick – have suffered the extremes of weather, age and natural erosion for more than 130 years.
The Doña Ana County Historical Society (DACHS) was formed in 1963 to preserve Fort Selden, and the fort became a state monument in 1973.
New and longtime DACHS members and fort supporters gathered July 1 at the fort for a joint celebration – the historical society’s 60th anniversary and the fort’s 50th anniversary as a state property.
The event included presentations by New Mexico Historic Sites Executive Director Patrick Moore and Jerry Wallace of DACHS, along with a sunset tour of the fort led by State Historic Sites Instructional Coordinator Alexandra McKinney lead a Fort Selden tour. After the tour, visitors enjoyed two birthday cakes.
“This is really a community-based project,” McKinney said during the tour.
Utilizing a National Park Service grant, stabilization efforts began at the fort site in 1972, she said, and have included geo textiles and retaining grids. As excavation continues, McKinney said fort staff continue to find artifacts on site, along ash from the 1889 fire at the fort.
Among the fort’s most famous residents was a young Douglas MacArthur, whose father, Arthur MacArthur, a Civil War veteran and recipient of the Medal of Honor, was post commander in the late 1880s.
Visit nmhistoricsites.org and donaanacountyhistsoc.org.
