Historical Marker
Apache Battleground
Mayhill, Otero County · New Mexico
Captain Richard Ewell's own report tells it. His dragoons camped on the Rio Peñasco on January 17, 1855, and that night Mescalero warriors attacked with arrows and guns and tried to burn them out. Next afternoon Ewell sent Captain Henry Stanton to examine a small valley where a ranchería had been seen, and there Stanton and two of his men were killed. They were buried on the spot; Stanton's body was later carried to Fort Leavenworth. By March the Mescalero sought peace, and the June treaty that followed was never ratified.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Apache Battleground In this immediate vicinity, Captain Henry W. Stanton of the U.S. Army, for whom Fort Stanton was named, lost his life in 1855 in a skirmish with the Mescalero Apaches. For several weeks, soldiers commanded by Stanton and Capt. Richard S. Ewell, were in pursuit of Indians who had stolen livestock from the Pecos River area south of Anton Chico. In the final confrontation lives were lost on both sides.
Where it stands
32.89058, -105.47788 · Directions
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