Fort Selden State Monument

The four companies the panel names were men of the 125th U.S. Colored Infantry, African American soldiers from Kentucky mustered into the Union Army near the end of the Civil War; desertion, a constant problem at Selden, usually fell when Black troops held it. Some 200 men lived in fifteen to twenty adobe buildings around a parade ground, built over the remains of a Mogollon village. The post was left in 1878, used as a mail station, regarrisoned in 1880 for the railroad, and closed on January 20, 1891.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Fort Selden State Monument 1865-1891 Fort Selden was established to protect settlers and railroad con- struction crews in the Mesilla Valley and the Jornada del Muerto from Apaches. The first regular army troops to garrison it were four companies of the black 125th Infantry. General Douglas MacArthur spent two years of his childhood here. The fort was finally abandoned in 1891.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mesilla Plaza — 21 mi
  A plaza laid out in 1848 by people who meant to stay in Mexico, American six years later, a stage stop and Civil War headquarters, and scene of a deadly political riot in 1871.

More markers nearby

• Paraje San Diego — steps away
• Jornada del Muerto — steps away
• Fort Selden Cemetery — 4.4 mi
• Rio Grandé Bridge at Radium Springs — 4.5 mi