Historical Marker
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner, De Baca County · New Mexico
For a few years there were two towns here. Sunnyside, with its own newspaper, and Fort Sumner grew up side by side where the Santa Fe's Belen Cutoff came through, and the depot is said to have carried both names, one on each side. Sources put the first trains in 1907 or March 1908. In April 1909 the Sunnyside Review reported that the rivals had settled and merged as Fort Sumner, incorporated in 1910. When De Baca County was formed in 1917, named for Governor Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca, Fort Sumner became its seat.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Fort Sumner Population 933 - Elevation 4,028 Named for the fort built in 1862 to guard the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation, the town of Fort Sumner grew out of settle- ments clustering around the Maxwell family properties. It moved to its present site with the construction of the Belén Cutoff of the Santa Fe Railroad around 1907.
Where it stands
34.45516, -104.19383 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Bosque Redondo Memorial — 3.9 miThe state site at Fort Sumner that for decades told the story of an army post and an outlaw, remade with Diné and Ndé people into a memorial to those held here.