Fort Union Arsenal

The arsenal was largely one man's work. William Rawle Shoemaker came to New Mexico in 1849 as the department's chief ordnance officer, started a small depot inside the first Fort Union in 1851, and kept it on that site when the fort moved across the valley. The army made it Fort Union Arsenal in May 1866, and Shoemaker built most of it between 1869 and 1873. It armed campaigns against the Diné, the Comanche and Kiowa, and the Apache. He retired on June 30, 1882, the arsenal was broken up that summer, and he is buried near its ruins.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Fort Union Arsenal West of Fort Union near the base of the mesa are the ruins of Fort Union Arsenal. The first Fort Union was built at this location in 1851. In 1867 this wooden fort was razed and the adobe Arsenal erected. This Arsenal played a vital role in supplying armaments to military posts throughout New Mexico until 1882. Official Scenic Historic Marker Fort Union National Monument 1851-1891 Once the largest post in the Southwest, Fort Union was estab- lished to control the Jicarilla Apaches and Utes, to protect the Santa Fe Trail, and to serve as a supply depot for other New Mexico forts. The arrival of the railroad and the pacification of the region led to its abandon- ment in 1891.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Union National Monument — 0.9 mi
  Three forts in one prairie valley where the two branches of the Santa Fe Trail met: a log post, a star-shaped earthwork, and an adobe supply town that fed the army's wars.
• Montezuma Castle — 22 mi
  The railroad's turreted resort at the Las Vegas hot springs, burned twice in its first years, empty for most of a century, and now home to an international school.

More markers nearby

• Watrous — 8.1 mi
• Santa Fe Trail — 8.2 mi
• Fort Union National Monument / Santa Fe Trail — 9.2 mi
• Fort Union National Monument — 11 mi