Historical Marker
Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate, McKinley County · New Mexico
The second Fort Wingate had two names before it got this one. It began at Ojo del Oso, Bear Springs, as Fort Fauntleroy, named by its colonel for himself; when Fauntleroy went over to the Confederacy it became Fort Lyon, and in 1868 Fort Wingate, where 6,913 Navajos were processed on their way home. In 1914 some 4,000 Mexican Federal soldiers and their families camped here as refugees. From 1918 it stored explosives, shipped 100 tons of Composition B to the Trinity test, and closed in 1993.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historical Marker Fort Wingate The first Fort Wingate was es- tablished near San Rafael in 1862, to serve as the base of Col. Kit Carson's campaigns against the Navajos. In 1868 the garrison was transferred to the second Fort Wingate near Gallup. In that same year, the Navajos returned here after their imprisonment at Fort Sumner.
Where it stands
35.47026, -108.54267 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Chaco Cliffs — 5.5 mi
- Gallup — 8.5 mi
- Emma Estrada (1933-1997) / Parteras of New Mexico — 11 mi
- Continental Divide — 13 mi