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In 1884, at the tender age
of four years, Douglas MacArthur, destined to become a great
military strategist, was a resident of Fort Selden, New Mexico
where his father was in command from 1884 to 1886. His father was
Captain Arthur MacArthur.
Named for Colonel Henry R.
Selden--first New Mexico Infantry--the fort was built in 1865, and
lies fifteen miles due west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on highway
85.
A more unlikely spot on
which to build a fort cannot be imagined. This one was erected
right in the center of a desert. The only thing that justified
its existence at all was the fact that desert or no desert; it was
the ideal spot from which to protect travelers and settlers from
the Indians.
Water has to be hauled
from the Rio Grande River, a short distance from the fort; and as
this river was anything but clear; the water could not be used
until the silt had settled to the bottom of the barrels.
I am surprised that the
entire fort personnel did not contract typhoid fever from the use
of this water, but my research did not turn up any data to
substantiate this view. However, Captain MacArthur, his son
Douglas, and the fort's doctor all came down with diphtheria
sometime during the two years they spent at the fort.
Miraculously, they all survived the disease, which in those days
was considered to be fatal.
When Captain MacArthur
and his family arrived at Fort
Selden, the grounds and buildings were in a terrible rundown
condition. a succession of commanders, very lax in their duties,
had let the facility go to rack and ruin. Though it was reopened
in 1881 after having been abandoned in 1879, little had been done
in the line of maintenance. Weeds had grown in the streets, and
the entire area was a Mecca for horned toads, centipedes,
scorpions, and rattlesnakes. The barracks were ready to collapse,
and the fort walls were badly in need of repair.
These deplorable
conditions were very painful to the captain, who immediately set a
detail to work cleaning up the grounds, and a detail to repair the
buildings and fort walls.
The enthusiasm of the
man was contagious, and soon the soldiers were building shelves
and chests for their living quarters and conducting a general
cleanup.
Captain MacArthur was
the type of officer who had a way with men. He was soft spoken,
but firm; strong, but not brutal. His men respected him because
of these qualities, and though he drilled them hard for long hours
they did not resent it. As a matter-of-fact it was the best thing
that could have happened. When MacArthur took command, the men
were physically soft, and slovenly in appearance.
It could be said the
men were reborn through the efforts of their commander, for now
they were taking great pride in their living quarters, and in
their personal appearances. As a result of this, knives, forks,
and spoons of silver plate soon replaced the military issue, and
double French china, monogrammed with the company k emblem,
replaced tin plates.
These items came out of
the soldier's own pockets. Each man contributed five cents to the
kitty for each game played on the post's only pool table.
Thus, by this method, they were able to purchase much needed
items. The captain encouraged these actions, for it was his
belief that a satisfied soldier is a good soldier.
His concern for the
soldiers' welfare didn't stop here, either. He knew that soldiers
get restless in the evenings with nothing to do but sit around and
talk or play cards. He knew that most of the brawls among the
enlisted men were caused by nothing more than sheer boredom--and
he knew what to do about it. He installed a reading and game room
complete with about thirty periodicals and numerous games.
The food was not to the
captain's liking, so, as one would expect from such a man, he did
something about it. He rented a small tract of land adjacent to
the fort and planted it with vegetables. Two men were detailed to
care for the garden, which was irrigated by water diverted from
the Rio Grande River by use of irrigation ditches.
During the Civil War,
Jefferson Davis had imported camels for military use on the Texas
and New Mexico deserts. For some reason they did not work out as
was expected, and they were turned loose to shift for themselves.
For man years these ships of the desert could be seen wandering
about from place to place, and it was one of these beasts that
scared the pants off young Douglas MacArthur, who had slipped away
from his nurse one bright sunny morning, and wandered into the
area outside the fort.
His absence was rudely
brought home to those inside the fort by a blood-curdling screech,
punctuated by a loud snort. Before anyone could gather their wits
about them young Douglas came bounding through the open gate as
fast as his little short legs could carry him, his eyes round as
saucers, his face ghostly white.
Rushing into his
mother's arms, he pointed toward the gate and shouted, "Mommy!
Mommy! There’s a ... there's a...there's something out there.
It's great big."
Some of the soldiers
rushed to the gate, snatching up their rifles as they ran, ready
to defend the fort against any ferocious beast that was courageous
enough to attack. Imagine their surprise and consternation when
they were confronted by a hump-backed monstrosity calmly chewing
its cud, brown eyes regarding them intently, and without fear.
Most of the soldiers
had never seen a camel in the flesh, and a real live one right in
their front yard was a sight they had never expected to see. Of
course, having seen pictures of camels, there was no question as
to what kind of animal confronted them. Meanwhile, young Douglas
was cautiously edging his way toward the gate, pulling his mother
along with him. He probably figured that he would be safe with
all those soldiers around him.
During Captain
MacArthur's tour of duty at Fort Selden, the Indian chieftains
Victorio and Geromino were extremely active, and the fort
personnel was continuously on the move, protecting settlers and
travelers. Mexican bandits were also of some concern to the
military.
Captain MacArthur's
wife was a fit mate for this energetic man. She did not sit
around all day knitting. She entertained the ladies of Las Cruces
and Dona Ana extensively. It was a welcome relief for the women
of these communities, whose daily routine, in most cases,
consisted of cooking, cleaning house, washing, ironing and mending
clothes.
The post had a baseball
team, too. One game played just before Captian MacArthur was
transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, August 11, 1886,
was between Fort Selden and a team from Las Cruces. It was a
free-hitting thriller, with both teams piling up scores, but the
Fort Selden team won 27 to 25.
Fort Selden now lies in
ruins. It is hard to realize this help of broken adobe was once a
proud military establishment that resounded to the sound of bugles
and the tramp of marching feet.
The fort was
constructed on the general plan of most military stations, except
that the officers' quarters were built in one continuous unit.
Each unit opened into the next to facilitate grouping in case of
attack. There were no windows on the outside walls, and all doors
opened onto the parade ground. These were the living quarters of
the single officers.
The fort also
maintained a bakery which was outside the fort proper. A trader's
store was located north of the officers' quarters. One thing that
puzzles me is the location of the commanding officer's home, some
distance from the main structure in complete isolation, and
without apparent protection. The commanding officers of Fort
Selden must have been extremely brave men, or exceedingly fast
runners.
The parade grounds
were, of course, located inside the fort walls, with the entire
west wall bordered by trees. There were also a large number of
trees inside the fort. These have long since died and disappeared
from the scene.
The fort smithies,
besides looking after the needs of the army, also catered to the
needs of the westward traveler by repairing worn-out wagon wheels,
welding chains, repairing harnesses, and likewise fixing many
other broken or damaged items. Farmers who did not own forges
were accorded the same courtesy.
The women at the fort
and nearby towns and ranches were not left out, either. For them,
the smithies repaired door locks and baby cribs, and possibly many
other items hard to come by on the frontier.
In 1877 the troops were
ordered out of Fort Selden, and Lieutenant Cory and two men were
left to guard the post. This was a bad mistake, for soon the
Indians and the bandits were back, plundering ranches and mining
properties. With no military protection, the ranchers were hard
put to defend their lands against these raiders. It was worth a
man's life just to step outside his cabin door.
Pleas to the federal
government went unheeded; despite loud protests the fort was
ordered abandoned in 1878.
Newspapers throughout
the area protested that the removal of the troops was an
invitation to the Indians and bandits to loot and kill. They were
so right. The depredations of these bands forced the army to
reconsider and troops were sent back to the fort. Thus the year
1881 was one of renewed activity at Fort Selden.
Now the game of hide
and seek started all over again. Indian against soldiers under
Major Rucker, father-in-law to General Phil Sheridan, sought out
and destroyed the roving bands of outlaws, but the Apaches were
something else again. They were harder to pin down, knowing
every hiding place in the desert, knowing every trick of how to
subsist in the dessert. These past masters in the art of ambush
were formidable opponents.
While soldiers had to
carry rations to sustain them on the desert, with an occasional
rabbit or deer thrown in the supplement their diet, the Indian
lived off the land. Anything edible, he ate. Horned toads,
prairie dogs, rabbits and deer all supplied them with life's
necessities, and woe unto any luckless rattlesnake that happened
to slither across their paths. He usually wound up impaled on a
sharp stick and dangling over a hot fire.
Though for a short
while the Indian had the upper hand, Major Rucker was persistent.
He gradually cut their manpower to the point where resistance was
almost impossible, thereby forcing them to flee across the Rio
Grande Ricer into Old Mexico.
So peace came once
again to the Fort Selden area. With the exception of an isolated
raid now and then, peace had also generally prevailed throughout
Captain MacArthur's tour of duty.
In 1890 the fort and
adjoining reservation was transferred from the War Department to
the Department of the Interior for the purpose of establishing an
Indian school. For some unknown reason this never came to pass.
The fort was abandoned in 1891, and the land returned to public
domain.
There were a number of
large general stores in the area, namely in the towns of Las
Cruces, New Mexico, and Dona Ana, New Mexico, at the time the fort
was closed. Their businesses had been largely built through sales
to the fort, and the closing worked a severe hardship on all of
them. Some degenerated to small rural stores, and these managed
to stay in business. Not so fortunate were others who were forced
to close their doors.
The ranches were hard
hit, too. Many of the ranchers were just getting a nice start
when the blow fell, and the loss of revenue which had accrued to
them from sales to the fort of hay, grain, and beef was keenly
felt. However, these people were of hardly pioneer stock and did
not give up easily, a fact that can be verified by the numerous
farms and ranches that today grace the area.
The post cemetery was
located between the present railroad tracks and the fort. When
the fort was abandoned, the graves of the deceased soldiers, and
of members of their families, were opened and the bodies removed
by a contractor. One grave contained the body of a young girl.
It wasn't supposed to be there, since no one at the fort knew who
she was, or when she had been buried.
She was blond and
appeared pretty, with a red ribbon tied in her hair. The body was
submerged in some sort of liquid preservative, and seemed quite
life-like. All efforts to identify her failed, and she was
reburied close to the old entrance gate at the fort where she
rests today.
The army also
maintained a potters' field. Fifty-nine hard cases who bucked
army authority are buried there in unmarked graves. They were not
moved, so possibly many who have visited the ruins of the fort
have trod across the graves without knowing they were doing so.
During the year 1890,
when the army high command was preparing to close Fort Selden,
General B.H. Gleason was fighting hard to keep it open. he argued
the facility was still badly needed and that its location was the
important strategic value. Also, he argued, there were enough
natural resources in the area to maintain a large force of men.
However, his efforts on behalf of the fort failed, and the decline
began.
As soon as all the fort
personnel had departed, contractors moved in and removed all word
materials from the buildings, leaving the adobe walls and room
partitions without support. Then the souvenir hunters moved in.
Someone reported that the army had buried $8000 in gold somewhere
in the fort grounds. Enter the treasure hunters.
For a hundred years the
souvenir and treasure hunters have burrowed here, and they have
left the place a ruin. The walls have been torn down, while the
parade ground has been dug and re-dug until it resembles a whale
with goose bumps. To this day, however, no treasure has been
found. The army denies any knowledge of a treasure, but even at
this late date tourists can be seen carefully combing the fort
grounds.
Fort Shelden is now a
State Monument, but no restoration work has been started to date.
For the present, the old fort crumbles under the bright sunlight
and the hot summers of New Mexico,
a memento to a small boy who met a camel, listened to the call of
the bugle, and to the tramp of marching fee.
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