Table of Contents
Why was Fort Sumner built?
On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the establishment of the military Fort Sumner at Bosque Redondo, to protect a new Indian Reservation situated on 40 square miles of land. The post was named for General Edwin Vose Sumner who died as the new fort was being built.
What happened to Fort Sumner?
Fort Sumner was abandoned in 1869 and purchased by rancher and cattle baron Lucien Maxwell. Maxwell rebuilt one of the officers’ quarters into a 20-room house. On July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in this house, now referred to as the Maxwell House.
What state is Fort Sumner?
New Mexico
Fort Sumner/State
Who is Fort Sumner named after?
Col. Edmond Vose Sumner
Carleton anticipated bringing an end to the Navajo and Apache raiding and named the fort for Col. Edmond Vose Sumner, who had served as the military governor of the New Mexico Territory from 1851 to 1853. Approximately 8,000 Navajos and 400 Mescalero Apaches were forced on to the establishment.
What is Fort Sumner known for?
Fort Sumner is a U.S. village in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States. Fort Sumner is the spring and fall home of the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, and is home to the burial site of famed outlaw of the American West, Billy the Kid, who was shot and killed here in 1881.
What made Billy the Kid bad?
Actually, in those days, most ranchers and cowboys dabbled in stealing livestock at one time or another. The amount of stock that the Kid stole was more annoying and a nuisance than a huge financial loss to the cattle owner. So as a thief, Billy the Kid was a small-scale rustler.
What were the reasons for the long walk?
Navajos were forced to walk from their land in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico….
| Long Walk of the Navajo | |
|---|---|
| Perpetrators | U.S. Federal Government, U.S. Army |
| Motive | Acquisition of Navajo lands and forced cultural assimilation of Navajo people |