Fort Stanton: Marching on Roma … Almost

Saturday, 25 July 2015 (Part II)
Deer Crossing RV Park — San Patricio, New Mexico

After stumbling across and stopping to visit the Merchant Marines and Military Cemetery — popularly referred to as Fort Stanton Cemetery — Mui noted that we were just a few miles from Fort Stanton Historic Site.

We decided that since we were so close, we’d jiggle our plans even though we had left home unprepared for a lengthy outing.  For that you can read that I only had my small camera with me ;-)

Looking Across the parade ground from the porch of the enlisted barracks-turned-museum.

But there was a surprise in store for us when we arrived at the fort!

We were a little taken aback to see men in WWII-era army uniforms marching near the entrance to Fort Stanton when we turned in through the gate.  More soldiers, in full gear, were clustered around two military transports.  Men and women in clothing resembling those worn during the 1940s were also nearby, some of them riding bicycles.  It was a scene straight out of a WWII movie.  Had we stumbled upon a film set?

Mui approached a guy that looked like he was in charge and asked what was going on.  Turns out that the guy was the military liaison for a bunch of volunteers who were getting ready to re-enact the March on Rome — for the sixth time in as many years!

Although the portion of the day’s events they were about to embark upon in the hills of nearby BLM lands wasn’t officially open to the public, the liaison invited us to follow the trucks, which were carrying a mix of Allied and Axis soldiers to the site of the re-enactment.

Take a left to go to Roma; a right to go to Cassino.

What a treat!  Hopping in the car, we joined the convoy, taking a left to go to Roma!  A sign at the BLM lands boundary said the road wasn’t open to the public, but we pressed on behind the military transports.  It wasn’t long after we got on the goat-path-like-road that we figured out it was going to be impossible to follow the convoy much further without a sturdy 4WD vehicle.  Oh well; it was fun while it lasted.

Stepping back in time!
[Except for the military liaisons in modern-day uniforms.]

And we’re off to Roma, Italia!

At first the road through the BLM lands is not bad … bumpy, but not bad.
But after going through a few areas with thick, oozy-gooey muck and
standing water, we decide that to retreat is the better part of valor.

A late-comer to the re-enactment party … with all these military vehicles running
around, you’d think we are in the war-torn countryside of Italy in 1944.

Alrighty then; let’s return from the spring of 1944 to the summer of 2015!

Fort Stanton was established in 1855 as a military fortification for soldiers who were sent to the region to protect settlers traveling across lands claimed by the Mescalero Apache at the time.  In 1861, when the Civil War came to New Mexico, the Union soldiers abandoned the fort after setting fire to it.  As luck would have it, the fire was extinguished by a rainstorm and Confederate soldiers occupied Fort Stanton for a brief period before abandoning it, carrying with them much of the supplies left behind by the Union soldiers.

Though the fort was a-shambles, Kit Carson followed orders to reopen it in 1862 for the continued fight with the Apaches until they surrendered a year later.  Some of the land around Fort Stanton was then used as a Mescalero Indian Reservation until a new one was designated in 1873.  In the years that followed, the troops from the fort served as local law enforcement for regional disturbances.

By 1896, the troops were no longer needed for protection.  Three years later, the buildings were re-purposed when President McKinley issued an order setting the compound aside as a tuberculosis hospital.

You might recall that I commented in the previous post about the number of foreign nationals buried at the cemetery.  Reading signage about the history of Fort Stanton as a hospital answered the question of how they came to be there.  Turns out that to qualify for admission to the hospital, a Merchant Marine sailor, regardless of country of origin, had to serve only three months aboard a US-flagged ship.  Of course, if the sailor then died while at the hospital, he was buried at the cemetery.

Over the subsequent years, the military reservation served a variety of functions — an interment camp during WWII; a state facility to care for the mentally challenged; a women’s low security correctional facility; and a drug rehab center.  Some of this was when Fort Stanton was federal property; others were after it was transferred to the State of New Mexico.  You can read more about the history here.

In a corner of the quadrangle, the volunteers participating in the
March on Rome re-enactment have set up a US Army camp.

Entrance to Fort Stanton is free.  This is a good thing for visitors, but if the state is hoping to renovate some of the buildings and perhaps refurbish them with period pieces, perhaps a small admission fee wouldn’t go amiss to help fill the coffers.  I say this because I always wonder how many people make a donation when that is all that is suggested.  On the other hand, there is so little to see except the buildings that perhaps there is good reason not to charge admission.

The museum is housed in what would have been the enlisted barracks.
This display includes a classic saddle from the “Indian Wars,” regulation-issue
saddle and soldier’s blankets; an 1860 model saber with its accoutrements;
an 1859 model saddlebag with the tools necessary for the care of a horse;
a canvas and leather nose-feed bag; a lariat, and a cast iron picket with swivel.

We were greeted by a friendly volunteer who gave us a self-tour walking map and suggested we start by watching the short video.  It was very well done and gave us a good overview of Fort Stanton in its many incarnations.  Before leaving the building, we wandered through the various rooms housing exhibits — small but interesting nonetheless.

[Links to information panels/handouts are provided in the captions.  Click photos to enlarge them.]

It was thought that New Mexico’s climate would be beneficial in treating tuberculosis, so
in 1899 Fort Stanton was converted into a Marine Hospital.  It served as such until 1953.

Perhaps because we had seen the five graves of German prisoners of war in the cemetery, I found it especially interesting that in the 1940s Fort Stanton served as an internment camp.  Actually, it was the CCC camp across the river from the fort that was converted to house POWs, but close enough.

This chapter started with German crewmen scuttling the luxury liner SS Columbus in December 1939 after disembarking the passengers in Cuba.  This was done on the orders of Hitler so that the ship would not fall into enemy hands at the onset of WWII.  Rescued by the US Navy, the men were eventually brought here as distressed seamen.  When war was declared, their status was changed to alien enemies.  They were thus put in an internment camp across the river from Fort Stanton — a facility that served as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp from 1933 to 1940.

After war was declared with Germany, the crew — saved from the scuttled
SS Columbus — were declared alien enemies and brought to Fort Stanton,
where a former CCC camp was converted to an internment camp (right).

From the SS Columbus to an internment camp.
Bottom left: the internees built themselves a sausage smokehouse.
Bottom Right: The head of Border Patrol talks to the internees; INS was in charge of security.

Finished at the museum, we set out to explore the grounds.  The self-guided tour “map” was little more than a collection of photos of the buildings, showing the museum as the starting point.  Also noted on the map in red text was the buildings that visitors could enter and wander around.  This part turned out to be disappointing in some respects.  The rooms were in a state of disrepair and contained no furnishings.  Hopefully this will change over time.  The only real exception was the barracks/dining hall, which contained some bunks and some military paraphernalia.

[Any quotes that precede the images are from signage outside the buildings.]

“Having contracted tuberculosis in Iowa and being hospitalized myself, I welcomed the
opportunity to serve my fellow TB patients as a nurse at the Fort Stanton Hospital.”
Lola Hulbert Spragg, Registered Nurse

Nurses' Quarters — constructed in 1940, it was used as a dormitory for single nurses.

“… the roofs, floors, doors and windows burnt, even the walls much damaged…no hope
to see my command under better shelter this winter than the Sibley tent affords …”
Colonel Christopher Carson, NM Volunteers, November 1862

One of several blocks of buildings designated as officer’ quarters.  “Black Jack” J.J.
Pershing was quartered in one of the original apartments that were burned down by
the Union Army when the fort was abandoned after the Civil War reached New Mexico.

Detail from the interior of the Officers’ Quarters.
The greatest architectural features were added in the early 1900’s.

“This vast and salubrious stretch of country, which is sometimes alluded to as ‘a land of sand,
sagebrush and cacti’ possesses an almost illimitable degree of those very elements which
observation and experience have proven to be of the utmost value in treating tuberculosis.”
Dr Francis Crosson, Medical Officer in Charge, 1900

Unchanged much over the years, this stone building served as the commander’s house
during the army years, and the residence of the medical officer in charge in the hospital years.

“In general, the children (of the hospital staff members) were discouraged from contact
with the patients by the mere fact that tuberculosis often left a patient weak and frail.
Quiet and rest needed by a patient was not compatible with noisy, fun-loving kids.”
Betsy Grillo Lowey, resident as a child

Replacing the old tubercular hospital in 1936, the new hospital was state of the art,
had a bed capacity of 85, and boasted the first elevator in the state of New Mexico.

“Here the nights are so cold in the summer that you can sleep under three or four blankets.
While I am writing this letter, it is snowing as hard as it can. …The company has all started out
again after Indians. …they have all left the Fort Stanton reservation and gone on the war path.”
Pvt James A Chapman, 8th Cavalry, May 1875

Built originally as barracks in 1855, inside was also quarters for laundresses.  During the
hospital era it was used as dining hall for staff and patients … who were always separated.

Here’s a question for you.  How many soldiers slept in a bunk — actually, crib … to give it the proper name.  The answer is at the bottom of the post.

Barracks/dining room (far left) and the Protestant Chapel.

The once-gorgeous tin ceiling of the Protestant Chapel is in dire need of some TLC.

“When moved to its new location, the beautiful entrance was duplicated by
numbering and resetting each stone in its original location.”
Eugene A Merrell, resident

The original Catholic chapel was built in 1913.  It was on a wing of a building across the
parade ground.  In 1938, when that building was demolished along with two others, the
chapel was left freestanding.  A stone façade was added using stones from the original
barracks/hospital that was demolished.  When the new chapel was built, the stones in
that façade … well you know what they did if you read the quote above the photo ;-)

The Catholic Chapel has a very simple interior.  Historically accurate “period” non-denominational
services are offered here each month — “… period attire is appreciated but not required.”

And so concludes this virtual tour.

Sometimes you set out to do one thing, but end up doing something entirely different.  These unexpected twists and turns often prove to be very interesting … today’s outing was no exception.

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And the answer to the question about how many men slept in a crib: Four; two slept in each bed head to toe.  According to the sign on one of the cribs, it wasn’t until after the Civil War that the Army allowed more ‘personal space’ by creating single bunks with iron heads and wood slats.

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