FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Greg Gurule
505-476-1145
greg.gurule@dca.nm.gov
Buffalo Soldiers and Fort Stanton: Helping Tame the Wild West
Fort Stanton, NM – Black troopers known as Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Stanton played a key role in the transition of New Mexico from a territory into a state. In recognition of the site’s significance to Black History, the National Park Service recently added the Fort Stanton Historic Site to its Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. The site joins 107 listings across 28 states that highlight Black stories from the last half of the nineteenth century.
In 1876 Buffalo Soldiers built the Fort Stanton Laundress Quarters which still stands at the site and is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with the Black troops. The fort and the structure are some of the most important Black History Sites in New Mexico.
The 240-acre Fort Stanton New Mexico Historic Site is open Thursday through Monday 10:00 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and free to children 16 and younger. New Mexico residents with a state ID are admitted free the first Sunday of every month. It’s located at 104 Kit Carson Road, Fort Station, NM: between Lincoln and Capitan. Tickets can be purchased online at: https://my.nmculture.org/events?kid=28
New Mexico Historic Sites is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Regents for the Museum of New Mexico. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and its donors. The New Mexico Historic Sites system was established in 1931 by an Act for the Preservation of the Scientific Resources of New Mexico. The eight Historic Sites include Coronado, Fort Selden, Fort Stanton, Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial, Jemez, Lincoln, and Los Luceros.
Contact:
Oliver Horn, Ph.D.
Regional Manager
Lincoln and Fort Stanton Historic Sites
New Mexico Historic Sites
cell: 575-315-6673
