Fort Union National Monument I have a SUPER visit Safely Use Preserve Enjoy this Resource For 28 years they lumbered by here, those big, southwest frontier and played a key role ber of Commerce as you drive through dust covered red wagons of the Santa Fe Trail. in shaping the destiny of the Southwest. town on 1-25. Many of the men who rode They were pulled by 10 or 12 New Mexico North of the Fort you can walk about with Col. Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders mules and loaded with 5 to 7 thousand pounds a half-mile portion of the old Santa Fe in the Spanish American War came from of merchandise packed tightly in their beds. Trail ruts. Travel back in your imagination m right around here. Free admission; open The grasslands around Fort Union are still to the arrival of the dusty red wagons with daily except Sundays. deeply marked with the ruts of the old Santa Fe their load of trade goods or military Storrie Lake State Park, 6 miles north Trail. supplies. of Las Vegas on State Route 3, offers This great wilderness highway started from South of the Fort are the contours of camping, picnicking, fishing, boating (with the banks of the Missouri River 800 miles to the the old "Star Fort" earthworks — the © ramps) and water sports. There is no east. Each spring the traders backed their second Fort Union. Examine this ruin © guarded beach but you can swim at your wagons up to warehouses, loaded, mounted the and imagine the excitement here as the own risk. box and cracked their "Missouri pistols" over troops passed rumors that Confederate € Villanueva State Park is located on the ears of the mules and headed for the great Col. Sibley's mounted Texas Riflemen State Route 3, 31 miles southwest of southwest. were headed this direction. Las Vegas. It offers facilities for camping Near the junction of the Mountain and If your visit to Fort Union is during (May through November), picnicking and Cimarron Branches of the Trail, where the the summer months, uniformed Rangers fishing. mountains meet the plains, the Army's 1st conduct tours of Fort Union and present If you enjoy mountain scenery, take Dragoons built Fort Union. In 1880, thirty talks about his history. Check at the Visi­ State Route 3 out of Las Vegas to Taos, years later, the first steam engine chugged tor Center for the schedule. 70 miles to the northwest. This trip takes into Lamy, station -for the New Mexico capital, We suggest your visit to Fort Union you through the Santa Fe National Forest; and the Santa Fe Trail passed out of existence. be combined with a picnic — the closest you'll like it! With it went the need for Fort Union. Today food service is 30 miles away and walking A shorter trip is State Route 65, also its ruins, maintained for your enjoyment by through the ruins builds up an appetite. © out of Las Vegas, to the base of 10,263- the National Park Service, provide an impres­ Picnic tables are provided and we have a € foot Hermit Peak. sive memorial to the men who won the West. machine that dispenses cold soft drinks. @ Fort Union is a designated Federal • •MM Fort Union National Monument is located Be sure to make your first stop the Visitor Fee area. This means you must pay a in northeastern New Mexico, 8 miles west Center, and take time to study the museum nominal entrance fee: 50 cents if you're of Interstate 25. State Route 477 leads exhibits before touring the ruins. The time a loner, $1 for the family if you come as a © directly into the Monument. The inter­ © spent will help make your visit come alive. group. Golden Eagle and Golden Age Pass­ © section of State Route 477 with 1-25 is "© Trained interpreters at the Information ports are honored, of course. 22 miles northeast of Las Vegas and 21 Desk will help answer your questions about miles southwest of Wagon Mound. the old Fort. Old Town Plaza, in Las Vegas, 26 miles to '€- With the story fresh in mind, go out the south on Interstate 25, listed in the The nearest overnight accommodations © and roam the 74 acres of adobe ruins at National Register of Historic Places. In -HJV are in Las Vegas, 30 miles southwest, and your leisure; there is no set tour route. 1846, Stephen Watts Kearney stood on the Raton, 95 miles north. (Springer, 45 miles © Stand in the shadow of 20-foot adobe walls roof of a building overlooking this place north, has limited overnight accommoda­ © and listen, as in your mind's eye a drill and claimed the Province of New Mexico tions.) sergeant prepares his troops for a scouting for the United States. Storrie Lake State Park, 6 miles north patrol along the Santa Fe Trail. This was The Rough Riders Museum in Las of Las Vegas on State Route 3, offers the largest military post guarding the Vegas. Look for it next door to the Cham­ year-round camping. Villanueva State Park, 31 miles southwest of Las Vegas on State ® the Fort area. All snakes should be avoided Route 3, offers camping from May thru but not harmed and reported to a Ranger. November. At both, the fee is $2 per Drive alertly while in the Monument night. ID and in transit to and from. While every effort is made to provide At the Monument you can purchase cold for your safety in these surroundings, you soft drinks from a machine dispenser. ® must remain alert and exercise caution for "© Picnic tables are provided to make your your own safety and that of your children. visit more enjoyable. Bring a lunch and © eat with us. Natural and historical specimens and arti­ © Full food service is available in Las facts are protected under the Antiquities Vegas, 30 miles south, and Wagon Mound, Act. They cannot be collected. just off 1-25, 28 miles to the north. ® Pets must be restrained by leash or ® other means. Pets are not permitted in f Fort Union Fort Union is at elevation of 6,700 feet. It the Visitor Center. is windy most of the year. Stay off adobe ruins. The National \;iI ionnI Monument ® % Summer temperatures range between Park Service has a perplexing problem in 70 and 90. Rain is frequent during July preserving adobe from summer rains, and August. winter snows and the erosive effects of Winter temperatures range between continuous winds. Climbing over the ® 20 and 50. Heavy snowfall is infrequent wall ruins only adds to this problem. (3 to 5 times a year) but can occur any­ time between October and April. Peak visitation to Fort Union occurs PARKS AND FORESTS between May and September, with most When you are enjoying yourself, m people coming on weekends. The Fort what difference does it make if you is open every day except Christmas and are in a National Park or a National New Year's Day, 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. Forest? Both offer outstanding recrea­ tional opportunities and special facili­ Fort Union Handbook $.80 ties and services to enhance your visit. Santa Fe Trail, by H.L. James $.75 Differences are in concept — To order, send a check or money which determines the way they are order payable to the Southwest Parks managed. National Forests are man­ ® and Monuments Association to Fort aged as renewable natural resources — Union National Monument Information, timber, forage, water, wildlife. Na­ Watrous, NM, 87753. tional Parks are set aside to be pre­ I have a SUPER visit served, as they are, in perpetuity. Safely Although stabilized, the ruins will fall if climbed on. Use During the summer months, an National Park Service •*••** Preserve occasional rattlesnake is spotted within U.S. Department of the Interior Enjoy •&U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1977-779-234 this Resource .