With him was his wife and two young sons, Arthur MacArthur III, age 7, and Douglas MacArthur, age 4.

In 1884, Captain Arthur MacArthur Jr., 13th Infantry, was assigned as post commander. As a testament to their bravery, nine Buffalo Soldiers received the Medal of Honor while serving in New Mexico Territory. Several of the units assigned later, including the 38th Infantry Regiment, 9th US Cavalry and 10th US Cavalry, all composed of black troopers, sometimes referred to as Buffalo Soldiers. The first troops to occupy the fort were Company M 1st Regiment of Cavalry, California Volunteers from 31 July 1865 to 31 August 1866, and subsequently companies of the 125th US Colored Infantry Regiment, a group of African-American enlisted soldiers from Kentucky who had been mustered into the Union Army near the close of the American Civil War. Built near the banks of the Rio Grande, the adobe fort housed units of the California Volunteer Cavalry, U.S. The primary intent of the fort was to protect settlers and travelers in the Mesilla Valley from attacks by desperados and Mescalero Apache Indians. Henry Raymond Selden who had served many years in New Mexico Territory before and during the American Civil War and had died of illness in Doña Ana County, and buried at Fort Union on February 2, 1865. It was established in 1865 at the Paraje de Robledo in an effort to bring peace among the varied inhabitants in the south central region of present-day New Mexico. : 63 Fort Selden įort Selden was located in Doña Ana County, 12 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was used as a base for cavalry patrols and operations against Fort Craig and other places in Union held New Mexico Territory. In 1861, the Confederate Army established a post, Camp Robledo, at the Paraje de Robledo to guard the approaches from the north to the Mesilla Valley of Confederate Arizona along the Rio Grande and across the Jornada del Muerto on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Also travelers along Camino Real, that passed through the area, were uneasy about moving further north on the Jornada del Muerto. By the time of the American Civil War the Mesilla Valley, around Las Cruces had developed a population base who valued the fertile land along the Rio Grande and were suffering from attacks by the Apache. Paraje Robledo was the last stop along the Rio Grande before the route of the Camino Real left the river to enter the Jornada del Muerto on the way north toward Santa Fe. Later the name was shortened to Paraje Robledo. It became known as La Cruz de Robledo because of the cross originally marking his grave there. The campground or paraje was named for an old Spanish soldier, Pedro Robledo, who died and was buried there on the 1598 expedition of Juan de Oñate. History Paraje de Robledo įor centuries the site of Fort Selden had been the Paraje de Robledo, a camp site along the course of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro on the east bank of the Rio Grande. It was ultimately abandoned in 1891, due in large part to the decision to expand Fort Bliss and the lack of any expenditures for repair of the facility. Army established Fort Selden in 1865 for the purpose of protecting westward settlers from Native American raids, but the post fell into disrepair after the American Civil War. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

Not to be confused with Fort Selden, Louisiana.įort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico.

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