FORT FILLMORE. 6 mi S of Las Cruces on US 85 and 1 mi E of Brazito. Established Sept. 23, 1851, by Col. E. V. Sumner, commander of the Military Department of the Teritory. Named for President Millard Fillmore. The fort was built for the protection of early day travelers. It was abandoned in 1862. Now a trading point and farm community. Submitted by: Samuel W McWhorter

Directions to the fort from Las Cruces, NM, is = At the south side of Las Cruces is the junction of I-10 and I-25, driving south from Las Cruces and from that intersection one mile is Fillmore Canyon. This is normally a dry arroyo over which is a bridge of about 50 feet. On the south side of the bridge look southwest along what was the edge of the Canyonm and to the high power electric line. The remains of Fort Fillmore lie this side of the power line, under the pecan trees of the Salopek Farms. Salopek farm also is on the east side of I-10. About 1970 an archaeologist Jack _____ from NMSU, Las Cruces, found the site of the fort. It then was under rolling sand dunes and mesquite bushes. He did some summer archaeology, and wrote a book. His work was then back covered with about one to three feet of blow sand. He identified some of the buildings. Some of the floors were of low fired clay brick. We know that some of the flooring, window, doors, and door frames were of wood from a sawmill in the Organ Mountains to the east. The contracts for planks is archived. Before the back fill the owner of the land, John Salopek, took some of the bricks to his barn, so he told me. The owner offered to work with a different Jack, Jack Jones, who then was head of the New Mexico Parks Department. The land owner offered to sell, trade, or possibly donate the fort to the State if they would make it a park. The parks department had little money, and other projects had more visible walls. Fillmore had not a high historic profile, and a low visibility due to vandals, erosion, and fires by the retreating Union. Eventually, the owner gave up, leveled the sand dunes and mesquite, and planted pecans as we see it today. Cal Traylor.