Fort Wingate, at the site known today, was established in 1868. It is
located on the site of a pre-existing fort at Ojo del Oso (Bear Springs)
about twelve miles east of Gallup and three miles south of U.S. Highway
66.
Fort Fauntleroy was established in August 1860 and was named for the
then Department Commander, Col. T. T. Fauntleroy. The name was changed
to Fort Lyon in September 1861 after Colonel Fauntleroy resigned his
commission and joined the Confederate forces. The fort was abandoned in
December 1861 as troops were concentrated at other posts to meet the
threat of invasion of the territory by Confederate forces from the
south. With the defeat of Confederate troops early in 1862, the military
returned to the Indian problem and established a post some sixty miles
to the east on the Rio de Gallo near San Rafael. This post was named
Fort Wingate in honor of Capt. Benjamin Wingate who died of wounds
received during the battle with the Confederate forces at Val Verde. The
post proved to be too far from the Navajo country for effective control
and, in 1868, was abandoned and a new Fort Wingate established at Ojo
del Oso on the site occupied earlier by Fort Fauntleroy.
The physical plant of the new Fort Wingate consisted of barracks,
officers’ quarters, hospital, guard house, storehouse, employees’
quarters, corrals, barns, and various repair and storage sheds, all
bordering the traditional rectangular parade ground. Some of these
buildings are in use today.
In 1914, 4000 Mexican refugees lived in a tent city at Fort Wingate
until peace was restored after Pancho Villa’s revolution in Mexico.
Following World War I, it became an ordnance storage depot, and new
administrative and living quarters were built several miles west of the
original fort enclosure. This installation is known today as Fort
Wingate Ordnance Depot, and the long rows of concrete ammunition storage
bunkers can be seen from U.S. Highway 66. In 1925, the original fort
enclosure was transferred to the Department of the Interior for use as
an Indian school. Today, the parade ground is a playground and the
barracks are dormitories for the children who attend this school. The
missile age came to Fort Wingate in 1963 when a portion of the military
reservation became the launching site for test rockets which impact at
the White Sands Missile Range 200 miles to the south.
Fort Wingate has seen many changes during its long and colorful history.
It served well during its first 100 years and continues to serve today.