Qualla: Fort Cummings https://qualla.com/fort-cummings en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Fort Cummings https://qualla.com/fort-cummings Fort Cummings: Introduction https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ The only reliable water between Mesilla and the Mimbres River made Cookes Spring essential for any traveler heading to California. It also made the spot a perfect killing ground. Between 1848 and 1861, Apache warriors ambushed so many wagon trains and stagecoaches passing through nearby Cookes Pass that it earned the name Massacre Canyon. When the California Column marched east in 1863, they knew exactly where a fort needed to stand. Captain Valentine Dresher established Fort Cummings on October 2, 1863, within sight of the springs that had drawn travelers and their hunters for decades.

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Fort Cummings: Water in a Deadly Place https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ Philip St. George Cooke gave his name to these springs in 1853, when the former commander of the Mormon Battalion explored the region with the 2nd U.S. Dragoons. The spring became a crucial waypoint on the Southern Emigrant Trail and later the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-water-in-a-deadly-place.mp3 0:06 2 full Fort Cummings: Adobe Walls Rising https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ The California Column arrived from the west in 1862-1863, Union volunteers marching to secure the Southwest for the federal government during the Civil War. Captain Dresher and Company B of the 1st California Infantry established Fort Cummings near the old stage station. Over the...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-adobe-walls-rising.mp3 0:06 3 full Fort Cummings: Garrison Stories https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ The soldiers who served at Fort Cummings came from units that tell the complex story of the Civil War-era American West. California volunteer infantry companies rotated through in the early years. Company D of the 125th Infantry Regiment U.S. Colored Troops garrisoned the fort fr...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-garrison-stories.mp3 0:06 4 full Fort Cummings: Abandonment and Return https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ By 1870, the immediate Apache threat had diminished enough that the Army evacuated Fort Cummings to caretaker status. Complete abandonment came in 1873. The adobe walls began their slow erosion back into the desert. But peace proved temporary. In 1880, the Chiricahua Apache leade...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-abandonment-and-return.mp3 0:06 5 full Fort Cummings: What Remains https://qualla.com/fort-cummings/ Today Fort Cummings exists as eroding adobe walls rising from the New Mexico desert 20 miles northeast of Deming. The nearby site of the old Butterfield stage station and a post graveyard to the south complete the historical complex. The springs that made this location vital stil...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/2/fort-cummings-wp/9tg2-fort-cummings-what-remains.mp3 0:06 6 full