Qualla: Fort Thorn https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico 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 Thorn https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico Fort Thorn: Introduction https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ The fever came with the standing water. Every fall, when the Rio Grande retreated and left pools beneath the cottonwoods, soldiers at Fort Thorn fell sick. Malaria spread through the garrison so relentlessly that Army surgeons filled report after report documenting the "exceeding prevalence of remittent and intermittent fevers." Yet this unhealthy post on the west bank of the Rio Grande occupied a position of tremendous strategic importance, controlling the junction where Cooke's Wagon Road met the ancient El Camino Real. For six years, soldiers endured the fevers because the location demanded it. Then they left, and the desert reclaimed everything.

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Fort Thorn: The Road West https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ Before there was a fort, there was a road. In November 1846, Major Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon Battalion camped three miles north of the future fort site, beginning their historic mission to build a wagon road from the Rio Grande to California. Brigadier General Stephe...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-the-road-west.mp3 0:06 2 full Fort Thorn: Christmas at Cantonment Garland https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ Captain Israel B. Richardson established the post on December 24, 1853, initially calling it Cantonment Garland after General John Garland, commander of the Ninth Military District. The name soon changed to Fort Thorn, honoring 1st Lieutenant Herman Thorn of the 2nd U.S. Infantry...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-christmas-at-cantonment-garland.mp3 0:06 3 full Fort Thorn: The Curse of the Marshes https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ Assistant Surgeon T. Charlton Henry described the problem with clinical precision in his 1856 Sanitary Report. Standing pools formed during river overflows and persisted through the fall months. Cottonwood trees once shaded these pools, but soldiers had cut most of the timber for...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-the-curse-of-the-marshes.mp3 0:06 4 full Fort Thorn: Civil War on the Rio Grande https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ Abandonment did not mean the end. When the Civil War split the nation, Fort Thorn found new purpose. On September 26, 1861, Union cavalry from the Regiment of Mounted Rifles clashed with Bethel Coopwood's Confederate horsemen at a site fifteen miles upriver, the Skirmish near For...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-civil-war-on-the-rio-grande.mp3 0:06 5 full Fort Thorn: Abandoned Twice https://qualla.com/fort-thorn-new-mexico/ The final abandonment came not with a battle but with a newspaper notice. On October 25, 1860, the Mesilla Times reported that Navajos had raided Fort Thorn, driving off livestock and killing an ox. Apaches pursued the raiders and recovered the property, but the damage was done. ...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/g/d/fort-thorn-new-mexico-wp/9tgd-fort-thorn-abandoned-twice.mp3 0:06 6 full