A lonely wood bench on a shady porch waits for tired visitors to Fort Stanton, Lincoln County, New Mexico.

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Fort Stanton (built 1855) was a military fort built in New Mexico in the United States. It was established to protect settlements along the Rio Bonito in the Apache Wars. Kit Carson, John "Black Jack" Pershing, Billy the Kid, and Buffalo Soldiers of the 8th and 9th Cavalry all lived here. Confederate forces occupied the outpost in the beginning of the American Civil War after the post was abandoned with the withdrawal of forces in the region. The Mescalero Apache live in the area near the Fort. Fort Stanton property became America's first federal tuberculosis hospital. In World War II it interned both German and Japanese. Today, Fort Stanton is a popular site for military reenactments and recreational horse riding. It has over 360 miles of trails and is the venue of an annual endurance riding event that has grown to be 6 days long. Fort Stanton is on BLM land surrounded by the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest.

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Size: 4160px × 2767px
Location: Fort Stanton, Lincoln County, New Mexico, USA, United States, America
Photo credit: © M L Pearson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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