Historical Marker

Fort Sumner State Monument

Old Fort Sumner and Bosque Redondo Reservation-1862-1868. Fort Sumner was built to guard captive Indians confined to the Bosque Redondo Reservation. About 8000 were Navajos relocated from Arizona but there were also over 400 Mescalero Apaches. The fort was abandoned in 1868 when the Indians were allowed to return home. Lucien B. Maxwell and Billy the Kid figure in its later history.