FT. CUMMINGS,New Mexico (Ruins) - Ghost Towns on Waymarking.com

Fort Cummings 1862-1873, 1880-1886?
In 1846, the Mormon Battalion "discovered" Cooke's Spring(named after the battalion's commander,Colonel Phillip St. George Cooke)in the mountains near what would eventually become Fort Cummings.The location of the spring and the nearby pass made it a popular overland route,as well as a popular Apache ambush point. The fort itself was established by the California Volunteers during the Civil War.Later,Fort Cummings later became a regular Army garrison and,like Fort Bowie and other area posts, protected settlers and the Butterfield Overland Mail Route from Indian attack. Remains of the Butterfield stage station,as well as the spring house built by the railroad,are nearby.This post was the site of a brief mutiny in December 1867 when a camp follower was expelled for stealing money.The fort entered caretaker status in 1873,but was reoccupied in 1880 after a band of Warm Springs Apache under Victorio bolted from the San Carlos reservation and began terrorizing southern New Mexico and western Texas.In 1886, a test heliograph message was relayed from Fort Cummings to Tubac,Arizona,and back in four hours over a distance of nearly 300 miles.Today,little remains of the post itself apart from the foundations of the perimeter wall and the sutler's store,which was situated outside the walls and was later used as a hospital.The ruins are currently "maintained" by the Bureau of Land Management.Namesake for the post is unknown.Luna County, New Mexico