Fort Bayard

About 35 miles from Silver City is the now abandoned Fort Bayard.  We decided it would not only be interesting, but a good history lesson for all of us.  Sandy and Jerry had 4 of their grandchildren for a few days, so they obediently tagged along with us old folks.

The fort was established many decades ago, specifically in 1866, to protect settlers and miners in nearby Silver City.  It grew much bigger and changed over the decades of use.

 Now, all the streets are deserted, which makes walking quite easy.  We didn't have to warn any of the kids about watching out for vehicles.  The day was sunny, warm and a slight breeze made our meanderings quite enjoyable.  Not one of the grandchildren complained! 

Houses and huge buildings are all in various states of disrepair, which is unfortunate.  Stairs are missing steps, windows are broken, etc.  With all the money that is wasted in our country, why couldn't the government figure out a way to repair and restore at least some of the buildings?

 Below are some old pictures of the theater as it looked in 1904. over a 100 years ago.

Here is a picture of what it looks like today from the outside.  At first, I thought it might have been a church by the looks of the structure, but my guess was wrong.  I just wonder what the inside looks like now.

 The picture on one of the posts showed an aerial photograph of the fort taken in 1923.  At that point in time, the hospital was part of the Veteran's Administration.  Many of the barracks had been used for tuberculosis patients since the air was warm and dry. Different sports, such as baseball, boxing and golf were offered to patients as diversions.

I thought it was quite interesting that German prisoners of war were brought here and worked as maintenance people.  They were even paid for their work!  Wow!  That is quite different from what happened to our veterans when they were taken captive overseas. 

These massive buildings still line the street from the parade grounds.  They were used as officers' quarters. 

Cassidy, Ainslie, Wyatt and Micah did some exploring on their own.

Look at this picture......what do you see besides grass and trees?  I asked the younger kids and none of them knew they were metal poles used for wash lines.  Cassidy got an "A" for the impromptu test!  She had the right answer.  There were a lot of these around the fort houses and barracks.

Doris, Sandy and I guessed that these building were most likely housing for families.  Though small by today's standards, they were probably just right for the military man, his wife and however many children they had. 

Our last stop was the nearby Fort Bayard National Cemetery.  Here is what it looked like about a hundred years ago....

and this is what it looks like today.  I think that is the same small hill in the distance in both pictures.

It sure was peaceful and quiet out here (and not just the cemetery).  No fire engines or police car sirens, no traffic sounds, no cars with sound systems that jar your teeth (even if you have the window up).   Sometimes you just have to sit back and count your blessings for the little things!