Musings of a Casual Drifter: Fort Bayard

We took a side trip to Fort Bayard that was established long ago in 1866. The fort was needed to protect the people of Santa Clara from the fierce and mighty Chiricahua Apache warriors during that period of time. Because the climate was dry and temperate, it transitioned over to a sanitorium for tuberculosis between 1900 and 1920. Then Ft. Bayard was taken over by the V.A. and all five hospitals were phased out.

This 1885 hospital was vacant in 1945 when the U.S. government brought over German prisoners from the Lordsburg POW camp. They were housed at Ft. Bayard and replaced the maintenance workers who were drafted for WWII. I thought it was interesting that they were paid army private wages while there!

The area for the plaza is now empty and many of the large trees that lined the streets have died . Out of 400 buildings only 80 remain, most in dire need of paint and refurbishing.

You can see Don and Norm standing in the street. No traffic at all to worry about! Our group of 5 were the only ones wandering around. Currently, they have tours each Saturday, but we left Silver City that morning.

There are eight large buildings still standing across from the plaza. These were built for army officers and the doctors. Below is the only building that has been refurbished and now is the start for the Saturday tours. Wish we could have seen the inside and done the tour! So much history to learn about this place!

Pictured below is the building that housed the army nurses and the one remaining Army sanitorium water tank. The building was built in 1910 on a hill that overlooked the 1885 hospital.

As I wandered around the grounds, I discovered an old playground for children. It was conveniently placed between the large double story buildings for the officers and the family houses on the next street. A concrete step over the cement lined ditch provided access for the officer's children.

One lone see-saw remains. It reminded me of my childhood days and being temporarily stuck on the top end while the other person sat on the ground! These are things of the past, children's playgrounds today are completely different.

This is a view from the playground, showing the backs of the buildings, with clothes lines for each building. I bet the clothes lines would have been used every day unless it was raining.

Can you imagine what it must have been like when this was a bustling fort filled with families in the middle of "nowhere"? The roads were paved and there were even cement sidewalks!