The Fort Bayard Story

The history of Fort Bayard, New Mexico from its 1866 founding through 1899 — the post that garrisoned this corner of the territory through the Apache wars.

Context: Pope & Jaquez, 2011.

Why it’s on the list: Fort Bayard is where Sgt. James Cooney mustered out before finding silver in the Mogollons and being killed in Victorio’s 1880 raid. The military frame around the county’s founding decades.

Where I saw it: Named in Part 2 of Debbie Lee’s four-part Catron County Centennial History, posted publicly by the Catron County Historical Society in April 2022. It is part of the Catron County reading list assembled for the Luna novel research — the county Kyle’s family town sits in.

Connections

• James C. Cooney — mustered out of Fort Bayard
• Victorio — the wars the fort was there for