Fort Fillmore

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Fort Fillmore was a fortification established by the United States in September of 1851 near Mesilla in what is now New Mexico, primarily to protect settlers and traders travelling to California. Travellers in the Westward Migration were under constant threat from Indian attack, and a network of forts was created by the US Government to protect and encourage westward expansion. Fort Fillmore was intended to protect a corridor plagued by Apache attacks where several migration routes converged between El Paso and Tucson to take advantage of Apache Pass.

The fall of Fort Fillmore in 1861 to Confederate soldiers under the command of Lt. Colonel John Baylor solidified the Arizona Territory of the Confederate States of America which had been formed earlier that year in nearby Mesilla. Fort Fillmore was abandoned by the Confederates soon after and no attempt appears to have been made by the Union to reoccupy it.

The fort was officially closed by the Union in October of 1862, but sources mention Fort Fillmore as a way point along several major routes throughout the period of western expansion. The Upper and Lower Emigrant Trails converged in El Paso and, along with the Butterfield, Pacific and Overland Trails, passed through the corridor Fort Fillmore was erected to defend.

The remains of the fort were levelled at some later date after a failed attempt by the owner to sell or trade it to the State of New Mexico as a park. A grove of pecan trees now stands on the approximate location of the fort.