Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what
is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground
along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a
Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. Army established Fort Selden
in 1865 for the purpose of protecting westward settlers from Native
American raids, the post fell into disrepair after the American Civil
War. It was ultimately abandoned in 1891, due in large part to the
decision to expand Fort Bliss and the lack of any expenditures for
repair of the facility.For centuries the site of Fort Selden had been
the Paraje de Robledo, a camp site along the course of the El Camino
Real de Tierra Adentro on the east bank of the Rio Grande. The
campground or paraje was named for an old Spanish soldier, Pedro
Robledo, who died and was buried there on the 1598 expedition of Juan
de Oñate. It became known as La Cruz de Robledo because of the cross
originally marking his grave there. Later the name was shortened to
Paraje Robledo.:50Paraje Robledo was the last stop along the Rio
Grande before the route of the Camino Real left the river to enter the
Jornada del Muerto on the way north toward Santa Fe. By the time of
the American Civil War the Mesilla Valley, around Las Cruces had
developed a population base who valued the fertile land along the Rio
Grande and were suffering from attacks by the Apache. Also travelers
along Camino Real, that passed through the area, were uneasy about
moving further north on the Jornada del Muerto for the same reason.In
1861, the Confederate Army established a post, Camp Robledo, at the
Paraje de Robledo to guard the approaches from the north to the
Mesilla Valley of Confederate Arizona along the Rio Grande and across
the Jornada del Muerto on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was
used as a base for cavalry patrols and operations against Fort Craig
and other places in Union held New Mexico Territory. :63 Fort Selden Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter