A wildfire rolled into a Civil War-era fort in New Mexico. Among the damaged structures at Fort Stanton (where Billy the Kid stayed one night) was a gym built by German internees during World War II

Burn area includes site of pool, gymnasium and old guard house (New Mexico Dept. of Cultural Affairs)

A central New Mexico wildfire damaged three historic structures but 150 firefighters and air crews prevented it from spreading to the main grounds of Fort Stanton, which is best known for its roles in the Civil War and Indian Wars but also tells the stories of  frontiersman Kit Carson and the Buffalo Soldiers. If that's not enough, outlaw Billy the Kid had a Fort Stanton connection.

The 877-acre Camp Fire broke out Sunday in an area known for the fort and 52 miles of cave passages. Containment had grown to 76% by Thursday afternoon and rain helped to extinguish remaining hot spots.

Fort Stanton, established in 1855, is one of the most intact 19th-century military forts in the country and is the best-preserved fort in New Mexico, according to state officials.

As an internment camp in 1939, the fort held the 400-member German crew of the luxury liner Columbus. 

The fire-blackened exterior of the German camp gymnasium (Wendy Brown/Bureau of Land Management)

Remains of the German internment camp before the Camp Fire (NMDCA)

“Damage to historic structures in the German Internment Camp area of the site is still being assessed, but two wooden structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s were destroyed by the fire,” the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs said in a press release.

The roof of a gymnasium built by German internees in 1944 and which collapsed in the 1990s was consumed by the fire. Its walls, made of adobe and concrete, remain standing, officials said Wednesday.

A guardhouse suffered minor damage from a fire retardant that colored the walls pink. “We expect that a good rain will wash it off,” Daniel R. Zillmann, director of communications and marketing for the department, told the Civil War Picket.

Out of the 88 structures on the site, the most important structures in this portion of the site were the ruins of the pool, the gymnasium and the guard house.

Living historians portray Civil War soldiers during an event at Fort Stanton (NMDCA)

Zillmann said he did not believe the two destroyed wooden structures involved historic interpretation.

Fort Stanton Historic Site, which is about 20 miles northeast of Ruidoso, will reopen Thursday morning. ”The only portions of the site off limits to the public will be the Internment Camp area,” said Zillmann.

The park web site includes details of its extensive history and wide-ranging use over the years, including as a camp holding Japanese Americans during WWII.

Fort Stanton was seized by Confederate forces in 1861. During the occupation, three Rebels were killed by Kiowa Indians while on patrol 50 miles north.

A fire crew works to contain the Camp Fire around Fort Stanton (NMDCA photo)

“After all supplies were moved to Mesilla, the Confederates abandoned the fort, burning it as they left. The fort stood empty for a year, but the stone walls survived and in 1862, New Mexican Volunteer forces under the great frontiersman Kit Carson (now a US colonel) reoccupied the fort.”

In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Capt. James “Paddy” Graydon allegedly massacred peaceful Indians. Army doctor John Whitlock called Graydon a murderer and they got into a gunfight, with both ending up dead. (Read here for an account.)

In 1876, Buffalo Soldiers built the Fort Stanton Laundress Quarters, which still stands at the site and is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with the Black troops, the state says.

Billy the Kid, a legendary figure in the Wild West, was locked up at Fort Stanton for a night in 1881 when he was being brought back to Lincoln for hanging after his murder trial in Mesilla, where he was convicted of killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady in 1878.

He was kept in a building next to the Fort Stanton visitor center, said BIlly Roberts, a Lincoln resident, professional cartographer and amateur historian

"He was brought to Lincoln, locked up in the newly acquired courthouse, and spent a week there before he killed deputies Bell and Olinger and made one of the most famous jailbreaks in history," said Roberts.

I asked the state for more details on the fort's Civil War and other interpretation, but officials said they were busy assessing the damage and would answer questions on that aspect next week.

John J. Upham fought in the Civil War and Indian Wars. He and his bride built a charming St. Augustine cottage that is now for sale

(Evan Ulsh photo, courtesy of ONE Sotheby's International Realty)

After 30 years of military service, including fighting in the Civil War and the Indian Wars, Lt. Col. John Jaques Upham was ready for a new adventure -- and a warmer place to spend his winters.

So the bachelor, 54, married Caroline Hoppin Williams – 10 years his junior -- in Milwaukee on Sept. 23, 1891. Having soldiered through bouts of poor health over the years, the U.S. 8^th Cavalry officer retired just four months later.

Besides seeking marital bliss, Upham (right) must have wanted escape from the current cold Wisconsin winter and memories of bone-chilling blizzards on the Great Plains while he rode horses or shivered in a fort.

He and Mrs. Upham decided to build a winter retreat on St. George Street in St. Augustine, Fla. The striking cottage went up over the winter of 1892-1893 and the couple happily wintered there and summered in Wisconsin until 1898, when Upham died of kidney disease at a Milwaukee hotel where they were staying before their return south. He was 61.

Today, the house, which has had numerous additions and owners over the years, is for sale, currently at $1.3 million. Upham Cottage, with eight bedrooms and 5,800 square feet, is part of the St. Augustine historic district, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the National Park Service says the three-story cottage is one of a few remaining of that style in the city.

“This remarkable home showcases the graceful blend of Queen Anne Victorian architecture with extraordinary examples of Moorish Revival in the courtyard arches,” says the listing by Kate Mitchell and Elizabeth Jennings of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, St. Augustine.

(Evan Ulsh photos for ONE Sotheby's International Realty)

“From its stunning original millwork and wood floors to its unique octagonal shape, this home will take you back to the splendor of the Gilded Age.” Photos of the property, which is just blocks from the water, show a welcoming home still steeped in the Victorian era.

The likes of novelist Henry James and painter Martin Johnson Heade paid visits more than a century ago. “Over time, the cottage evolved along with the ever-changing tides of history. The original owners continuously added onto the property, building a ballroom, rooftop garden and atrium,” the listing states.

The Upham Cottage later became a multi-family property until it was converted back to a single-family dwelling in the late 1980s, and it is a different cat than its neighbors. Its sales price has varied widely in the past 15 or so years, according to Zillow. Like other houses of that age with such features, upkeep is paramount.

(Evan Ulsh photo, courtesy of ONE Sotheby's International Realty)

“Today, as you step foot within these storied walls, you become an integral part of the Upham Winter Cottage's narrative. Embrace the opportunity to restore its grandeur and assume the role of its guardian, preserving the heritage of the past while crafting a new chapter in its history,” says the listing.

Upham battled health issues along with the enemy

John J. Upham was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1837. His family moved to Milwaukee, where his father, Don A.J. Upham, served as mayor in 1849 and 1850. The younger Upham attended West Point, graduated in 1859 and joined the regular army.

First in the infantry, the officer was stationed at Governor’s Island, N.Y., and California before the Civil War broke out.

Arched entrance at the cottage in St. Augustine (Evan Ulsh photo)

He was engaged in the defense of Washington, D.C., the 1862 Peninsula Campaign in Virginia and the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was promoted to brevet major for “gallant and meritorious service,” according to his The Milwaukee Sentinel obituary (provided to the Picket by the Wisconsin Historical Society). He later became a disbursing officer in the North and occupied South.

Cullum’s Register, an index of graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, had a biography of Upham, listing numerous stations in the West during the Indian Wars, after he had switched to the cavalry. The officer took several leaves of absence, at least some for health reasons. The register said he served “despite constant poor health.” (At left, photo of Upham while cadet, courtesy of U.S. Military Academy Library)

Upham was in a few regiments in his time in Texas, Kansas and Indian Territory. He took command of Oklahoma’s Fort Gibson in 1875 and was in the field in the summer of 1876 as part of the Yellowstone and Big Horn expeditions (George A. Armstrong and much of his command were killed at Little Big Horn in June 1876).

Upham fought at War Bonnet Creek and Slim Buttes and later was stationed at Fort D.A. Russell, Fort Wahaskie and Fort Niobrara, according to his obituary.

Man holds rifle as two others ride off (Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society)

The Wisconsin Historical Society has 12 drawings made by a Native American on blank pages of discarded ledger books that once belonged to an Indian agent. Upham acquired the sketches done in pencil, wax, crayon and earth colors by a Plains Indian, about 1880-1890.

'Distinguished son of a distinguished sire'

Upham’s later service included time at Fort Leavenworth and brief deployments to Turkey and France as a military observer. “He was at that time decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor, a distinction enjoyed by few Americans,” according to his obituary.

Upham was promoted to colonel on Jan. 14, 1892, and put on the retired list on Jan. 30, 1892.

The retired officer was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a Civil War officers group. He was invited to the May 30, 1897, unveiling of the Battle Monument of the regular army at West Point (Wikipedia photo, at left).

The Uphams shared seven years together and they returned to Milwaukee in spring 1898. But John never saw Florida again. He died on Oct. 21 and was buried at Forest Home Cemetery. Caroline died in 1934. They had no children.

Upham’s lengthy obituary, which called him one of Wisconsin’s best-known military men, included these remarks made by a friend:

“Milwaukee has lost the distinguished son of a distinguished sire. Large of frame and equally large of heart; generous; genial; unassuming; unselfish; this endeared him to all who had the privilege of his close friendship. On the pages of our country’s military history one may read the record of the deeds that won for him promotion and popularity, but from his own modest lips one never heard mention of his gallant and meritorious conduct.”

Colorado unit that fought Rebels and Indians during the Civil War put out a newspaper. The Library of Congress now has a rare complete set

A complete set of Soldier's Letter (Shawn Miller, Library of Congress)

The Library of Congress (LOC) has acquired extremely rare editions of a soldier-produced newspaper describing the actions of the Second Colorado Cavalry against Confederate guerrillas and troops in Kansas and Missouri and, later in the war, Native American fighters.

The bound copy of the full print run of Soldier’s Letter was among only a few complete sets of 50 editions to survive the war, the library said in a late December post about the acquisition. The unofficial camp newspaper was produced 1864-1865 in Kansas City, Mo., and Fort Riley, Kan.

Pvt. Oliver Wallace served as editor, working from contributions by other enlisted men and wives. Soldier’s Letter included poems, regiment history, rosters, letters to the editor and features about camp life, according to the American Antiquarian Society. (Colorado, by the way, was a territory during the Civil War, but this unit fought in the Midwest).

“Though there is a long-standing national obsession with the Civil War, regimental newspapers never quite caught on as something to be preserved,” wrote Neely Tucker in the LOC blog post.

“More than 200 such papers in at least 32 states printed at least one edition, according to historian Earle Lutz, but they had mostly vanished by the time he surveyed the nation’s libraries, museums and major private collections in the early 1950s.”

(From left) Lt. Col. Theodore Dodd, Col. James H. Ford and Pvt. William Waggoner (WCNB)

The LOC acquired the volume from a dealer in rare manuscripts. The volume was given to regimental commander James Hobart Ford after the Civil War as a memento.

The editions of the newspaper -- which each cost 10 cents -- are printed in pulp stock. Three pages in each edition included news, rumors, jokes and histories of the regiment, which was formed in 1863. The fourth page was left blank for soldiers to write letters or notes to family or friends. The troopers then mailed the pages home.

“Much of the war was over by the time Wallace started his paper, but he and his unnamed correspondents did note Lincoln’s assassination, accounts of skirmishes and the general tenor of the last days of the Confederacy,” wrote Tucker, who manages the LOC blog.

“The rebels have taken to smuggling in bacon past the blockage,” a short item noted in one edition of the anti-slavery camp newspaper. “The evidences multiply that they are on their last legs.”

Final issue sums up unit's history and number of complete editions (Library of Congress)

Another soldier wrote:

“Dear Mother:
Nothing of interest has transpired since I sent you the last two copies of the Soldiers Letter. We are still staying in Mo and will probably remain here some time. My health is good first rate. Plenty of fun Plenty to eat and nothing to do Capt Moses was maried [sic] last Thursday He givs [sic] a party to  night at his wives fathers you bet we will have a good time.”

The Second Colorado Cavalry was deployed  for some time in what was called the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. Its actions included patrols, clashes and chasing Confederate Gen. Sterling Price in Missouri in 1864, engaging in multiple battles. Price's foray was a major defeat for the South.

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Missouri has a collection of Trans-Mississippi items in its museum, including 19 photos of Second Colorado Cavalry's soldiers (three above) and two documents, says curator Jeff Patrick.

Late in the war, the regiment was sent west to quell Indian raiders on the Santa Fe Trail and other locations. Although the Second Colorado Cavalry was not a participant in the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of Indians in 1864 that killed scores of women, children and the elderly, the Soldier’s Letter editorialized the attack was not vicious enough.

Chris Rein, who wrote a book about the regiment, said in an interview with H-Net that the unit “had a fascinating history, and operated at the nexus of the Civil War and the conquest of the American West.”

He told the Picket in an email this week that accounts such as those by the regiment are "incredibly valuable for assessing the 'unit culture' of Civil War units. Letters, diaries, memoirs, etc. give an individual perspective, but newspapers were intended to appeal to a broader readership and therefore more accurately reflect collective views."

"The paper was published during the most pivotal period of the unit’s service in the 'Burned District' along the Kansas-Missouri border and therefore provides insight into that 'counterinsurgency' campaign, as well as the flaring hostilities on the Plains. It highlights how a regiment of staunch abolitionists could, at the same time, be among the worst Indian-haters in the West," Rein told the Picket.

Chandra Miller, in a 1999 article for the Kansas Historical Society, said the men of the Second Colorado Cavalry, created the Soldier’s Letter to fight isolation, boredom and vagueness of purpose.

“In each issue the Soldier’s Letter covered topics from the history of the regiment to civilian gossip, but the bulk of its pages was dedicated to reflections on the righteousness of American governmental institutions, politics and the eradication of slavery,” Miller wrote.

The newspapers have not been transcribed and thus are not online. The only way to see the full run is by visiting the LOC in Washington, D.C., or, according to Rein, the Denver Public Library, which he says also has a complete set.