Fort Buchanan, was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Army post founded in 1856 three miles west of present day Sonoita

Sonoita, Arizona

Sonoita is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 826 at the 2000 census....

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 in what is now called Hog Canyon. The fort was located on the east slope of the canyon and under constant attack by native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

. It was officially abandoned in 1861 but during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 troops of the California Column

California Column

The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...

 occasionally manned the post. In February 1865 Apache

Apache

Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...

s attacked

Battle of Fort Buchanan

The Battle of Fort Buchanan, was an 1865 Apache attack on the United States Army post of Old Fort Buchanan in southern Arizona. Though a skirmish it ended with a significant Apache victory when they forced the small garrison of California Volunteers to retreat to the Santa Rita Mountains...

 and forced the small garrison to retreat. It was then abandoned for good and Fort Crittenden

Fort Crittenden

Fort Crittenden, originally Camp Crittenden, was a United States Army post built in 1867 three miles from Sonoita, Arizona along Sonoita Creek. It was established for campaigning against the Apache and to protect American pioneers in the area.-History:...

was established half a mile east on the flats in 1867.