Fort Sumner, New Mexico
Encyclopedia
De Baca County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*87.3% White*0.1% Black*0.6% Native American*0.0% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.9% Two or more races*8.1% Other races*38.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 1,249 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of De Baca County
De Baca County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*87.3% White*0.1% Black*0.6% Native American*0.0% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.9% Two or more races*8.1% Other races*38.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. Fort Sumner is the spring and fall home of the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility is a NASA facility responsible for providing launch, tracking and control, airspace coordination, telemetry and command systems, and recovery services for unmanned, high altitude balloons...
, and is home to the alleged burial site of famed outlaw of the American West Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
.
History
Named after former New Mexico military governor Edwin Vose SumnerEdwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War...
, Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner was a military fort in De Baca County in southeastern New Mexico charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863-1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.-History:...
was a military fort charged with the internment of nearby Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868. The federal government closed the fort in 1868, and sold its buildings to Lucien Maxwell
Lucien Maxwell
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell was a rancher and entrepreneur who at one point owned more than . Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in United States history....
, a prominent New Mexico landowner, in 1870. Maxwell's son Pete befriended legendary outlaw Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
, and it was in his house that Billy was allegedly killed by Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett
Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid...
. Billy the Kid is allegedly buried in the old military cemetery in Fort Sumner as is Lucien Maxwell.
In the 1920s the Transcontinental Air Transport
Transcontinental Air Transport
Transcontinental Air Transport was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA....
airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The airfield was reopened by the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
as a training base during World War II. After the war, the base became the Fort Sumner Municipal Airport
Fort Sumner Municipal Airport
Fort Sumner Municipal Airport is a public airport located approximately northeast of central Fort Sumner, New Mexico.-History:The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger...
, and was chosen as a launch site for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's high altitude balloon
High altitude balloon
High-altitude balloons are unmanned balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen that are released into the stratosphere, generally reaching between ....
program.
Geography
Fort Sumner is located at 34.473162°N 104.242232°W.According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,249 people, 533 households, and 312 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 374.6 people per square mile (144.8/km2). There were 680 housing units at an average density of 204.0 per square mile (78.8/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 81.91% White, 0.80% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 15.29% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 48.28% of the population.
There were 533 households out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 31.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $19,583, and the median income for a family was $28,625. Males had a median income of $24,722 versus $16,953 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $13,327. About 20.4% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
Interesting facts
- In 1866, the US government was holding thousands of Native Indians captive. Charles GoodnightCharles GoodnightCharles Goodnight, also known as Charlie Goodnight , was a cattle rancher in the American West, perhaps the best known rancher in Texas. He is sometimes known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle." Essayist and historian J...
and Oliver LovingOliver LovingOliver Loving was a cattle rancher and pioneer of the cattle drive who with Charles Goodnight developed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. He was mortally wounded by Indians while on a cattle drive. Loving County, the smallest county in the United States in population, is named in his honor.Loving was...
saw business there and decided to sell beef so that the starving captives were fed. This was to lead to the Goodnight-Loving Trail, far enough west so to avoid any contact with mobs wanting the superior LonghornTexas longhorn (cattle)The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...
cattle. - 1881 Billy the Kid, the famous outlaw, was shot here.