Fort Webster, New Mexico

Fort Webster, a fort located at two locations near Santa Rita and San Lorenzo in Grant County, New Mexico between 1851-1853 and 1859-1860.

The first Fort Webster was the reoccupied former Mexican Santa Rita del Cobre Fort that had guarded the Santa Rita Copper Mines and then had been abandoned in 1838, after repeated Apache attacks. It was first occupied by an American Border Commission survey party in 1851, under the name Cantonment Dawson. Subsequently abandoned it was reoccupied and renamed by the U. S. Army in January 1852 as Post at Gila Copper Mines then Fort Webster.

The original post of Fort Webster at the Santa Rita copper mines was moved in September 1852, 14 miles east to the west bank of the Rio Mimbres, about one mile west of the modern town of San Lorenzo. This post was itself then abandoned in December 1853 for Fort Thorn. It was briefly reoccupied in 1859 as Station at the Copper Mines, until being abandoned in 1860.

The site of the old presidio, Cantonment Dawson and the original site of Fort Webster was obliterated by the great open pit of the Chino Copper Mine in Grant County, New Mexico.

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