On October 24, 1867, a cornerstone-laying ceremony in Santa Fe Plaza marked a significant moment in New Mexico’s post–Civil War history. Territorial officials, military veterans, and members of the Masonic fraternity gathered to commemorate Union soldiers who had died defending New Mexico against Confederate forces. The ceremony initiated the construction of the Soldiers’ Monument, an obelisk that would occupy the historic center of Santa Fe for more than 150 years. Originally conceived as a memorial to Union military service, the monument eventually became a contested symbol of territorial expansion, Indigenous dispossession, and the changing interpretation of American history.
The monument’s origins lay in the Confederate invasion of New Mexico in 1862. Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley commanded Confederate forces advancing northward from Texas, intending to secure New Mexico and extend Confederate influence into the Southwest. Union troops commanded by Colonel Edward Richard Sprigg Canby resisted the invasion at the Battle of Valverde on February 21, 1862. Although Confederate forces prevailed tactically, they failed to destroy Canby’s command. Subsequent engagements at Apache Canyon and Glorieta Pass in March proved decisive. Union forces, including Colorado volunteers and New Mexico troops, disrupted Confederate supply operations, contributing to Sibley’s withdrawal from the territory.
Following the Civil War, territorial leaders sought to honor the soldiers who had defended Union authority. John Potts Slough, the former Union commander at Glorieta Pass and subsequently chief justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court, became an important advocate for the memorial. On January 31, 1867, the Territorial Legislative Assembly appropriated $1,500 to protect soldiers’ graves and erect memorials at Civil War burial grounds, including those associated with Valverde and Glorieta.
The memorial project subsequently expanded beyond its original battlefield locations. On February 11, 1867, a commission consisting of Slough, Territorial Secretary William F. M. Arny, and Territorial Treasurer Simon Delgado authorized a monument in Santa Fe Plaza. The commission selected an obelisk design and prepared inscriptions commemorating soldiers killed during the Confederate campaign. Locating the monument in the territorial capital placed military remembrance within Santa Fe’s principal civic space, near the Palace of the Governors and institutions of territorial government.
The cornerstone ceremony occurred on October 24, 1867. The McGee brothers, local builders, laid the cornerstone while territorial dignitaries participated in commemorative proceedings. Governor Robert Byington Mitchell delivered an address honoring the soldiers who had fought at Valverde and Apache Canyon. His remarks emphasized preservation of the Union and the national principles associated with the federal cause. Contemporary accounts also document the placement of commemorative materials within the monument’s foundation, creating a historical record of the ceremony.
Construction continued into 1868, but the monument’s intended message underwent an important alteration. Additional funding became necessary, and on January 29, 1868, the territorial legislature authorized further support while prescribing revised inscriptions. Three tablets commemorated Union soldiers and the Civil War engagements at Valverde, Apache Canyon, Glorieta, and Peralta. A fourth honored soldiers killed in conflicts with Indigenous peoples. Its inscription employed the derogatory expression “savage Indians,” reflecting the discriminatory language embedded in nineteenth-century territorial military commemoration.
This addition connected the monument to New Mexico’s broader history of military conquest. During the Civil War, Union forces fought Confederate armies while conducting campaigns against Apache and Navajo communities. These operations included forced displacement, particularly the removal of Navajo people to Bosque Redondo beginning in 1864. Consequently, the completed monument commemorated military activities with substantially different consequences for the territory’s communities.
The Soldiers’ Monument was completed in June 1868. Rising approximately thirty feet above Santa Fe Plaza, it became a prominent landmark. Its inscriptions subsequently generated sustained controversy. Indigenous activists challenged its language during the twentieth century, including an action in the 1970s that removed the word “savage” from the fourth inscription.
Controversy intensified during nationwide demonstrations concerning racial injustice in 2020. On October 12, protesters pulled down the monument’s obelisk, leaving its base standing. The destruction renewed public debate concerning historical commemoration, Indigenous sovereignty, and the responsibilities of civic institutions.
The cornerstone ceremony of October 24, 1867, therefore remains historically significant beyond the monument’s original purpose. It documents New Mexico’s contribution to Union victory, the priorities of its territorial government, and the relationship between military service and public memory. The monument’s subsequent history demonstrates how commemorative objects preserve the political values of their creators while acquiring new meanings through succeeding generations.
References / More Knowledge:
1. Bienvenu, John C. “Making Sense of Santa Fe’s Soldiers’ Monument: Part Three.” Bienvenu Law Office, August 23, 2022. https://bienvenulaw.com/2022/08/23/making-sense-of-santa-fes-soldiers-monument-part-three/
2. Nelson, Megan Kate. “Monumental Decisions: The Union Soldiers’ Monument, Santa Fe.” The Civil War Monitor, 2020. https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/article/monumental-decisions/
3. New Mexico Territorial Legislative Assembly. Laws of the Territory of New Mexico, Passed by the Legislative Assembly, Session of 1867–1868. Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1868. Digitized by HathiTrust Digital Library. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35112203960184
4. New Mexico Historic Preservation Division. Santa Fe Plaza Cultural Landscape Report. New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. https://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org/assets/files/grants-documents/grants-2021-ft-stanton/Santa%20Fe%20Plaza%20-%20CLR.pdf
5. Centennial Celebration, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1876. Historical publication describing Santa Fe Plaza, territorial institutions, and the Soldiers’ Monument. https://archive.org/details/centennialcelebr00sant
6. Nelson, Megan Kate. The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West. New York: Scribner, 2020. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Three-Cornered-War/Megan-Kate-Nelson/9781501156663