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Fort Sumner

The village of Fort Sumner (elevation 4,060 feet or 1,238 meters), which was formalized in 1909, owes its existence to Lucien Maxwell and his family (and Maxwell's entourage of Cimarron ranch hands), who moved into the abandoned military post of Fort Sumner (1862-69), five miles downriver, by 1871. Maxwell called that settlement Fort Sumner, too. When the Maxwell family sold out in 1884, they (and some of the former ranch hands and their families) resettled a mile farther downriver and called that place Fort Sumner as well. Meanwhile, Pecos River floods began to erase the first of the old post buildings in 1889. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad laid tracks on a rise six miles north in 1905, many of the Maxwell family's eldest former employees and their families moved up and out of the Pecos River flood plain. They joined other folks and resettled in what soon became the fourth (and present) incarnation of Fort Sumner. The De Baca County seat, the village of Fort Sumner has three motels, six restaurants, and one museum. The original fort site (known locally as Old Fort Sumner to distinguish it from the village and county seat) is seven miles (11.3 kilometers) away. Melrose is 34 road miles (54.7 km) away, Santa Rosa 45 miles (72.4 km) away, Portales 68 miles (109.4 km) away, Roswell 84 miles (135.2 km) away, Ruidoso 115 miles (185.1 km) away, Lincoln 141 miles (226.9 km), and Santa Fe 152 miles (244.6 km) away.

Fort Sumner-De Baca County Chamber of Commerce
707 N. Fourth, Fort Sumner, New Mexico 88119
(575/355-7705) www.ftsumnerchamber.com
ftsumnercoc@plateautel.net or info@ftsumnerchamber.com