San Antonio, New Mexico
NM-1 at NM-178
GPS coordinates: 33.7252,-107.00234
Take a photo of your rally flag with the above image.

This monument is located about 6 miles from the Fort Craig National Historic Site, where part of the Civil War was waged. You will find it located on the edge of Ted Turner's 350,000 acre ranch, on a sliver of property that is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Texas, and is for public visitation.

One of the largest forts constructed in the West, Fort Craig was situated strategically on the primary road between New Mexico and Mexico. In February, 1862 the fort supplied U.S. troops to thwart the invasion of Texas Confederates under the command of Gen. Henry H. Sibley.

Troops from the fort, under the command of Col. E.R.S. Canby, bolstered by a contingent of New Mexico volunteers commanded by Kit Carson, engaged Sibley's invasion force at a nearby crossing of the Rio Grande. The daylong Battle of Valverde on February 21, 1862, was a decisive Confederate victory. However, the U.S. troops retreated into the fort, which was never attacked. Sibley's Confederates pressed northward to attack Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Their goal was the capture of Fort Union and the Colorado gold fields. Sibley's troops were defeated one month later, southeast of Santa Fe.

In the mid-19th century, San Antonio was the last outpost on El Camino Real before the Mesilla Valley to the south. Today it is known as the birthplace of Conrad Hilton and the site of the first Hilton Hotel, located in his family's adobe house near the train station.

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Tour of Honor-New Mexico is sponsored by Michael Hickman from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.