Fort Union Historic Structure Report

U.S. Arsenals. By the end of 1860, the United States had 13 arsenals, two armories, and one depot for manufacturing and housing ordnance and ordnance stores. [1] At that time, the United States had a small regular army, and it did not have large stores of arms and munitions. Also, the size of the arsenals was comparatively small. When the Civil War began, the war department was confronted with a problem. Prior to the war, the ordnance department had been responsible for the fabrication and testing of ordnance required by a small regular army. With the onset of war, that same department had to furnish weapons and munitions for military operations on an unprecedented scale. [2]

During the first part of the war, the army had started contracting out the manufacture of arms and munitions because it was cheaper and faster to do so. Also, the army became more lenient with its interpretation of rules governing the manufacture and acceptance of arms. Earlier, arms with small blemishes were rejected. Because the need for great production was so high, the arsenals began accepting some of those minor flaws as long as the calibers were standard enough to accept government ammunition and the arms were stout in construction. [3]

By 1863, the chief of ordnance in Washington had begun expanding his arsenals because he saw how it was impossible to depend on private manufacturers of materiel. The manufacturers could not control labor and raw material costs, and could not keep as much stuff on hand as the federal government needed, so the chief of ordnance expanded the number of arsenals to include those at Watertown, Massachusetts; Watervliet, New York; Allegheny, Pennsylvania; St. Louis, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; and Benecia, California. [4]

Officers who commanded arsenals and armories had major responsibilities including the control of large amounts of federal funds, and the supervision of all types of mechanics and craftsmen. The ordnance department had both commissioned and enlisted men in its service, and included a great number of civilian employees.

Despite a rough start at the beginning of the Civil War, the amount of munitions that arsenals produced increased dramatically, and the quality of the articles that they made was highly praised. The quality of ordnance surpassed anything that had been used up to that point by the armies of the world. [5] By the end of the Civil War, the ordnance department began the task of repairing, cleaning, storing, and preserving all of the materiel that it had accumulated during the Civil War. [6]

Fort Union Arsenal. Fort Union Arsenal did not start out as a separate military installation in a physical sense. Instead, it was incorporated into the physical plant of Fort Union for its first years. In an administrative sense, however, the ordnance depot (arsenal) was a separate military facility in that its chief reported directly to the chief of ordnance in Washington, D.C. In March, 1851, the army had made an application to Congress for an appropriation to build an arsenal in New Mexico. The chief ordnance officer for the Department of New Mexico, the man assigned the task of erecting an arsenal in New Mexico was William Rawle Shoemaker.

Shoemaker was born on October 11, 1809 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the civilian military storekeeper at the U.S. Arsenal at Fort Armstrong (Rock Island), Illinois from 1836 until 1841. He received a civil appointment to the U.S. Army on August 3, 1841, and he transferred to St. Louis Arsenal. There, he was in charge of casting the shells and manufacturing ammunition for use in the Mexican War. In the spring of 1848, he transferred to Leavenworth, Kansas. Slightly more than a year later, he joined the expedition of Lt. Col. John Monroe to Santa Fe. He, his wife, and seven children arrived in Santa Fe on September 15, 1849.

By the time that Shoemaker arrived in New Mexico, he had thirteen years of military experience under his belt, and he was just shy of forty years of age. His position as military storekeeper for the Department of New Mexico was one of considerable responsibility that entailed among other tasks choosing the site for the new arsenal in New Mexico. Although the ordnance department in Washington had considered locating an arsenal in Santa Fe, Shoemaker recommended against that for several reasons. First, he noted that the land in the vicinity was extremely barren and that the small Santa Fe River could barely supply the water the town needed. Also, he noted that "Santa Fe is probably the worst place on the continent to keep enlisted men in, temptation of every kind is so great, and access to vice so easy that anything like good discipline or order in a detachment stationed here is out of the question. Besides the great insecurity, and the prejudices common to citizens against soldiers in their midst has to be encountered and not without its effect as we have frequent evidence." Instead of Santa Fe, Shoemaker recommended that the arsenal be constructed in Albuquerque or somewhere else along the Rio Grand del Norte. [7] His concerns about Santa Fe were identical to those that Sumner expressed before he moved the troops to Fort Union.

Figure 10. William Rawle Shoemaker in 1859. Shoemaker was appointed Ordnance Storekeeper, Ordnance Department on August 3, 1841, and then appointed Captain and Ordnance Storekeeper, July 28, 1866. He proudly ran the arsenal at Fort Union from its inception in 1851 until his retirement in 1882.

Although Shoemaker believed that the ordnance depot should not be constructed in Santa Fe, he was livid when he received orders to move to the proposed Fort Union. He argued that the location, about "one hundred miles northeast of this on the extreme frontier and about six miles from the nearest house," was contrary to his recommendation. Because of the strategic advantages it would offer, he still believed that the "proper" (his emphasis) location for an arsenal was somewhere along the Rio Grande del Norte near the geographical center of the territory. He was also furious that the only protection that Colonel Sumner could offer for the ordnance stores were tents until structures could be built or rental storage space could be arranged in Las Vegas. [8]

Shoemaker refused to divide his valuable stores, and proposed two courses of action to his superiors in Washington. First, he said that he would proceed without orders to Las Vegas to see Colonel Sumner and to make arrangements to store his ordnance goods in Las Vegas for the winter. He believed that there was no way that the army, specifically his detachment, could build storehouses for his ordnance stores in time for winter. Second, he did not want to have to depend on the vagaries of the quartermaster department or Colonel Sumner in accommodating his stores. Shoemaker cited experience with the quartermaster department while he was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He stated that it would be impossible for him to get along under the quartermaster department. He stated that he would "endeavor to keep my Depot as separate & distinct from the other departments as possible." [9] He succeeded in this last item throughout his entire career.

Construction Begins. Apparently Shoemaker gained the attention of his superiors in Washington. Although he did not get all of his requests accommodated, Colonel Sumner did facilitate matters in getting Shoemaker and his precious stores into quarters and storehouses that autumn. Shoemaker reported that because the move out of Santa Fe was so fast, half of his stores were temporarily in Santa Fe while the other half were "in tents on the Prairie." He assigned his own small detachment to building quarters and storehouses, and Sumner also assigned him a small detail from the troops of the line. [10]

By November, 1851, Shoemaker and his crew were still constructing quarters and storehouses. He explained that the buildings they constructed were of "rough unhewn logs, and barely sufficient in extent to afford shelter for the detachment & small amount of stores brought here from Santa Fe for this winter. They will be partially completed and occupied within ten or twelve days, whence all will be secure for the winter." He explained that buildings were very temporary ones, and that most of the ordnance stores remained in Santa Fe because there was no transportation out to Fort Union. Shoemaker could not help but put in another jibe at the location of Fort Union. He commented that leaving most of his stores in Santa Fe was a fortunate circumstance, since "as every days expression goes to show the many disadvantages and objections to this place as a permanent location for an ordnance depot. Its remoteness from the centre of the Territory, added to its want of common natural advantages seems to indicate the absolute necessity of its abandonment as an Ordnance Post so soon as there is an appropriation to build an Arsenal for New Mexico which must ultimately be done on the Rio Grande del Norte." [11]

Apparently the alliance formed between Shoemaker and Sumner continued. A subsequent letter to the ordnance office in Washington stated that Sumner was about to abandon Fort Union as department headquarters, and that when he did Shoemaker anticipated that he would receive the order to go along with Sumner to that more central position. Shoemaker's attitude toward Sumner also had changed. He wrote that Sumner's "views are most intelligent and sensible." [12] This was a dramatic change from his earlier opinion of Sumner.

Shoemaker, however, did not get the chance to move out with Sumner to a more suitable location as he had planned. Instead, he and his stores stayed at Fort Union. Up until the time that Colonel Sumner moved out of Fort Union to headquarters, the quartermaster department, under orders from Colonel Sumner, had supplied all of the building materials and the transport of those materials to the building site. When Sumner left, he informed Shoemaker that all future construction would be at the expense of the ordnance department.

Shoemaker reported this objectively to his superiors in Washington, and the tone of the letter showed that he bore no animosity toward Colonel Sumner. Before the Colonel left, Shoemaker procured a team of six mules to use for hauling building materials. He noted that "timber & lumber for building have to be hauled a considerable distance, the latter from near Las Vegas." He also wrote that he would have sufficient shelter built for his stores by late spring, 1852, but that the buildings were temporary and should only be expected to last a year or two. He stated that he only built the buildings there because that was the planned site for the fort; he still believed that the location was not built for convenience or safety from fire. Also, he noted again that every day he lived in New Mexico pointed out to him that the best building material for the climate, especially for his ordnance, was fireproof adobe. [13]

In June, 1852, Shoemaker wrote to Colonel Craig at the Ordnance Department in Washington asking for lightning rods (stems and conductors). [14] Shoemaker wrote that he also wanted Craig to send additional rods because he planned to add more buildings, including a magazine. He intended to complete all of the storehouses before starting on the magazine. He also requested a bell "to call the men in the morning & to sound the work hours &c.—I must respectfully request that one similar to that at St. Louis Arsenal may be sent out at the same time with the lightning rods." [15]

Six months later, Shoemaker came closer to having his magazine constructed. He wrote to Colonel Craig in Washington requesting that hired labor construct a portion of the magazine and enclosing wall (the back yard of HS-133) he planned. Shoemaker wrote: "The making and laying up of the adobes cannot be done well by our force which will have as much as it can possibly do on the other work during the next season." In the same letter, he enclosed his estimate for ordnance and ordnance stores for 1853. In addition to requesting rifles, rifle powder, cartridges, he also requested fastenings and hinges "suitable for a magazine with two doors and two windows . . . as the Magazine will be located at a distance from the other buildings, very secure fastenings will be required." [16]

In 1853, Shoemaker had started construction on a gun shed. He wrote in his report to the ordnance department in Washington that the building was "like all the rest of our building here, constructed in a very cheap manner, the chief expense being in the labor and of the detachment and Team." [17]

By 1855, Shoemaker complained to his superiors in Washington again that his buildings were collapsing. They had been constructed with such rapidity to get the stores out of tents in the fall of 1851. He was concerned that the ordnance department understand that so much of his monthly reports showed building repairs, and he doubted that any other ordnance depot that the government had was constructed of unpeeled logs and earthen roofs. He recommended to his superiors in Washington that permanent buildings would be needed at Fort Union as soon as possible; he also volunteered to make "some suggestions in regard to mater. &c. that will have to be procured in St. Louis or perhaps further east." He added in a post script to that letter the following: "I have made a cross examination of the logs, foundations &c of these houses. They are really so decayed that I cannot urge too strongly some immediate action to secure new buildings for the stores . . . and I am not certain but that a site within a very short distance of our present location would answer every purpose for the Depot for New Mexico. Certain it is that we have since we built these, supplied every demand without inconvenience or trouble to any one. And for all kinds of material for building & fuel &c. for the future this neighborhood has more advantages than any other situation in New Mexico." [18]

In the autumn of 1855, Shoemaker reported that in anticipation of receiving a large account of "horse equipments" that he was in the process of turning his mess room and barracks into store rooms, and he was going to build new structures to take their place. He hoped to accomplish it expeditiously. [19]

One year later, Shoemaker wrote to the ordnance department in Washington in September, 1856, asking the chief of ordnance to give orders for selection of a site of a permanent arsenal and to ask for appropriations for new construction as soon as possible. He stated that the dilapidated state of the present buildings the arsenal occupied left his people and his stores at the mercy of the elements. He wrote: "The entire foundation of some of our large storehouses is decayed & given way so that the buildings are supported by props." [20]

Shoemaker's requests for new construction were not approved, because two months later he was writing to Washington with one of his repeated requests for a saw mill. He justified it by saying that he could not preserve the extant structures or build a shell over the other property under his charge without one. For some reason he did not discuss in the letter, timber was unavailable from the quartermaster department under any circumstances and there were no mills in New Mexico that would guarantee providing lumber. At the time that he wrote, his troops had to trek 70 miles to get one load of lumber. [21]

Nor was his request for a sawmill approved yet. In October, 1857, Shoemaker wrote to his superiors in Washington that he had been acquiring a great deal of lumber on his vouchers. He wrote that the lumber was used for roofing storehouses, quarters, shed, and stables, flooring store rooms and quarters, and making packing crates for shipping old arms to St. Louis. [22]

Apparently his superiors were finally able to answer his repeated requests for a sawmill, because he had one in his possession by May, 1858. [23] Because he was anticipating a possible relocation for his arsenal, he had not set up his new sawmill by that time. He did not want to expose it to the elements or to the wear and tear of setting up and taking down if a move was imminent. He also requested authorization to buy four mules to work in his sawmill operation. He anticipated a much larger need for lumber than his earlier estimates because he wanted to put weatherboards on his existing log buildings to make the quarters and storehouses more weathertight. During the spring of 1858, Shoemaker reported that he was in the process of constructing "two rooms exactly such as are now occupied by our own men" to house a married mechanic and his family. He stressed that it was necessary to do that in order to keep his hired mechanics. He had his own detachment construct the "two rooms." [24]

In January, 1859, the word was out among the troops that the new Fort Union would be constructed about a half mile away from the first site. Upon receipt of this information, Shoemaker wrote to the Ordnance Department in Washington for a few reasons. First, he wanted his superiors to understand that since his ordnance depot had been located there in 1851, the quartermaster's department from the fort supplied his depot with water. He and the fort commander had made a special arrangement for the water. Shoemaker argued that his depot needed new "houses" [storehouses] more than the other detachments stationed at Fort Union because of the kind of stores that he had to preserve. He concluded that he would "encounter the expense & inconvenience of hauling water about 3/4 of a mile. & I do not feel safe, without a magazine & some new houses.—" [25] He also asked if the Ordnance Department in Washington was planning to spend its appropriation for an arsenal in New Mexico that year; Shoemaker offered his service to any officer sent out to New Mexico to accomplish that. He believed that he could still run his depot operation and help out with the new arsenal, and get the arsenal site chosen and construction underway within a few months. [26]

By May, 1859, he had enough adobes to construct a magazine. [27] By the end of August of that year, Shoemaker had completed construction on his new storehouse and wrote to his superiors that the depot stores were in a better state of preservation than they ever had been. Shoemaker felt so good about it, in fact, that he took a trip back to Washington and points east. [28] Although the specific reason for Shoemaker's trip back east did not appear in the correspondence, at least one of the reasons was that he wanted to meet with Colonel Craig and work out as many agreements as possible on the new construction that Shoemaker was going to be undertaking at Fort Union. [29]

Shoemaker was constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the structures he had, and for ways to improve construction on the buildings he was planning to build. He sought to add to his depot a "man that understands making & burning brick." Shoemaker hoped to construct a number of his new buildings out of brick. [30] Apparently the approval for the construction of a new arsenal in New Mexico had been approved by that time, because Shoemaker referred to his new construction as that for the arsenal. He wanted to hire a carpenter and a brickmaker, but stated that he would not expend any work or money on the site for the new arsenal until the title to the property was settled. [31]

Shoemaker had been gone from Fort Union and his depot for about eight months when he returned after a trip of 28 days across the plains. While in St. Louis on his way home from Pennsylvania and Washington, he made certain that a shipment of stores that he ordered were loaded and headed west. Also, he hired some master workmen and two laborers for his detachment. While Shoemaker was away, however, a power play had occurred that temporarily altered the chain of command for the ordnance depot. Problems had arisen in 1859 when a new commander, in Shoemaker's view, was having trouble understanding that the ordnance depot did not fall under his command and was not there to fulfill his needs exclusively. [32] The problems continued during Shoemaker's absence.

Upon returning in the spring of 1860, Shoemaker was under orders stating that he was directed to remain in command of the ordnance depot at Fort Union until relieved by orders from headquarters, the Department of New Mexico, or from the secretary of war. He complained to the ordnance department that the commander at Fort Union believed that he was in charge of all of the ordnance for the territory; in addition, plans for the new arsenal—contrary to ones he had worked out with the ordnance department in Washington—were proceeding without his recommendations. [33] In his absence, the department was in the process of acquiring land for an arsenal on the Rio Mora. Shoemaker was reinstated to his position of Military Storekeeper in charge of the ordnance depot on June 16, 1860. [34] The fort commander's plans were halted.

Delays in the New Arsenal. On June 22, 1860 the supplies that Shoemaker had loaded in St. Louis arrived, and he was busy making preliminary arrangements for constructing new buildings at Fort Union. [35] About one month later, Shoemaker was requesting that someone from the ordnance department who possessed full powers in such matters come out and do the final choice on the site for the new arsenal. [36] Also, Shoemaker did have plans drawn up for the new arsenal buildings, but he kept no copies of them and ordered additional ones from the ordnance department in Washington. [37] His carpenter needed them to begin fabricating doors and windows.

The choice of site apparently remained up in the air for some time. At the end of August, 1860, Colonel Craig at the Ordnance Department in Washington wrote to Shoemaker and told him to not procure any building materials for construction. [38] Despite that order, Shoemaker busied himself by continuing with preparations for construction. He had his detachment fabricate 12,000 bricks as an "experiment." He noted in his correspondence that the use of larger kilns would substantially reduce the cost. [39] Shoemaker's next letter to Colonel Craig again mentioned the success of the brick-making operation, but he noted that he and his crew had kept at the 12,000 brick limit—it was the smallest kiln that could be burned. Shoemaker also mentioned that the laborer working with the bricks was busy repairing chimneys and ovens with the brick in the old depot. The laborer also burned lime for his operation. Shoemaker summarized to his boss: "At any rate, your instructions and wishes in regard to the most rigid economy in expenditures under my control will be strictly observed." [40]

By the fall of 1860, the ordnance depot still occupied the old buildings of the first fort. A great deal of Shoemaker's appropriation went to the employment of workers in the building trades. Although he laid off the civilian bricklayer and builder, he retained a plasterer and "mud worker engaged on the old houses." He planned on keeping them only through October. Also, he kept his framing carpenter employed, working on window frames and the like, so that he would have a stockpile ready to use in construction when the site for the new arsenal was determined. He acknowledged the necessity of building a mule stable. Also, he noted that the incessant repairs of the old buildings of the first fort was "unavoidable, and the latter work will continue to be a large item in our monthly reports, so long as we are compelled to occupy these old and decayed huts." [41]

By December of 1860, Shoemaker's new arsenal construction was still not underway. The secretary of war had not decided on a site for the arsenal, so Shoemaker remained very concerned that he would have to spend additional funds on the deteriorated buildings of his original ordnance depot group. He noted that, with the exception of one storehouse and magazine built of adobe in 1859, all of his buildings were threatening human safety, and they chanced exposing his ordnance stores to ruin. The buildings were in danger of falling down or being blown down by storms. [42]

Following the outbreak of civil war, Shoemaker reported a shortage of ammunition. The shortage was so bad that one company commander had to issue orders to not fire even one cartridge unless in battle. [43] Shoemaker still anticipated construction of his new arsenal despite the war. In his annual estimate of stores, he submitted a request for some of the usual items needed in an arsenal: 400 yards of cotton cloth, 400 yards of flannel, iron spikes, 100 large padlocks, 100 feet of hickory, 100 feet of oak, brushes, and mule shoes. He also requested 1,000 8x10 sheets of window glass. Construction remained on his brain, and he had been gearing up for his new arsenal for years. [44] He was not about to quit despite the war.

A Temporary Move. In June, 1862, when most of the troops at Fort Union occupied the second fort (star fort), Shoemaker's old friend General Canby transferred the "old Hospital building" (probably HS 140, possibly HS 126) at Fort Union to the ordnance department on a temporary basis. The building was to be used for storage of ordnance stores. [45]

Undoubtedly due to changes that occurred during 1862 and 1863, little correspondence appeared in the files concerning the ordnance depot during those years. Like all of the operations of Fort Union and its depots, it, too, was temporarily moved over to the earthworks. By 1864, however, Shoemaker was back at his buildings around the first fort and writing his superiors in Washington requesting that Fort Union Depot's name be formally changed to Union Arsenal to prevent confusion with the quartermaster and commissary depots located a mile and a quarter away from his ordnance depot. [46]

Shoemaker and Construction. M.S.K Shoemaker was an efficient bureaucrat who took great care in watching over his stores and in expediting working procedures of the army. In 1864, he wrote to department headquarters in Santa Fe and recommended that the post commander direct his troops to requisition six months supply of stores to be drawn at one time because the paperwork for the small requisitions had to be sent first to department command in Santa Fe and then to Washington for approval. [47] This was typical of his way of running operations.

He remained sensible about construction of the new arsenal. In his annual estimate for 1865, he only included enough building materials to repair his old storehouses and quarters from the first fort construction. Although he did plan on building a simple adobe storehouse in the spring of 1865 on the site of his present arsenal, he intended to wait to construct new good buildings for his arsenal when he could use the appropriation for it. The price of materials and labor had skyrocketed during the war, so Shoemaker did not feel that the work that needed to be done justified the expenditures. Also, he was concerned about the pulse of the territory. He wrote: ". . . if this neighborhood should be again invaded as it was by the Rebels in 1862, when we had to remove all the Ordnance to the Field Works, the Arsenal buildings however odd they might be, would be subject to abandonment & destruction." He intended to keep the extant buildings as serviceable as possible with as little cash outlay for their repair as possible to "protect the stores until after the country becomes settled and new buildings can be erected at a reasonable cost." [48]

On June 8, 1865, Shoemaker wrote to department headquarters in Santa Fe and requested that the adjutant general issue an order to have all ordnance and ordnance stores "not absolutely necessary for the use of the troops and posts in this military department sent in to this arsenal with proper invoices with as little delay as practicable." [49] Shoemaker based his request on General Orders 77, which called for reducing expenses and which his superior, the chief of ordnance in Washington, had brought to his attention. This must have caused some consternation, because other power plays ensued.

Carleton had requested that Shoemaker return to him all monies, expenditures, contracts and the like for Union Arsenal. In June of 1866, the chief of ordnance in Washington wrote to Carleton and enclosed a letter signed by General Grant reminding Carleton that "Disbursement of Ord. appropriats. are under exclusive control of the Chief of Ordnance, and no Dept. — or Dist. Commander should interfere with the same." [50]

By early 1866, Shoemaker was well into the study of appropriate building technology for the Fort Union vicinity. He wrote:

In reply to your inquiry as to whether the purpose of covering of earth on the upper floors of the buildings is necessary and why, I will state that, owing to the dryness of this climate, where no rain or snow falls for four or five months at a time, the roofs become so dry & shrink so much that the first rains, which fall very heavily about midsummer, are certain to run through. To a greater or lesser extent, the leakage is thus absorbed by the dry earth before it reaches the upper floor. This earth overhead also preserves the temperature of the rooms, and when the building is well constructed, it renders it almost fireproof. The roof and entire superstructures might burn off without a spark of fire getting below the upper floor, which itself is a second roof. Tin roofing may obviate the necessity of the earthen covering, but I see that it is the practice in the QM General Department at Fort Union Depot when they are building extensively to put heavy layers of concrete under their tin roofs. [51] it is no better & costs ten times as much as earth. If it is determined to cover the magazines with Tin and I do not advocate it, it will be necessary to send mechanics here that understand the business of putting it on. This will augment the expense of the buildings, and my experience here leads me to the conclusion that it is unnecessary. [52]

Ordnance Reservation. Although Shoemaker had been referring to his arsenal as an arsenal, the land was not officially assigned for it until 1866. General Orders No. 28 stated that "a portion of the Military Reservation at Fort Union, New Mexico to the extent of one mile in length and a half a mile in breadth is hereby set apart as a site for the Arsenal at that Fort. This portion of the public land is appropriated as an ordnance Reservation and will be laid off so as to include the site of the old Fort in mid center." [53]

The assignment of land for a separate ordnance depot angered the head of the quartermaster depot at Fort Union. In a letter to the quartermaster general in Washington, Fort Union's quartermaster criticized the fact that the ordnance reservation included the cemetery. Also, he expressed his concern that the new reservation could include some of the most important springs of water in the vicinity depending on who made the survey. He concluded in his remarks that all of the depot officers had shared equal rights and privileges up until that time, and that if any depot deserved a separate reservation, it was the quartermaster depot because of the large number of stock it had that were dependent on the reservation for grazing. [54]

Shoemaker permitted a small sutler's store to be established within the limits of his post. He justified its establishment saying that it was for the good of the service and that the other sutler's store was a mile away. [55] He also assured his superiors in Washington that he had nothing to do with the business of its operation. [56]

New Arsenal Construction. The formal assignment of land for the ordnance reservation allowed Shoemaker to pursue construction of his depot. In October, 1866, his detachment had completed the construction of two magazines for fixed ammunition (HS-109, HS-110). Also, his men had nearly completed the large storehouse (HS-103). The enclosing wall around the magazine compound was under construction, and only several hundred feet of it remained to be completed. Shoemaker explained that they had lost some adobes to rain, and then the weather became too cold to make them. [57]

The onset of winter did not slow down Shoemaker's pace. By January he had employed a local mason. Shoemaker hired him to construct cisterns (any or all of HS-117, HS-121-123). The workman had done some of the finest work of that type that he had seen in New Mexico. Although he was still waiting for approval to construct the cisterns, Shoemaker asked the chief of ordnance to arrange for six barrels of hydraulic cement to be shipped from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Union by the first wagon train. He believed that was enough cement for the cisterns he proposed to make: two cylinders 12 feet in diameter and 18 feet deep. He proposed constructing the ducts from the building to the cisterns of stone lined with cement. He intended to have the water pass through a charcoal filter. By using this method of construction, he would not need cast iron pipes. He estimated that the cisterns would each hold 15,000 gallons of water and would cost $500 each to construct. [58]

In May, 1867, Shoemaker was recommended to be appointed Colonel by brevet because of his loyalty to the Union during the Civil War. The justification for his breveting included a description of his accomplishments at the arsenal. The statement said that Shoemaker started with a small group of deteriorated log houses and, through economical expenditure, he constructed warehouses sufficient for all of the arms and ammunition under his care. Shoemaker carefully oversaw the construction of the adobe buildings, and Colonel A.J. Alexander, author of the recommendation, wrote that the adobe buildings were the best constructed that he had ever seen and that they were built at two-thirds the cost of the ones that the quartermaster depot constructed. Alexander went on to say that "The interior of the warehouses are models of neatness, the ventilation is perfect and the security against fire as great as can be effected with the materials." [59] Although the breveting did not come through, Shoemaker did increase his power when he was appointed chief ordnance officer of the District of New Mexico on September 1, 1867. [60]

Even as late as 1868, Shoemaker was still using the old buildings of the first fort. Rather than using his appropriated funds for completing the adobe walls that enclosed the compound, he wanted to build the arsenal barracks. He wanted his men to be more comfortable than they were in the old huts. When sending in his letter requesting permission to build the barracks, he noted that the plans for the barracks were authorized by the War Department in 1860, and that the plans for them were in the Ordnance Office in Washington. [61]

Apparently the barracks (HS-113) were constructed, for in future letters to the ordnance department in Washington, Shoemaker requested $10,000 for construction. He planned to use the money to complete the adobe walls around the complex and to build simple quarters for men with families. He wrote that the commanding officer's quarters were sufficient for the time being, and that his former estimates were too low. [62]

The following month, Shoemaker requested approval on a set of plans for quarters for hired personnel (figure 11). The single set of quarters was to consist of an adobe building with three rooms, each 16x16 feet. Additional aspects of the building included a kitchen to the rear, a porch across the front of the building, and a cellar under one room. In the letter that accompanied the drawings, Shoemaker wrote that his civilian employees lived in the "old log huts that were built in order to shelter the men about fifteen years ago. They stand in the way, and have become almost unlivable, requiring constant repairs." He went on to say that his plan included three sets of quarters, and he intended to complete those and the enclosing wall (HS-100) around the arsenal for $10,000 during 1869. [63]

Figure 11. In November, 1868, Shoemaker submitted this plan of quarters for a hired employee to the ordnance office in Washington for approval. The caption under the drawing reads: "The house to be built of adobes & consisting of three rooms of 16x16 feet each. The third one, or kitchen, to be in rear of the main building a porch to extend the front of the building and a cellar under one room."

In June 1869, Forts Lowell and Sumner, New Mexico, were abandoned and discontinued as military posts. All of the ordnance and ordnance stores from those forts were transferred to Fort Union Arsenal. [64] Apparently Shoemaker's physical plant was able to absorb all of the property transferred to him. The closing of these two forts, however, was indicative of changes occurring throughout the west.

In 1869, Fort Union Arsenal underwent an inspection for the office of the Inspector General. The inspection described the arsenal as follows:

Buildings: The storehouses and shops are of quality constructed of adobe and shingles of sufficient capacity and convenient in their arrangement. A part of them, including magazine enclosed by an adobe wall.

Quarters: The quarters for the Commanding Officer is an old log building of inferior quality and will soon be required to be replaced by a better building.

Cisterns: Cisterns are being constructed at this Arsenal. Water is supplied by water tanks and hauled from a spring some half mile distant.

Fire Engine: There is an old hand fire engine here which is of little or no account.

Improvements: The cost of the permanent improvement is estimated at $30,400. [65]

Shoemaker continued on with his construction. Appropriations sometimes lagged behind necessity, so he was writing to headquarters in Washington fairly frequently asking for approval to start spending his anticipated appropriation for construction—which usually happened around the end of June. The problem with that, he pointed out, was that he needed to have his primary building material—adobes—dried and ready to go before the rains came, usually in the months of June and July. [66] Shoemaker repeated his request in May, 1870, and stated that the adobes were progressing rapidly. He said at that time that he did not want to anticipate or ask for anything irregular, but that if he were allowed to undertake the construction work on the adobe wall at that time he could save the Army money. [67]

He did receive approval to proceed with the work. By June, 1870, the officer's quarters that he had started in April and the adobe wall around the arsenal that was started in June were coming along fast. At that time all of the adobe walls and the roof were finished on the quarters, and half of the foundation was laid for the adobe wall around the arsenal compound. [68]

In September, 1870, a circular was issued that forced Shoemaker to discharge all of his hired force with only a few exceptions. Because of that order, the officers quarters that were under construction at the time were left unfinished despite their advanced state. Also, his ordnance workshops were closed. [69] Shoemaker followed up with a letter to General Alexander B. Dyer stating that in order to construct the new officers quarters at the arsenal, it was necessary for him to take down two of the chimneys and close all of the windows on one side of the old quarters he occupied. Shoemaker again begged to complete his new quarters through the employment of carpenters, a mason, and a painter for three months so that they could finish his quarters. Otherwise, he and his family literally would be out in the cold for the winter. [70]

The following spring (1871), work had not yet been completed on the commanding officers quarters (figure 12, HS-114), but from the tone of the correspondence, the work was nearly done. In his estimate to complete the arsenal plans, Shoemaker suggested replacing the office building and the adjoining clerk's quarters. Both were constructed partly of adobes and partly of logs. He recommended that both of those buildings be constructed first, followed by the permanent walls and outhouses, and a small cistern connected with the commanding officers quarters. [71]

Figure 12. Shoemaker submitted this plan for his own residence to Washington for approval, and he began construction on the building by June, 1870. The building was to be constructed of adobes and roofed with tin. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

By June, 1872, the construction was nearing completion for the arsenal. The appropriation for Fort Union Arsenal for fiscal year 1873 (starting July 1) included $3,500 for "repairing storehouses, magazine, barracks, workshops, office, quarters, enclosing wall, and fences." [72] No monies were included for outright construction.

By 1873, the arsenal was virtually complete. In a report for surgeon general, Captain Shoemaker described his feifdom as follows:

Fort Union Arsenal New Mexico is situated one mile due west of Fort Union on a reservation belonging to the ordnance department, one half mile in extent. The arsenal is enclosed by a wall [HS-100] on four sides of one thousand (1,000) feet each. The buildings consists of one set of officers quarters [HS-114], 54 feet front by 75 feet deep, an office [HS-115] 45 feet front by 18 feet deep, one set of barracks [HS-113], 100 feet front by 26 feet deep, with porches front and rear, one set of clerks quarters [HS-116], one armorer [HS-105] and one smith shop [HS-106], one carpenter [HS-108] and one saddlers shop [HS-107], one main storehouse 216 feet long with basement story [HS-101], three smaller storehouses [HS-102, HS-103, HS-118], two magazines for ammunition [HS-109 and HS-110], one stable for public animals with corral [HS-111], small temporary outbuildings to each set of quarters, barracks, shops and storehouses also enclosures.

There is a fine well conveniently situated to supply the Post with an abundance of pure good water, also two cisterns of eighteen thousand gallons each always full in case of fire, with pumps operated by machinery. The buildings, walls and outworks are of adobe, set on permanent stone foundations. The walls of all are heavy and well constructed.

This arsenal is the Depot for supplying the Territory of New Mexico and parts of Texas, Arizona, Colorado and the Indian Territory adjacent thereto. There is a detachment of U.S. Ordnance stationed here, consisting of a commanding officer and 14 men, whose dependence for supplies of Quartermaster Commissary and Medical attendance is on the Depot and Hospital at Fort Union. [73]

Besides overseeing construction of all of the arsenal buildings, Captain Shoemaker took pride in the landscape of his immediate territory. One youthful visitor to the arsenal in 1877 remembered the arsenal as his favorite place. He described the area as having lots of water, fountains with ducks, and flowers. [74] Other documentation included mention of a cut stone sun dial in the "yard" of the arsenal. Shoemaker's men presented him with it. The sundial was removed from the arsenal in 1882. [75]

At about the same time, another observer noticed a few other aspects about Shoemaker the man which she noted in her reminiscences years later. Genevieve LaTourette, daughter of the post chaplain wrote the following:

The Arsenal, which was about a mile from the post, was commanded by Capt. W.R. Shoemaker, who had held that position during 35 or 40 years, and was very highly respected in the surrounding country. That very courtly old gentleman, who evidently did not believe in the progressiveness of that part of the frontier—could not be persuaded to ride on the Santa Fe R.R. when it made its appearance in 1879, and had not been to Las Vegas for many years. He preferred his seclusive life within a certain radius of the arsenal and the garrison, and was constantly in the saddle, a wonderful horseman, even though in his eighties. His eccentricity, perhaps, was due to his extreme deafness, which was a great detriment, yet he could not be persuaded to use remedies—rather (they used to say) preferred to have the ladies put their arms around his neck in order to make him hear—and very loud they had to speak too! [76]

Figure 13. This map shows the final configuration of Shoemaker's life work: Fort Union Arsenal. The arrangement in a sense is a typical of western military sites. Shoemaker designed it so that the visitor came up a tear-shaped drive to the area of the commanding officer's quarters and office. In that way he had tight control of the arrival and departure of all visitors. His landscaped back yard contained considerably more amenities such as shade trees, a duck pond and fountain, all surrounded by a fancy wooden fence. Considering that he lived longer at Fort Union than any one else, it is understandable why his installation was unique in western military construction: he homesteaded. Fort Union National Monument. (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

Figure 14. This photograph (ca. 1882) shows the arsenal installation at about the time of Shoemaker's retirement. He had completed all construction by this stage. Arizona Historical Society.

Another of his acquaintances remembered him fondly as a deaf widower who had the finest quarters at the Fort and gave superb dinner parties. Because of a spring on his grounds, she recalled, he irrigated his land and had a superb garden. He rode a beautiful Arab horse—unusual for the time period and that part of the country—and allowed special visitors to ride another horse that he kept called "Julieka" after his late wife, Julia. His acquaintance recalled: "I suppose we rode with him nearly every day, the Colonel and I. He had been terribly in love with his wife and yet he never spoke of her, though the garden indeed all that he did, was more or less a kind of going over the things she loved. He showed me her miniature once, a thing he had never done to anybody else out there, then." [77]

By 1882, the railroad had reached that area of New Mexico and the need for a standing army in the west was diminishing. Despite the social changes in the west and his advancing age, Captain Shoemaker continued to oversee his arsenal with the care and control he had always exercised. In the spring of 1882, he wrote to the chief of ordnance in Washington complaining that it was impossible to hire good workers for the arsenal because the mines and the railroads paid higher wages. Those same high wages in the private sector also discouraged men from enlisting in the army. Shoemaker requested some tried and true old soldiers from other arsenals to come to Fort Union Arsenal. He entreated: "It is absolutely necessary to keep the detachment at this Arsenal at its full strength. . . the safety of the public property requires this." [78]

Shoemaker's Last Days. Captain William Rawle Shoemaker announced his retirement on June 30, 1882, and asked permission to stay in his quarters in return for watching over the arsenal buildings. He was allowed to remain. On July 3, 1882, the Headquarters of the Army transferred 1st Lieutenant A.H. Russell of the Ordnance department from Rock Island Arsenal to the command of Fort Lowell Ordnance Depot "and to the duty of breaking up the Fort Union Arsenal and distributing the stores." [79] The stores were to be distributed between the Lowell Ordnance Depot and Rock Island Arsenal. [80] In the middle of July, 1st Lt. A.H. Russell arrived to abolish the arsenal and begin demolition of the structures. [81]

Shoemaker requested the opportunity to buy a few articles from the ordnance stores before they were shipped back to the other depots. He asked for simple carpenter's tools for rough carpentry including common planes, saws, squared, brace and auger bits, chisels, a grinding stone and an oil stone. He also wanted to purchase a cart, wheel barrow, shovels, hoes and a few other items. He intended to use all of the tools to maintain the buildings. [82]

Apparently Lt. Russell took quite a liking to Captain Shoemaker. After spending a month with him, he wrote:

Captain Shoemaker is active as ever, but it is a sad thing for him to see all his precious stores pass from under his eyes and the idea of having Ordnance buildings turned over to the Q.M. Dept. and the line of the Army [his emphasis] goes quite against his grain. He is very much pleased, however, at having his house left to him; and he is very grateful to the Chief of Ordnance for this kind action. [83]

Lt. Russell also commented on the fact that the quartermaster department built all of the new buildings, which was quite a change from Shoemaker's day when the military storekeeper had a direct line to Washington. [84]

In the summer of 1883, the Interior Department questioned the War Department about possibly taking over the Fort Union buildings for an Indian school. The War Department denied the request in June citing that Fort Union was needed for military service, but then issued instructions to transfer the buildings to Interior in November. [85]

Figure 15. Although this photograph was taken after Shoemaker's death his impact on the land was still overwhelming. The wooden fence, shade trees, architectural details and gutters on the buildings were signs of permanent settlement. This was a dramatic change from the impermanent construction of Fort Union of the 1850s. Fort Union National Monument.

On September 6, 1886, Shoemaker died of "general senile debility" and other problems. He was still living in the house that he had built, and he was still the volunteer custodian of the empty arsenal buildings at the time of his death. [86] His obituary in the Las Vegas Optic stated that his title was Captain of Ordnance, and noted that the title had been abolished years before; but Shoemaker was able to retain it because of his age and loyalty to his country for so many years. After a recitation of his military credentials, his obituary continued:

He was well known to many of our older citizens, but the increasing infirmity of deafness prevented his making many acquaintances in the last few years. He was a great hunter, and passionately fond of dogs and fine horses. Of the latter he always kept the best the country could afford. As a man he was courteous and affable, as an officer firm and faithful. Upright in all his dealings, never was the breath of slander upon his name. He will be buried at Fort Union tomorrow, the funeral taking place from his late residence. [87]

Through his years with the army, Shoemaker had invented the Shoemaker bit (a low-port grazing bit) and improved the design of the McClellan saddle. Just before the Civil War he had a pack of greyhounds that he used for hunting; he kept them in a kennel at the commissary corral. [88] He also became famous throughout the southwest for breeding race and pleasure horses.

The End of an Era. The arsenal appeared to have received intermittent use following Shoemaker's death. In 1887, a troop of cavalry occupied the buildings. [89] Also, an estimate of materials for fiscal year 1889 included costs for tin roofing and linseed oil for the officer's quarters and lumber for the arsenal barracks and shed for the stables. [90] That same year more correspondence in quartermaster files stated that the arsenal, abandoned that year, contained ample accommodations for a troop of cavalry, and that the commanding officer's quarters there was in good condition. [91] An inspection report also completed in 1889 reported conditions contrary to the other report: it stated that the arsenal buildings "are unoccupied and will soon go to pieces. I know of no use to put them to, and no guard is kept over there." [92]

Figure 16. After the roofing materials and lumber were salvaged from the arsenal buildings, deterioration came rapidly.

Within three years, however, illegal salvage operations had started dismantling the arsenal buildings. Captain Shoemaker had been meticulous about the quality of his construction materials despite the small appropriations he received for construction. He stretched his dollars often by hiring talented civilian workmen who produced quality work. In 1892, six years after his death, Shoemaker's buildings were coming apart piece by piece. A contemporary report described the situation:

Arsenal: located about one mile from post, and consisted of some twenty adobe buildings, which have been completely gutted of doors, windows, mantles, water-pipes, fixtures, &c. The material entering into these structures was of the most substantial kind and much of value in the way of timbers, floors, &c., still remains. [93]

After the turn of the century, winds, rain, and snow, cattle, and bulldozers took their toll on the remnants of the arsenal.

Summary. William Rawle Shoemaker was the military storekeeper (M.S.K.) who came out to New Mexico in 1849 as the chief ordnance officer for the Department of New Mexico. In 1851, he began establishing a small ordnance depot within the boundaries of Fort Union; the ordnance depot, however, was a separate military operation from the fort proper. Between 1862 and 1864, Shoemaker moved most of his operation into the relative safety of the earthen fortification, but he was back to the first fort area as quickly as he could be in 1864.

The army's official ordnance reservation was set aside in 1866, and after that time appropriations began to trickle through for building construction. Prior to the reservation designation, Shoemaker's outfit mainly occupied the dilapidated buildings of the first fort. Shoemaker improvised with building materials, funding, and the other vagaries of the army to maintain, and often improve upon what he had. Between 1869 and 1873, when most of the arsenal was constructed, Shoemaker was able to put to use his knowledge of building construction in the New Mexico climate. The design of his installation varied from typical army layouts of the period. Instead of the usual rectangular parade ground and neat rows of surrounding structures, Shoemaker's layout of the large adobe wall, teardrop-shaped drive and subordinate structures adjacent to the main house had a civilian design.

Shoemaker retired in 1882, at which time the army began shutting down the arsenal operation. Shoemaker remained on as caretaker of the buildings until his death in 1886. The army continued maintaining the buildings through 1889, but salvage operations were underway on the structures and the buildings were gutted by 1892. The arsenal that Shoemaker had worked so hard on constructing fell into ruin.