Cooke's Spring () was named for
Philip St. George Cooke 2nd U.S. Dragoons the former commander of the
Mormon Battalion, that was exploring this area of New Mexico in 1853. It was the only large supply of fresh water between
Mesilla and the
Mimbres River for wagons heading to California on the
Southern Emigrant Trail as well as the later
Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route. The
Cooke's Spring Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail was located near Cooke's Spring from 1858 to 1861. Cookes Springs were located at the eastern mouth of the upper part of
Cooke%27s Canyon which led to
Cooke's Pass a narrow gap in the
Cooke's Range(). Between 1848 and 1861 the pass was a dangerous place for travelers, who were often ambushed and killed by the Apache as they passed through it. Following the
Bascom Affair things were even worse as the Apache, formerly friendly to the stage company, destroyed most of the stations and destroyed many coaches and killed their passengers and for over a decade later hundreds of other travelers. Cooke's Pass was a favored location for ambushes, and it acquired the name Massacre Canyon after incidents like the
Battle of Cookes Canyon. The fort was first established nearby the stage station on October 2, 1863, by Captain Valentine Dresher, Company B,
1st California Infantry, of the
California Column. Fort Cummings was established to control the Apache Indians, and to protect the Butterfield – Overland stage route and the southern overland road to California where it passed through Cooke's Pass. The fort was built up over the next ten years as an adobe walled fort, surrounded by a 10-foot-high wall that enclosed a parade ground, corral and several single-story adobe buildings around the wall. The fort was evacuated and entered a caretaker status in 1870 and abandoned in 1873. However it was reoccupied later when Apache under
Victorio, launched a campaign against the white American settlers in 1880. It was known as "Camp at Fort Cummings" from 1880 to 1884 and in 1886 during later Apache troubles. The Fort was ordered permanently closed by President Bejamin Harrison on October 7, 1891. Its only remains are some eroding adobe walls, plus the nearby site of the stage station and post graveyard to the south. ==Garrisons==