Aragon is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

on the Tularosa River in Catron County,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 94. It is located northeast of Apache Creek.

History

Old Fort Tularosa

Aragon is on the site of former Old Fort Tularosa , which was built in 1872 to protect the Apache Indian Agency from the Ojo Caliente Band of

Apaches The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

. The fort was abandoned when the tribe was moved back to the Ojo Caliente reservation in 1874. A stockade was built on the site of the earlier fort in 1880 by Buffalo Soldiers led by Sergeant George Jordan. Jordan eventually received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for leading 25 men to repulse a force of more than 100 Indians in the Battle of Fort Tularosa. The only remaining evidence of the fort is a burial ground for soldiers who served in the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

The town

The town was known as "Joseph" from 1887 to 1898 and 1901 to 1906. Since 1906 it has been known as "Aragon", named for an old Spanish family who still lives in the area. Near Aragon, on the north side of Tularosa Canyon, a cave was occupied from 400 B.C. to A.D. 1100, containing pits and later masonry rooms.

Demographics

Aragon - River.jpg, Stream in Aragon Aragon - Road.jpg, Road in Aragon

Education

It is in the Reserve Independent School District.

References

External links

Fort Tularosa
from the New Mexico Office of the State Historian. {{authority control Census-designated places in Catron County, New Mexico Census-designated places in New Mexico Old Fort Tularosa