Meanwhile another Fort was built further away from the foothills, only to give way to the final Fort Union, sometimes called the Star Fort, due to the star shape of the outer walls, still discernible by air as low ridges.

With all the killing during robberies, fights over gambling games, it seems strange that the ghosts at Fort Union do not turn to these violent deaths. Instead, the final Fort was well built, with parade grounds, officers' homes, mess halls, a hospital jail, recreation hall, and shooting ranges.

Soldiers told of seeing parties, dances, etc., going on in the recreation building after it was torn down. It frightened them and they quickly made their way back to the barracks, and usually didn't mention it until something got one of the men to talking, which led others to confess to the same experience. Reports of the ghostly parties are rare today, but reports of Gen. U.S. Grant continue to surface fairly often.

Reports were uniformly casual - a caretaker, visitor, whatever, asks about the tall man in the Civil War period uniform who walks from the parade ground to the hospital, walks through the door space, and simply cannot be located when followed. There doesn't seem to be a particular time of day - or night - for this completely solid looking apparition.

The Union Land Grand and Grazing Company had charge of the Fort Union acreage for some time after the Fort was closed, as it was no longer necessary to protect travelers and act as a supply depot for other forts in the state. Camp. E.B. Wheeler was agent in charge for the Cattle Company. He had earned his Captain's bars at the Fort before it closed.

Wheeler loved the old Fort site and protected the ruins as best he could. His officers were in the upstairs portion of People's Saving Bank in Las Vegas but he kept men patrolling the Fort Union acreage. His men had told him about the heavily bearded man walking to the old hospital but he dismissed the story as inconsequential until he saw him himself. "It can't be, of course, but it was General (later President) Grant so I just don't talk about it. People would say I was getting senile," he told me.

Now Fort Union is a National Monument, with a nice headquarters building that is offices and a Museum, people who protect and care for the ruins of Fort buildings. It's well worth the visit, and is located on a turnoff just north of Watrous, New Mexico, which is fun, too. The whole village is a National Landmark.