Soldiers’ Monument display — a show of political activism
By Virgil J. Vigil
I am writing regarding the current exhibit concerning the Soldiers’ Monument and the display of portions of the monument at the New Mexico History Museum.
As president of the Union Protectiva de Santa Fe and a retired U.S. Army Colonel with 30 years of military service, I believe deeply in preserving New Mexico’s history and ensuring that historical interpretation is based on documented evidence and appropriate context. I am concerned that the current exhibit may provide an incomplete interpretation of the monument and its history.
The Soldiers’ Monument has a complicated history that should be presented in its entirety, including its original purpose, inscriptions, the people it commemorated, subsequent controversies, its destruction in 2020, and the legal proceedings that followed.
The monument was erected on the Santa Fe Plaza on 1867, with inscriptions added in 1868 commemorating Union soldiers who died in Civil War battles in New Mexico Territory, including Valverde and Glorieta Pass, as well as local militia soldiers who died in conflicts with Indigenous peoples.
One inscription used the nineteenth-century term “savage” in referring to Indigenous peoples. That word was removed in 1974. Historical interpretation should neither conceal that language nor endorse it but explain its historical context and why later generations objected to and removed it.
The Civil War context is essential. In 1862, Texas Confederate forces under Brigadier Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley invaded New Mexico Territory, occupying Albuquerque and Santa Fe before being stopped at Glorieta Pass. New Mexico militia volunteers participated with the Union defense. A 2018 New Mexico legislative memorial recognized Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Antonio Chaves and New Mexico militia volunteers who fought alongside Union and Colorado forces. This history explains why a monument honoring Union soldiers was erected in Santa Fe.
The Navajo Long Walk and forced removal to Bosque Redondo are important parts of New Mexico history. U.S. military forces, including those commanded by Kit Carson, participated in the campaign. However, the Soldiers’ Monument itself does not contain an inscription specifically referring to the Navajo Long Walk. Visitors should, therefore, distinguish between the monument’s actual inscriptions, the events they commemorate, later military campaigns involving Indigenous peoples and modern interpretations.
New Mexico’s history also includes Indigenous peoples, Spanish settlement, Mexican governance, the U.S. territorial period and statehood. It encompasses conquest, settlement, cultural exchange, conflict, resistance, accommodation, and the survival of Indigenous and Hispanic cultures. The museum’s mission of presenting more than 400 years of New Mexico history should be reflected in this exhibit.
The monument’s destruction in 2020, its recovery and preservation, and the subsequent legal proceedings are now part of its history. The subsequent legal court lawsuit resulted in a December 2024 ruling requiring the city to rebuild the Soldiers’ Monument to 2020 standards and involve the State Historic Preservation Office in every aspect of such.
I respectfully request that the museum review its exhibit; including panels, video, educational materials, and consider adding information concerning the monument’s original purpose and inscription, the Union soldiers commemorated, the Confederate invasion and New Mexico militia volunteers, the historical context of its language and its 1974 removal, pre-2020 controversy, the 2020 destruction, and subsequent court proceedings.
The museum has an important opportunity to teach difficult history through evidence, context and respect for differing perspectives. History should neither be erased nor presented without context. It should be examined honestly and completely.
I respectfully ask the museum to ensure that visitors receive a complete, well-sourced and historically balanced account of the Soldiers’ Monument and its place in New Mexico history.
Virgil J. Vigil is the president of Union Protectiva de Santa Fe and is a retired U.S. Army Colonel.
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