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Soldiers At Play: A History Of Social Life At Fort Union, New Mexico,1851-1891, Dale Frederick Giese

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Although much has been written about the United States Army and its participation in the Indian Wars, relatively little attention has been devoted to the soldier's recreational life at some of the isolated army posts at which they served. Fort Union, New Mexico, one of the largest military posts in the Southwest, had hundreds of soldiers and civilians living together in this garrison. During Fort Union's forty-year period of existence, the soldiers and civilians employed numerous recreational activities to keep themselves occupied during their leisure hours on New Mexico's frontier.