Communication from General J. H. Carleton to Major Henry D. Wallen, commanding Fort Sumner, New Mexico, dated Headquarters Department of New Mexico, Santa Fe, March 9, 1864:
'It will require the greatest effort and most careful husbandry to keep the Indians alive until the new crop matures. . .. The Indians must live on the smallest quantity of food. The amount set in the order is in case we are fortunate in getting enough, which I fear greatly we shall have trouble in obtaining.'
This is the site of the Indian Commissary. The commissary was the storehouse for corn and other rations issued to the Indians.
