Fort Bascom, established in 1863, is located in New Mexico on the Canadian River slightly west of the Texas border. The fort was named in honor of Captain George Nicholas Bascom who was killed during the American Civil War on February 21, 1862 while defending Fort Craig against Confederate forces in the Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico. It was one of a series of forts established by General James Henry Carleton to control the Comanches and Kiowas who frequented the Staked Plains of Texas and the Rio Grande. It also was to stop trade of stolen goods by the so-called Comancheros.