Located a hundred miles northeast of the state capitol of Santa Fe, Fort Union served as a frontier outpost in the New Mexico Territory for forty years., Built by the U.S. Army in 1851, and eventually named a National Monument in 1954, Fort Union has stood the test of time. However, elements of the original adobe building have been deteriorating over the years and were in need to some stabilization work, so a HOPE Crew consisting of members from the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps of New Mexico stepped in.

In order to minimize further deterioration of these standing adobe features, a program was established in the early 1960’s to protect the fragile adobe surface by applying an earthen shelter coat of soil or mud to provide the adobe walls with a “sacrificial layer”. This work was done this time around by the HOPE Crew, applying the sacrificial layer, and providing protection of the original historic adobe fabric without compromising the aesthetic characteristics of a standing adobe ruin.