Stereoscopic view depicting a monumental grave marker at Fort Union, New Mexico Territory, photographed during the 1880s. The carefully composed image centers on a prominent columned headstone topped with a draped funerary urn and enclosed by a perimeter of wooden and stone posts. Carved Masonic symbols are visible on the base of the structure, indicating the deceased’s fraternal affiliation. Rolling desert hills and open sky provide a stark and expansive backdrop, emphasizing the isolation of the burial ground.

Fort Union was a major military outpost along the Santa Fe Trail and served as a logistical and defensive center in the mid-to-late 19th century. Its cemetery included both soldiers and civilians, and photographs of individual graves or monuments from the site are exceedingly scarce. The crisp detail of the stereoview format invites immersive examination of both the structure and the frontier landscape it occupies.

This photograph serves as a significant record of territorial-era commemorative practices and frontier military burial customs, with added interest for collectors of Masonic or Western imagery. An evocative and historically resonant view from a remote but pivotal outpost in the American Southwest.