It was ultimately abandoned in 1891, due in large part to the decision to expand Fort Bliss and the lack of any expenditures for repair of the facility.

The campground or paraje was named for an old Spanish soldier, Pedro Robledo, who died and was buried there on the 1598 expedition of Juan de Oñate.

[3]: 50 Paraje Robledo was the last stop along the Rio Grande before the route of the Camino Real left the river to enter the Jornada del Muerto on the way north toward Santa Fe.

By the time of the American Civil War, the Mesilla Valley around Las Cruces had developed a population base who valued the fertile land along the Rio Grande and were suffering from attacks by the Apache.

It was established in 1865 at the Paraje de Robledo in an effort to bring peace among the varied inhabitants in the south central region of present-day New Mexico.

It was named in honor of Col. Henry Raymond Selden who had served many years in New Mexico Territory before and during the American Civil War and had died of illness in Doña Ana County, and buried at Fort Union on February 2, 1865.

The primary intent of the fort was to protect settlers and travelers in the Mesilla Valley from attacks by desperados and Mescalero Apache Indians.

As a result, Army commander-in-chief, Lt. General William Tecumseh Sherman, ordered a consolidation of six military posts in southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona.