The Plaza is the central attraction in downtown Santa Fe, and in its center is a tall Obelisk with an interesting history. To see a photo of the Obelisk, click here. According to the Nile Guide, a travel website with interesting facts about Santa Fe,
The obelisk in the center of the Plaza is called the Indian War Memorial Monument, and was erected in the 1860s to honor Federal troops killed in battles with Native Americans and Confederate forces. The inscription originally made reference to "savage Indians," but sometime in the 1970s a man dressed in a suit chiseled the word "savage" from the marble inscription. There are also pockmarks left by bullets in the monument. [I wonder why "dressed in a suit" is important in this explanation?]
Another website claims that the obelisk had been erected in honor of the men who fought in the Civil War and is called the Civil War Memorial.
