Camp McGarry
Humboldt County, Humboldt County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Camp Mc Garry. The U. S. Army operated Camp McGarry twelve miles northeast of here at Summit Springs near Summit Lake on the Old Applegate Trail from 1865 to 1868.Troops protected the Idaho-California mail and stage roads and the nearby trails in Nevada and Oregon. The army constructed officers quarters, a mess hall, barracks, and a 100-horse stone barn near here.In 1866, Camp McGarry was made headquarters of the district of Nevada. In autumn 1868, troops were moved to Camp Winfield Scott, north of Paradise Valley, Nevada, and Camp McGarry, largest military reservation in Nevada, comprising 75 square miles, was abandoned.In 1871, the land transferred to the Bureau of Land Management and was eventually used as an American Indian reservation.
Erected by Cal Neva R.C. & D. Project
The Story
From 1865 to 1868 the U.S. Army ran Camp McGarry near Summit Springs on the Old Applegate Trail, its troops guarding the Idaho-California mail and stage roads and the emigrant trails threading Nevada and Oregon. The post grew to include officers' quarters, barracks, a mess hall, and a 100-horse stone barn, and in 1866 became headquarters of the District of Nevada. At 75 square miles it was the largest military reservation in the state before its abandonment in 1868, when the troops moved to Camp Winfield Scott; the land later became an American Indian reservation.
Why it matters
Camp McGarry marks the frontier army's role in securing the overland mail and travel routes, and the land's later transfer to a reservation traces the broader arc of federal policy toward Native peoples in the West.
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Related events
- · Applegate Trail
Themes & tags
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