This was a short-lived station on the Nobles Emigrant Trail. It was located a few miles east of present day Gerlach, Nevada. During the 1850s, stations/trading post along Nobles were few and far between. This was particularly the case through the Smoke Creek and Black Rock Deserts. A lot of this was attributed to hostilities between the Indians and Anglos, which culminated into the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.

This changed in the early 1860s with the discovery of the Humboldt mines that created such towns as Star City and Unionville. With the increased traffic on the route, Lucius Arcularius and Andrew Litch saw a lucrative opportunity to establish an outpost at Granite Creek in 1862.

In early March 1865, Arcularius left Granite Creek for a trip to Susanville.  He did not make it very far, being ambushed by Indians only several miles to west of Granite Creek. When he was a no show in Susanville, a posse went in search and found his body covered by brush, his clothing removed. Arcularius’ body was brought back to Susanville for burial.

A few weeks later, Litch needed to leave the Granite Creek Station to handle some of his late partner’s affairs. Litch recruited A.J. Curry, Cyrus Creele and Al Simmons. Some time around April 1, 1865 witnessed what was referred to as the “Granite Creek Butchery”.  All three men stationed at Granite Creek were slain by the Indians and the station burned down.  A complete account can be found in Asa Fairfield’s Pioneer History of Lassen County.  Litch would relocate in the Honey Lake Valley, where he remained until 1883, when he moved to Reno, though he retained his ranch, where his daughter and son-in-law Clara and B.F. Gibson would reside.

Support