First of all, I want to acknowledge the late J.S. Thompson, who was not only a good friend, but one of his main interests was early Nevada military history that he graciously shared with me.

United States military presence in the Honey Lake Valley was sporadic during the Indian conflicts of the 1860s.  Initially, Fort Crook, now Fall River Mills, during the 1850s was the nearest military outpost. In 1858, Fort Crook soldiers had an encounter with Pit River Indians at the northwest corner of Eagle Lake, but never ventured to the Honey Lake Valley.

Relations between the Native Americans and the Anglo settlers had deteriorated by1859. The murder of Edward Clapper and Peter Lassen in the spring of that year in the Black Rock Desert, did not help matters—the Indians rightfully/wrongfully were accused. Between that episode and increased traffic on the Nobles Emigrant Trail, the military made an appearance. During the summer of 1859,  a military outpost known as Dragoon Bridge or Willow Creek Station was established along the Nobles Trail where it crosses Willow Creek in the Honey Lake Valley. These troops came from the San Francisco Presidio.

Tensions between the Anglos and the Indians did not improve. On January 13,1860 Dexter Demming was murdered by the Indians in Willow Creek Valley, north of Susanville. It was like a slow burning fuse that would ignite into the Pyramid Lake War of 1860. After Demming’s death the Honey Lakers petitioned California Governor Milton Lathom for military assistance. By the time their letter was received in Sacramento, Lathrom was out of office, he only served five days as governor!

Not all was a loss. In the summer of 1860 the San Francisco Presidio sent troops to the Honey Lake Valley and established Soldiers Bridge along the Susan River near present day Litchfield.

In 1861, the area had no military presence. Things changed quickly with the mining discoveries of the Humboldt in Nevada and the quickest route was via the Nobles Emigrant Trail. This prompted military officials to establish a permanent military outpost at Smoke Creek near the California/Nevada border. The troops, it should be noted came from Fort Churchill, Nevada.

For whatever reasons a mobile military unit named Camp Johns established a base camp near Susanville in June 1864. They did a reconnaissance of the  area to Modoc and Northwestern Nevada. The troops came from Fort Churchill and returned there in August. They were replaced with a new set of soldiers with the same mission, and the camp was renamed Susan. It lasted briefly, and the soldiers returned to Fort Churchill in October.

That was the end of actual physical military presence of the region until the establishment of the Sierra Army Depot in 1942. However, there were Camp McGarry and Fort aka Camp Sage that I will write about in future posts.

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