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Fort Halleck Site

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Nevada » Fort Halleck Site

Fort Halleck Site

Fort Halleck Site Overview

In 1867, Fort Halleck was established twelve miles to the south near Soldier Creek.

The Army intended the Fort to protect the California Emigrant Trail, the Overland Mail Route, and construction work on the Central Pacific Railroad during conflicts with Goshute and Western Shoshone in that decade.

Category

  • California Emigrant Trail
  • Native American
  • Railroad
  • Trail/Road

Marker Type

This marker has been reported as missing.  It is on the replacement list.

Nevada Historical Marker Number

Fort Halleck Site is Nevada Historical Marker #47.

Click here to view the full list of Nevada State Historical Markers.

County

Elko County, Nevada

GPS Coordinates

40.956274, -115.465769

Nevada Historical Marker Transcription

On July 26, 1867, Captain Samuel Smith established what became Fort Halleck twelve miles to the south near Soldier Creek.  In concert with Fort Ruby fifty miles further south, the Army intended the Fort to protect the California Emigrant Trail, the Overland mail route and construction work on the Central Pacific Railroad during conflicts with Goshute and Western Shoshone in that decade.

The camp was named for Major General Henry Wager Halleck, a prominent general who served as general-in-chief to the Army from 1862 to 1865.  In May 1868, Camp Halleck became a two-company post and the headquarters for the Nevada Military District when Fort Churchill, near Yerington, was abandoned.  By 1877, the Fort contained about 20 buildings of wood, adobe, and stone arranged around a rectangular parade ground.

Troops from the Fort participated in action against the Modoc Indians in Northern California in 1873; against the Nez Perce uprising in Idaho in 1877; against the Bannocks in Oregon in 1878; and against the Apaches in Arizona in 1885.  However, by the 1880s, the need for military stations throughout the American West was much diminished and the Army closed the Fort in December 1886.

STATE HISTORICAL MARKER No. 47

NEVADA STATE PARK SYSTEM

NORTHEASTERN NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

References Used

Fort Halleck Site