Fort Churchill

In a small valley nestled alongside the Carson River, in western Nevada, there is what remains of Nevada’s first military post, Fort Churchill.  These adobe ruins stand today in silent testimony to the West’s wild and woolly past.

    It was a time of conflict, a time of change.

    “Go WEST, young man!”

    Thar’s GOLD in them thar hills!”

    “LAND, rich land for the taking!”

    “SILVER!”

    People heeded the cries, packed up their belongings, climbed aboard their covered wagons, and set off west to the “Promise Land.”  Some of the places along the way were so inviting that many of the travelers stopped and put down roots.  At first, there existed a comparatively peaceful coexistence between the Indians, who had occupied the land for hundreds of years, and the settlers.  Beginning with the discovery of gold in California, in 1848, there began a steady increase in the numbers of Americans, passing through northern Nevada, along the Emigrant Trail.  These emigrants, for the most part, saw the Indians as obstacles to be removed.  A bloody conflict, known as the Paiute War was the result.  In 1860, embellished reports of atrocities by Indians at Williams Station, located at the modern-day Lahontan Reservoir, east of Carson City spread throughout the territory.  Talk of killings passed from person to person and with each telling the details grew more gruesome.  The many settlers, miners and travelers along Nevada’s Overland Route demanded protection.  The route went through the Bucklands Ranch.  In addition to the ranch, Sam Bucklands had established a station house from which he sold supplies to the emigrants and a toll bridge across the Carson River.  It was also a Pony Express change station.  It was the logical site for a military post.  A small part of the ranch was set aside and construction began.  The fort was named for the Army’s inspector-general, Brevet Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill.  Churchill’s name has been used several other times in Nevada, to wit: a county, a valley, a canyon, and a US Navy warship, the USS Churchill County.

            After only eleven years of operation the fort was abandoned and its materials auctioned off.  The adobe walls have since crumbled, roofs have deteriorated, and sage has covered the parade field.  Wind and rain have sculptured the adobe surfaces, rounding and smoothing them, creating interesting shapes, which makes Fort Churchill a great place to spend an afternoon photographing.  

 Q