Camp McGarry

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.

STATE HISTORICAL MARKER NO.  162

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE

CAL-NEVA R.C. & D. PROJECT