Soldier Meadows

From Friends of the Black Rock High Rock Wiki
Revision as of 20:52, 21 July 2008 by 206.158.7.4 (talk) (move)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

"In 1844 Captain John C. Fremont stayed at Soldier Meadows and enjoyed the hot springs and meadows. In 1865 Camp McGarry was established at the current location of the ranch. It was a U.S. Army winter camp established with the mission to protect pioneers and freight trains from Indian attack. By then there were regular freight wagon trains traveling from the Sacramento Valley to Silver City, Idaho. There was a silver discovery in Idaho and supplies were sent from Chico and other California towns. Protection was needed along this stretch of the trail so the Army established a Fort near Summit Lake (now the Summit Lake Indian Reservation). In the winter, they moved the Fort south to Soldier Meadows because it was quite a bit warmer with the lower elevation and warm water from the nearby hot springs. Several of the stone buildings and stables remain standing from the U.S. Army camp."


(28 April 2007)

A recent traveler wrote:

Thanks for the info Matthew,

I got your advice before I left on my trip to Smoke Creek and Black Rock Deserts on O4/06/07 to 04/09/07. It was great. I found that the Leonard Creek Road is closed by the ranchers with locked gates, Soldier Meadows is open but rough. I also took the BLM road from Gerlach to Sulphur and then to Winnemucca it was better than the Soldier Meadow Road. I want to do some more exploring. At some time in the near future I will probably be a reliable reference for trips to this beautiful area.