19th Century Military in the Mojave Desert

Fort Mojave

Fort Piute

Established in late 1859 by Captain James H. Carleton, 1st Dragoons, this desert post was located near Piute Springs in the foothills ...


Camp Rock Springs

An official Army post, Camp Rock Spring in the Mojave Desert, on the road from Camp Cady to Fort Mohave, Arizona, located near Kelso, ...

Marl Springs

It may have been the last of the desert redoubts to be established, but Camp Marl Springs' history indicates it was one of the most ...

Camp Soda Springs

This desert camp, variously named for the dry soda lake in its vicinity, was first established south of ...

Camp Cady

For three months the Dragoons quartered themselves in temporary shelters of brush and mud or dugouts similar to those used later by the ...

Other Camps & Forts

Bitter Springs

From one of the first places to be recorded in historical journals, Bitter Springs evolved into today's Fort Irwin.

Fort Tejon

The post was intended to guard the pass through the Tehachapi Mountains, to control the areas tribes, and to protect ...

Camp Independence

Never officially designated a fort, it was established to provide protection for the area's miners, who were troubled by ...

Camp Resting Springs

This desert outpost was intermittently occupied during 1859-60 by regular troops to protect a precious waterhole on the old Spanish Trail between ...

Camp Eldorado