Fort Gaston
| Fort Gaston | |
|---|---|
Camp Gaston | |
| Near Hoopa Valley, California in United States | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Fort |
| Owner | United States Army |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 41°03′01″N 123°40′27″W / 41.05028°N 123.67417°W |
| Area | 54 acres (21.85 ha) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1859 |
| Fate | Abandoned 1892 |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders | Captain Edmund Underwood |
| Occupants | Company D, 3rd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry Company K,H,F,I 2nd Regiment California Volunteer Infantry Company B, C 1st Battalion California Volunteer Mountaineers Company A, 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers |
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Fort Gaston was founded on December 4, 1859, in the redwood forests of the Hoopa Valley, in Northern California, on the west bank of the Trinity River, 14 miles (23 km) from where the Trinity flows into the Klamath River. It was located in what is now the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. Fort Gaston as part of the Humboldt Military District was intended to control the Hupa Indians and to protect them from hostile white settlers. The post was named for 2nd Lieutenant William Gaston, of the First Dragoons, who had been killed May 17, 1858, during the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene–Paloos War.
Fort Gaston, from 1866 to 1867 officially designated as Camp Gaston, is not to be confused with Camp Gaston, on the Colorado River (sometimes erroneously called Fort Gaston). That Camp Gaston was also named after 2nd Lt. William Gaston and was founded as an advance base in April 1859 near Palo Verde, California, during the Mohave War.