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Elk Camp, California

Coordinates: 41°13′25″N 123°57′34″W / 41.22361°N 123.95944°W / 41.22361; -123.95944
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elk Camp was an American settlement between Redwood Creek and the Klamath River, fifteen miles northwest of Fort Anderson in modern Humboldt County, California it was formerly located in Klamath County.[1] Elk Camp was a post office from January 31, 1859, to December 19, 1862.[2]

In May 1862, under threat of Indian raids on its cattle, the local settlers urgently requested military protection. Post at Elk Camp, a temporary post, garrisoned from Fort Ter-Waw, was probably established within the settlement. A trail was to be cut through the forest from Fort Ter-Waw to Elk Camp, to link up with the forts south of the Klamath River.[3]

References

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  1. ^ The California State Military Museum, Historic California Posts: Elk Camp
  2. ^ Frickstad, Walter N., A Century of California Post Offices 1848-1954, Philatelic Research Society, Oakland, CA. 1955, pp. 60-69.
  3. ^ "The Indians have recently made an appearance there and are killing their cattle. The settlers are much alarmed and have sent in for protection, and until it can be afforded have sent their families to Arcata. I have directed Captain Stuart, Second Infantry, California Volunteers, commanding at Fort Ter-Waw, to send a detachment there of twenty men with an officer, and also to cut a trail direct to that point from Fort Ter-Waw, the distance being about twenty miles. When this is completed it will open a short and sure line of communication between Fort Ter-Waw and the posts to the south of the Klamath, which is urgently needed." excerpt from a letter written in Fort Humboldt, on May 20, 1862, from FRANCIS J. LIPPITT, Colonel Second Infantry, California Volunteers, Commanding Humboldt Military District. to Maj. R. C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of the Pacific, U. S. Army. Records of California men in the war of the rebellion 1861 to 1867 By California. Adjutant General's Office, SACRAMENTO: State Office, J. D. Young, Supt. State Printing. 1890. pp. 418-504

41°13′25″N 123°57′34″W / 41.22361°N 123.95944°W / 41.22361; -123.95944