Fort Baker, in

Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka–Arcata– Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statist ...

was an outpost of the Union Army for the

Bald Hills War Bald Hills War (1858–1864) was a war fought by the forces of the California Militia, California Volunteers and soldiers of the U.S. Army against the Chilula, Lassik, Hupa, Mattole, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Tsnungwe, Wailaki, Whilkut ...

from 1862 to 1863. It was located east of Bridgeville on State Highway 36 on the west bank of Van Duzen Creek in Larabee Valley. The site of Fort Baker has been obliterated by frequent flooding. Fort Baker was established by Col.

Francis J. Lippitt Francis James Lippitt (July 19, 1812–September 27, 1902) was an American lawyer and veteran of the Mexican–American War, the Bald Hills War and the American Civil War. For the later he was made a brevet brigadier general. Early life Lippitt ...

, commander of the

Humboldt Military District During the American Civil War, Army reorganization created the Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861. On December 12, 1861, the District of Humboldt was created, consisting of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt ...

as one of a number of posts to protect the settlers. It was the center of continued aggressive patrolling that finally forced

Lassic Lassic (died 1863) also called, Las-sic, Las-Sic, Lasseck and Lassux in various military reports and newspaper articles at the time, was a Wailaki leader during the Bald Hills War. Wailaki Leader in the Bald Hills War During the 1859-1862 period ...

and his Wailaki band to surrender on July 31, 1862, at Fort Baker. More of his warriors plus those of other bands came in on August 10 and the 212 captured Indians at Fort Baker were sent to join 462 others at

Fort Humboldt A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...

. After the 850 captured hostiles were sent to the

Smith River Reservation Smith River Reservation was an Indian reservation on the Smith River, set aside April 9, 1862 by the Department of Indian Affairs to replace the Klamath River Reservation that had been destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 and as a reservation for ...

it was believed the war was nearly over. However Lassic and other warriors escaped and the war continued. On September 7, 1863, Fort Baker was recommended for closure, to be replaced by Fort Iaqua. Fort Baker was abandoned before the end of 1863 and was burned on May 11 or 12, 1864 by persons unknown, suggestions included Confederate sympathizers or Indians.

References

Further reading