Please remember to exercise caution when exploring Nevada's Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Open shafts, drifts going into mountainsides, and old buildings, are all DANGEROUS. Be aware of your surroundings, and let someone know where you are, especially if your plans change.

 

Fort Ruby (Camp Ruby) (Hobson)

DIRECTIONS: From Illipah, take U.S. 50 east for 1.5 miles. Exit left and follow this good road for 52 miles to Fort Ruby Ranch.

"Uncle Billy" Rogers was the first settler in beautiful Ruby Valley. He arrived in 1859 and built a trading post. Rogers had a large garden and readily supplied visitors with a hearty meal. Rogers' post was incorporated into the Pony Express line in 1860. After the Pony Express folded, Overland Stage took over the station and operated it until 1869. Because of high prices for supplies around camp Ruby, the Overland Company organized a huge farming district and supplied foodstuffs for most of Nevada's Overland stations. Indians plagued the stage line during the 1860s and it was decided that a fort was needed to protect the stage line and nearby settlers. Fort Ruby was established here on September 4, 1862, and a six-mile-square reservation was organized. The fort commander was Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. Fort Ruby was manned by Companies C and F, Third Infantry, of the California Volunteers, with Major Patrick A. Gallagher in charge of the troops. During the first few months, the men were kept busy erecting the companies winter quarters and the commander's huge stone house. The fort had a band, but to save expenses it was mustered out on September 23, to the disappointment of the troops. On October 2, Colonel Connor and the main force of the Third Infantry left Fort Ruby for Fort Douglas (near Salt Lake City). The squads led by Captains Izatus Potts and John H. May were left to man the fort, and Major Gallagher was appointed company commander. In November a group of unidentified culprits sneaked into the fort and stole ten of the troop's finest horses. Gallagher, Potts, and forty men gave chase, but the horses were never recovered.

Conditions at Fort Ruby were less than ideal. The fort was labeled as a "fever breeder and a natural hospital filler." Three soldiers died within the first couple of months. The attack on Eight-Mile Station on March 22, 1863, signaled the beginning of the Goshute War. The soldiers were constantly on missions, trying to protect White Pine County's residents. Captain S. P. Smith and Company K were assigned duty guarding the mail routes, while companies E and B maintained patrols elsewhere. On May 1, Captain Smith and 87 men left the fort and began active campaigns to end the Indian threat. On May 4, 29 Indians were killed; on May 6, 23 more; and on June 20, another 10. In July, Major Gallagher, who had been wounded at the Battle of Bear River, was relieved of duty. He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel J. B. Moore.

The Western Bands of Shoshone Indians signed a treaty at Fort Ruby on October 1, 1863, which ended the hostilities in eastern Nevada. The treaty resolved travel routes and Overland Stage lines through Shoshone land. The Indians agreed to let white settlers explore the land for gold and silver, but they received little in return. In the fall of 1864, Moore and his men were replaced by Captain G. A. Thurston and Company B of the First Infantry of Nevada Volunteers. They, in turn, were replaced by John Franklin Trout and the Ninth U.S. Infantry. With the end of Indian troubles came the end of the need for Fort Ruby. Most of the garrison was moved on March 10, 1869, to Camp Halleck, in Elko County. The property was sold to Thomas Short of Ruby Valley at a public auction on June 30, and the fort was officially abandoned on September 20. Some buildings were moved to the Cave Creek Ranch (Elko County), and graves in the cemetery were moved to Carson City. The Overland Stage left in 1869, and the huge farms were divided and sold at public auction shortly after the Fort Ruby abandonment.

A ranch began operations at the old fort site in early 1870. In 1898 the small town of Hobson, named for Admiral Richmond P. Hobson of Spanish-American War fame, was established at Fort Ruby Ranch. A post office, with Joseph Tognirri as postmaster, opened here on August 7, 1902, and served the many ranches in southern Ruby Valley until November 30, 1936. While a few buildings on the ranch date from the 1860s, no buildings from Fort Ruby still exist. In July 1992 the last two remaining buildings, the officers' quarters and a barracks, burned. The nearest fire fighting equipment was far away, and the buildings were totally destroyed before firefighters arrived. Another valuable page of Nevada history had been lost. Now only stone foundations mark the Fort Ruby site. The old Pony Express and Overland Stage stations are located a short distance from Fort Ruby, designated by a historical marker and stone ruins. The old log station house was moved to Elko in 1960, where it is on display at the Northeastern Nevada Museum."

 

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