Remains of Arizona's Indian Wars: Camp Date Creek Ruins (1867-73)

Описание: Note: Camp Date Creek is on State Trust Land. You are required to have a permit which is available online.

The United States Army established Camp Date Creek (first known as Camp McPherson) in 1867 approximately 25 miles northwest of the present town of Wickenburg, Arizona. The main function of the camp was to provide security for travelers on the road between the towns of La Paz and Prescott, Arizona.

Due to the increasing number of settlers coming into and passing across Indian lands, tensions were increasing between the two groups, though they remained at peace until a drunken settler murdered Anasa, an Indian leader. That marked the beginning of a five-year on-and-off conflict between the Army and the Indians known as the Hualapai War.

Little is left of the camp, but what is, is intriguing. The walls of the commissary building, the 'laundress' facility, and what was likely a sentry post are still to be found. Unfortunately, an existing map is of little use, as the layout of the land and/or the scale makes it of no value—in my opinion.

The camp was fully facilitated, including a hospital, bakery, blacksmith and carpenter's shop, corrals, and even a parade ground.

Also on the grounds are the graves of sixty or more soldiers and Indians, and perhaps as many as an additional twenty civilians. Most of those interred are males and are listed by the Arizona Pioneer Cemetery Research Project (apcrp.org). I hope to return and locate the cemetery.