# Fort Ruby > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fort_Ruby > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fort_Ruby.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ruby > Source revision: 1337632496 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Fort in White Pine County, Nevada, US}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Fort Ruby | nrhp_type = nhl | image = Historic Log Cabin-Fort Ruby (21250182964).jpg | caption = A log cabin at Fort Ruby | location = [White Pine County](/source/White_Pine_County%2C_Nevada), [Nevada](/source/Nevada), US | nearest_city = [Hobson, Nevada](/source/Hobson%2C_Nevada) | coordinates = {{coord|40|04|04|N|115|31|46|W|display=inline,title}}{{cite gnis|1681469|Fort Ruby (historical)}} | locmapin = Nevada#USA | area = | built = 1862 | builder = 3rd Infantry, California Vol. | architecture = | designated_nrhp_type = November 5, 1961 | added = October 15, 1966 | refnum = 66000460 }} '''Fort Ruby,''' also known as '''Camp Ruby,''' was built in 1862 by the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army), during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) (1861–1865), in the "wilderness of eastern Nevada". in the region separated from the larger [Utah Territory](/source/Utah_Territory) of 1850–1896, further east, then organized as the brief [Nevada Territory](/source/Nevada_Territory) of 1861–1864, (later admitted to the Union as the 36th [state](/source/U.S._state) of [Nevada](/source/Nevada) in 1864). It protected both the [California Trail](/source/California_Trail) and the later [Overland Trail westward routes for overland mail and pioneer wagon route](/source/Overland_Trail) for [stagecoach](/source/stagecoach)es and utilized for the short-lived [Pony Express](/source/Pony_Express) (1860–1861) horse riders with pouches of the [United States Mail](/source/United_States_Mail) This was in order to maintain speedier links and communication between residents of the new state of [California](/source/California) (admitted to the Union as the 31st [state](/source/U.S._state) in 1850), on the [West Coast](/source/Western_Coast_of_the_United_States) on the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean) and to the other states of the federal [Union](/source/Union_(American_Civil_War)) in the [East](/source/Eastern_United_States). Later by the following year of 1861, the American-based [Overland Telegraph Company](/source/Overland_Telegraph_Company) with its trans-continental line was constructed laboriously at the beginning of the crucial [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), using the new 1844 invention of the [electric telegraph](/source/electric_telegraph), and subsequently the first of four [transcontinental railroad](/source/transcontinental_railroad) lines in 1869. The military post was operated 1862 to 1869, in territory dominated by bands of the [Western Shoshone](/source/Western_Shoshone) natives. The fort was located in the [Ruby Mountains](/source/Ruby_Mountains) at the east entrance to the [Overland Pass](/source/Overland_Pass) from [Ruby Valley](/source/Ruby_Valley), near the now abandoned ghost town of [Hobson](/source/Hobson%2C_Nevada) on the west side of [Ruby Lake](/source/Ruby_Lake_National_Wildlife_Refuge). It is also near the [Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest](/source/Humboldt-Toiyabe_National_Forest) reservation of the [U.S. Forest Service](/source/United_States_Forestry_Service). Currently in [Elko County](/source/Elko_County%2C_Nevada) and adjacent [White Pine County](/source/White_Pine_County%2C_Nevada) of northeastern Nevada. To secure access and safe passage through this area, as well as to provide for construction of [railroad](/source/railroad)s and other needs, the U.S. government signed the [Treaty of Ruby Valley](/source/Treaty_of_Ruby_Valley) in October 1863, with twelve chiefs of the Western Shoshone, who did not cede any territory. The U.S. also gained permission to conduct [gold](/source/gold) mining in this territory, as it needed gold in order to wage war against the rebelling southern [Confederacy](/source/Confederate_States_of_America). It promised payments of annuities of $5,000 annually for 20 years to the Western Shoshone, in the form of goods and livestock, but failed to make any payments after that first year. The military post site, which at the time contained several surviving log buildings, was declared a [National Historic Landmark](/source/National_Historic_Landmark) in 1961, and then five years later added to the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) in 1966. Both of the lists being maintained by the [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service) of the [United States Department of the Interior](/source/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior). Two of the four landmarked buildings on the site burned in a fire in 1992. Since the "log structures were in poor condition when this site was designated as a Landmark, and they have been altered and deteriorated significantly since designation", continued landmark status is under review by the Department of Interior. The site was transferred from private ownership to federal control in 2002. Since then a joint archaeological venture to explore Fort Ruby's frontier legacy has been conducted by the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service](/source/United_States_Fish_and_Wildlife_Service) and the [U.S. Forest Service](/source/United_States_Forest_Service). ==See also== *[List of National Historic Landmarks in Nevada](/source/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Nevada) *[National Register of Historic Places listings in White Pine County, Nevada](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_White_Pine_County%2C_Nevada) ==References== {{Reflist|refs= {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/nv/NV.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124222107/https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/nv/NV.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2017 |title=Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Nevada |publisher=National Park Service |accessdate=February 12, 2017}} {{cite web |url={{NHLS url|id=66000460}} |title=Fort Ruby |work=National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings |date=July 14, 1966 |author=Charles W. Snell |publisher=National Park Service |accessdate= }} {{NHLS url|id=66000460|title=Accompanying 1 photo of Fort Ruby Cabins, exterior, from 1960 (and additional photos of unrelated Newlands Mansion, another NHL).|photos=y }} {{cite web |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/humboldt-toiyabe |title=Fort Ruby |work=Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest |publisher=U.S. Forest Service |access-date=February 12, 2017}} }} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Fort Ruby}} *[http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/humboldt-toiyabe Fort Ruby] U.S.Forest Service *[http://www.greatbasinheritage.org/fort-ruby-1862-1869 Fort Ruby 1862–1869] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213090504/http://www.greatbasinheritage.org/fort-ruby-1862-1869 |date=2017-02-13 }} Great Basin National Heritage Area {{NHLs in NV}} {{Nevada State Historic Places/White Pine}} {{National Register of Historic Places}} {{Authority control}} Ruby Category:Buildings and structures in White Pine County, Nevada Category:Great Basin National Heritage Area Category:History of White Pine County, Nevada Category:Pony Express stations Category:Snake War Category:1862 establishments in Utah Territory Category:Government buildings completed in 1862 Ruby Category:National Historic Landmarks in Nevada Category:National Register of Historic Places in White Pine County, Nevada Category:Formerly Used Defense Sites in Nevada Category:Military installations established in 1862 Category:Military installations closed in 1869 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ruby) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ruby?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.