Halleck, Nevada: A Fort That Outlasted Its Mission

Camp Halleck was established in July of eighteen sixty-seven, with orders to protect the emigrant trail and the Central Pacific Railroad crews building westward through the Ruby Valley. It was named for Major General Henry Wager Halleck, commanding general of the Military Division of the Pacific. In eighteen seventy-nine it was upgraded to Fort Halleck.

The nearby railroad town of Halleck grew up as the supply depot for the fort, its post office opened in eighteen seventy-three. When Fort Halleck closed in eighteen eighty-six, the little town kept going. Today it is an unincorporated community in Elko County, a name that still carries the memory of a Civil War general.