Desert Redoubt: Fort Piute...

Lonely outpost; the crumbling ruins of Fort Piute.  Photograph by Scott Schwartz.
All Rights Reserved. 

The old redoubt is kept in a state of arrested decay.
Photograph by Scott Schwartz.  All rights reserved.

Whether establishing a “presence” there, in order to protect travelers from hostile Indians, or using its thousands of square miles for the training of its personnel, the U.S. military has been connected with the California desert for nearly two centuries.  Even today, traces of these installations remain. 

One such place is Fort Piute.  Located on the Mojave Rd., roughly 40 miles north east of Needles, CA, Fort Piute dates back to the year 1859.  Well, sort of. 

According to military historian Col. Herbert M. Hart, USMC (retired), the outpost at Piute Spring has its origins in a skirmish between soldiers and Indians. 

The year was 1859.  During that year, a Colonel William Hoffman and the 60 soldiers under his command stopped for water at Piute Spring.  Apparently deciding to make a stand against some hostile Indians, Hoffman had about half his men shoot at the Indians, killing roughly 20 of them.  The rest ran off.

Several months went by before Major James H. Carleton and his 1^st Dragoons came through this area and established an actual post, which he named Fort Beale.  The name was in honor of a Navy officer who had previously led an experimental camel caravan through the area. 

Although called a “fort”, the Piute Springs outpost was really just one of several desert “redoubts” – ie, temporary fortifications that were established in order to protect travelers along the Mojave Road against the hostile Indians who frequently stole livestock from and murdered them. 

Not surprisingly, the troops stationed at Fort Beale were transferred east at the start of the Civil War.   Clearly, and perhaps rightly, the Army’s priorities lay elsewhere.  While the war raged on in the east, Fort Beale and the other installations were manned by soldiers of the California Volunteers. These were state militia men who had not been “Federalized”, and who stayed in  California to protect the roads.  Despite the presence of the California Volunteers, thefts of settler’s livestock continued. 

When the Civil War ended, however, the desert redoubts were abandoned.  Complaints from local settlers, and the fact that the Mojave Road was a U.S. Mail route prompted the U.S. Army to re-occupy the posts in 1866.  At this point, Fort Beale was renamed Fort Piute.

Life here was tough for the soldiers.  Aside from the dangers of combat, the men lived in tents full-time (the fort itself was intended to provide cover and a place to retreat to during combat) and ate all of their meals outside.  Desertions were not unheard of. 

Fort Piute was abandoned yet again during the 1868. 

The remains of the stone blockhouse that was once Fort Piute are still standing today.  Plus, the fort is positioned right near a relatively easy four wheel drive trail.