Fort Tejon

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Fort Tejon, California, is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (La Cañada de las Uvas) area of Tejon Pass along Interstate 5, the main route through the mountains separating California's Central Valley from Los Angeles. The fort's location protected the San Joaquin Valley from the south and east. Its mission was to suppress stock rustling and protect white settlers from attacks by Native American tribes, including the Paiute and Mojave, and to monitor the less aggressive Emigdiano living nearby. The Emigdiano, who were closely related to the Chumash of the Santa Barbara area, had several villages near Fort Tejon and were generally cooperative with the European settlers and the Army.

[edit] History

At the urging of Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, Fort Tejon was established by the U.S. Army in 1854. Fort Tejon was the headquarters of the First U.S. Dragoons until those regular army troops were transferred to the East in July 1861 upon the outbreak of the American Civil War. The fort was re-occupied by California volunteer troops in 1863. Those units included Companies D, E and G of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry from July 6 to August 17, 1863 and Company B of the 2nd California Volunteer Infantry, which remained there until Fort Tejon was abandoned for good on September 11, 1864.[1]

The fort lay along the Stockton Los Angeles Stage Road and was from 1858 a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail following the same route as far as Visalia. From 1858, Fort Tejon was the western terminus of the experimental US Army Camel Corps, which utilized the imported animals in an effort to carry supplies across arid regions in the Southwest.

The great earthquake of 1857 that became known as the Fort Tejon earthquake was in fact centered nowhere near Fort Tejon. The fort became associated with the earthquake simply because the area near the epicenter was sparsely populated and the most reliable report of the shaking was issued from the fort, nearly 93 miles (149.7 km) distant.

Fort Tejon is now Fort Tejon State Historic Park, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its original historic buildings have been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey. Several buildings have been restored, and two are partially open to visitors. The restored barracks contain display cases of uniforms and a recreated troopers' quarters. The commanding officer's quarters have several restored and furnished rooms. Officers' quarters nearby are only stabilized in a state of arrested decay, with walls buttressed by masonry and lumber and tied together with reinforcing rods. A quartermaster building has recently been erected and houses materials used in Dragoon life and Civil War reenactments. Several unrestored buildings are denoted by split rail fences along the outlines of their foundations. A park office with Dragoon life exhibits and restrooms is at the east end of the parade ground near the parking lot by Interstate 5.

Fort Tejon is the site of frequent Civil War reenactments presented by the Fort Tejon Historical Association.[2]

[edit] 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake

The Fort Tejon earthquake occurred at about 8:20 AM (Pacific time) on January 9, 1857. It ruptured the San Andreas Fault for a length of about 350 kilometers (225 miles), between Parkfield and San Bernardino. Displacement along the fault was as much as 9 meters (30 feet) in the Carrizo Plain but less along the Palmdale section of the fault, closest to Los Angeles. The amount of fault slip gives this earthquake a moment magnitude of 7.9, comparable to that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Based on the (uncertain) distribution of foreshocks for this earthquake, it is assumed that the beginning of the fault rupture (the epicenter) was in the area between Parkfield and Cholame, about 60 miles northwest. Nevertheless, it is usually called the "Fort Tejon" earthquake because this was the location of the greatest damage, most of the area being unpopulated at the time.