40.067161, -115.530950 - Fort Ruby

40.049623, -115.494965 - Ruby Valley Pony Express Station

Our Government decided to examine this area for possible inclusion as a historic site, and this is what they came up with:

The Fort Ruby buildings are the earliest existing and finest surviving examples of pioneer log construction in Nevada. Fort Ruby, 1862-1869, was established in the wilderness of eastern Nevada to protect the mail coaches of the Central Overland Mail. Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry California Volunteers began erecting the log
structure of the post in September 1862. The one-story cabins were of palisade construction, that is, the walls were formed by placing the logs in an upright position and the interior was excavated to place the floor below ground level. Wooden shakes were used to cover the roofs. One of these buildings, now used as a tool ' shed, still stands in excellent condition, and is only slightly altered. Close by is another very old log built in the more typical method, with the logs notched
and placed in horizontal position one above the other. This one-story structure is also unaltered and is in excellent condition. Fort Ruby, a military post established during the Civil War to protect the stage and telegraph facilities from Indian attack was built in Ruby Valley in the fail of 1862, Ruby Valley, was also the site of the overland stage ranch from 1859 to 1869. The ranch was established to supply the stage line with grain and provisions. Ruby Valley Is about 70 miles long and about 16 wide. The first white settler, William Rogers, an assistant Indian agent, arrived In the valley in 1859, building a cabin near the southern end. His house became a stage station on the central overland will route and a Pony Express home station. In 1861 a telegraph station on the first transcontinental telegraph line was built. Fort Ruby was built about 3 mi east of the stage station. Troops from Fort Ruby were involved in the Goslute War of 1863. Fort Ruby was occupied until 1869 when the transcontinental stage operations came to an end. Fort (or Camp) Ruby, located on the Fort Ruby Ranch 8 miles south of Cave Creek, consists of two original structures of the old post. These two 1-story log buildings are the Post Office ad cabin or residence, situated adjacent to the modern ranch structures, both buildings are in excellent condition. The site of the Overland Stage and Pony Express station, about 3 miles east of the Fort Ruby Ranch, has been marked by the U.S. Forest Service. The site of the overland stage ranch, about 24 miles north of the Fort Ruby Ranch, holds no apparent original remains and is not marked. The overland stage and Pony Express route entering Ruby Valley at the southeast corner crosses the southern end of the Valley and leaves it at the southwest corner where it continues westward paralleling U.S. Highway 50 for approximately 156 miles. Located in White Pine County, Nevada, about 71 miles southeast of Elko. Fort Ruby is privately owned.
-National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings, Charles Snell, 1960


Unfortunately, the buildings were destroyed by an electrical fire in 1992.


Early morning fire levels old Fort Ruby landmark
Firefighters raced to old Fort Ruby early this morning, but were too late to save the historic landmark from destruction, said Nevada Division of Forestry Battalion Chief Mike McCarty. Fire destroyed the original officers' quarters and enlisted men's barracks along with a kitchen, recreation area and living quarters that had been added on, McCarty said. Four NDF units responded to the fire at 1:15 a.m. today, along with three units from Ruby Valley Volunteer Fire Department and one from Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, McCarty said. Altogether. 14 firefighters battled the blaze, he added. The fire was spotted this morning by a caretaker who had to drive 15 miles to report the blaze, McCarty said. "For the most part. there was nothing there worth saving when we arrived," he said. The destruction of the fort, established Sept. 1, 1862, on the western side of Ruby Valley near the south end of Ruby Lake, represents an "irreplaceable" loss, McCarty said. The cause of the fire had not been determined early this afternoon, but McCarty said the complex was not inhabited. Along with the fort, the blaze destroyed five private vehicles at the nearby trailer park, McCarty said. Because the fire threatened the trailers and nearby fuel and propane tanks, firefighters "threw everything we had at it," McCarty said. None of those structures was damaged although a propane tank "vented," he added. No injuries were reported. One NDF unit and a crew from
Wells Conservation Camp remained at the scene this afternoon clearing away kitchen appliances and debris, McCarty explained. He said those workers probably would remain at the fort until 3 p.m. The fort was established about three miles southeast [I think they mean northeast - FN] of the Overland Mail Station by Col. Patrick E. Connor, commander of the Third California Infantry to guard the mail and emigration route. The post later became a relay station on the transcontinental telegraph line. The California infantry was replaced in the summer of 1864 by Company B of the First Nevada Volunteer Infantry. The fort was abandoned Sept. 20. 1869, when the completion of the Central Pacific Railway ended its usefulness.
-Elko Daily Free Press, July 9, 1992

Alfred Anderson, who had lived at the site for almost thirty years, died three months later.

A.C. Anderson dies at hospital at age of 78
Alfred C. Anderson, a resident of Ruby Valley for the past 29 years, died Saturday at Elko General Hospital at age 78. He was born Feb. 20, 1914, in San Andreas, Calif., and was reared in California. He owned and operated the Fort Ruby Ranch, which for many years was operated as a guest ranch as well as a working ranch. He was a member of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association and other ranch oriented groups in Elko and White Pine Counties. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and had served on the White Pine County grand jury. Survivors include daughters, Karen Theil of Elko and Janet Anderson-Parente of Baltimore, Md.; sisters, Kathryn Anderson of Los Gatos, Calif., and Marie Maino of San Jose, Calif.; and five grandchildren. Cremation will be at Sunset Crematory. Private internment is planned.
-Elko Daily Free Press, October 12, 1992

It is unclear if there was a post office actually at the Fort, or if was located nearby. Adding to the confusion is the similarly-named "Ruby Valley" post office located about 26 and a half miles north of the Fort location, and the myriad applications for different locations. We'll assume that a U.S. military installation didn't have to apply for a post office, or we simply don't have the application, so the post office started there first, and then hopped around the valley after the fort was abandoned. Despite what the USGS map says, the Post Office says the Ruby Valley Post Office is presently located at the Hankin's Ranch.

Now as to Fort Ruby. The Postmaster there is not as careful as he might be. He allows the mail matter posted for Ruby to go by his station. We have ourselves seen great piles of California newspapers lying in the Post Office at Salt Lake, which had passed through Ruby, although plainly addressed to that place. The mistake has been detected at this Office, and the papers re-mailed and sent back instead of going on, as they otherwise would to the Missouri River.
-Daily Union Vedette, February 6, 1864

Remember, this was during the Civil War and Nevada was only a few months away from being admitted to the Union, so it was probably best not to be testing one's ability to exercise one's freedom of speech.

SECESH CAUGHT - Chas Blake, formerly of Austin, undertook lately to howl for Jeff Davis at Deep Creek, and was incontinently "yanked" off to Fort Ruby-- where he is now packing sand-- to the infinite disgust of said Blake and intense delight of some of "Lincoln's hirelings" there stationed.
-Daily Union Vedette, July 13, 1864

Apparently killing the natives and misdirecting the mail wasn't the only services Fort Ruby provided.

WAGONS FROM FORT RUBY
Three government wagons, from Fort Ruby, arrived in this city yesterday for the purposes of taking of the machinery and timbers for the quartz mill that is now building at Egan Canon. - R. R. Reveille
-Daily Union Vedette, August 30, 1864

Anyway, the natives were being very, very rude and impertinent, and the soldiers at Fort Ruby were called upon to chastise them.

Indian Troubles
The Reveille calls upon the military to chastise the Indians who are committing depredations in the Smoky Valley country. After giving some account of the outrages committed, it says "The Indians who have committed the depredations are from the third range of mountains southeast of Smoky Valley, a distance of some forty or fifty miles. Their section is entirely uninhabited by the white man, so there can be none of the usual excuses made for them. Their raids are willful and felonious, and they should meet with the severest punishment. The settlers have lost large numbers of cattle and horses, and if a cabin is left unwatched for a very short time it is sure to be broken open and robbed. A great deal of property has thus been lost, and if the ranchers will retain their possessions they must be assisted in punishing the marauders. Now is a good time to march against them. They have lately run off a lot of cattle and taken many things from the cabins, and their whereabouts is known. The country is favorable for campaigning, there being water, wood and grass, with easy passes through the ranges, and in a section where the climate is far less severe than it is here. There are probably not more than one hundred unfriendly Indians in that quarter, and these are generally unarmed, except with bows and arrows and a few old dilapidated guns and pistols. Here now is a good opportunity for the detachment of infantry now in this city, or for one or two companies from Fort Ruby to take an excursion. It is a duty which we have no doubt they will perform with pleasure. The Indians should be severely punished, and their depredations stopped before they reach to murder, and before a party of undisciplined and unprepared citizens sacrifice their lives in attempting their chastisement. The citizens of smoky Valley appeal to the military to protect them, and we do not believe they will appeal in vain. The volunteers stationed in this county are now in the service and we doubt not are anxious to take the field. Here is a chance, and we trust they will avail themselves of it. "
-Gold Hill Daily News, December 6, 1864

And then it all came to an end. The transcontinental railroad was completed in May of 1869, and the services of the Fort were no longer required.

Fort Ruby, in Ruby Valley, Nevada, has been abandoned as a military post.
-Deseret News, October 11, 1869

April 30, 1862 - July 1862 (as part of Utah Territory)
July 1862 - March 5, 1869 (as part of Lander County)
March 5, 1869 - (as part of Elko Co)
1936 - Moved 8 miles south

The Ruby Valley Pony Express Station was removed in 1960 and reconstructed in Elko,

Forgotten Nevada's Special Eureka Correspondent, Historian and Hotelier Mike Popovitch, wrote this article entitled P. Edward Connor: Protector of the Frontier containing heretofore unknown [to you] information about Fort Ruby, which you can download and read at your leisure.