Fort Tejon Fort Tejon in 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 " ) between the San Emigdio Mountains and Tehachapi Mountains . It is in the area of Tejon Pass along Interstate 5 , the main route through the mountain ranges separating the Central Valley from the Los Angeles Basin and Southern California . The fort ' s location protected the San Joaquin Valley from the south and west . Purpose . The fort ' s mission was to suppress stock rustling and protect settlers from attacks by discontent Californio s ( pre - statehood residents ) , and 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 coastal and interior lands to the west , had several villages near Fort Tejon . After the earlier Spanish and Mexican colonial Indian Reductions , they were generally cooperative with the European - American settlers and the U . S . Army . History . At the urging of Edward Fitzgerald Beale , Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California , the U . S . Army established Fort Tejon 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 soon after 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 . The fort lay along the Stockton - Los Angeles Road . From 1858 , it was a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail , which followed the same route as far as Visalia . From 1858 , Fort Tejon was the western terminus of the experimental U . S . Camel Corps , which used imported camels in an effort to carry supplies across arid regions in the Southwest . The soldiers found the camels hardy , but temperamental , and they spooked the horses used by the cavalry . The great earthquake of 1857 , which became known as the Fort Tejon earthquake , was centered nearly 100 miles away . The earthquake became associated with the fort by name because the area near the epicenter was sparsely populated . The most reliable report of the event was issued from the fort , nearly distant . Fort Tejon State Historic Park . The state historic park 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 reconstructed houses materials used in Dragoon life and Civil War reenactments . The sites of former buildings , planned for reconstruction , are marked by split rail fences along the outlines of their foundations . A park office , containing exhibits of dragoon life and restrooms , is at the east end of the parade ground near the parking lot by Interstate 5 . The park grounds include the grave site of Peter Lebeck , which is indicated with a historical marker . The nearby town of Lebec is named after him . Fort Tejon is the site of frequent Civil War reenactments presented by the Fort Tejon Historical Association . 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 , 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 .