Fort Humboldt State Historic Park Fort Humboldt State Historic Park is a state park of California , USA , located in Eureka , California . Displays interpret the former U . S . Army fort , which was staffed from 1853 – 1870 , the interactions between European Americans and Native Americans in roughly the same period , and both logging equipment and local narrow gauge railroad history of the region . Within the collection , there are trains , logging equipment , including a fully functional Steam Donkey engine , and an authentic Native American dug - out canoe . The Fort overlooks Humboldt Bay from a commanding position atop a bluff . The North Coast regional headquarters of the California State Parks system is located onsite . History . Early years , 1853 – 1860 . With the discovery of gold in the Trinity River in Trinity County in May 1849 , the stage was set for conflict between the Native Americans who lived in northwestern California and the settlers and gold seekers that flooded into the region . After repeated depredations by white settlers , Northern California tribes such as the Yurok , Karuk , Wiyot , and Hupa retaliated and the Army was sent to attempt to restore order . Fort Humboldt was established on January 30 , 1853 , by the Army as a buffer between Native Americans , gold - seekers and settlers under the command of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert C . Buchanan of the U . S . 4th Infantry Regiment . Like Buchanan , many of the soldiers of this unit were veterans of the Mexican – American War . Starting about 1853 , Seth Kinman was hired as a market hunter to supply elk meat to the fort . Fort Humboldt was sited on a strategic location on the bluff overlooking Humboldt Bay and Bucksport , a town named after David Buck , a member of the Josiah Gregg exploration party . In addition to serving to protect the local inhabitants , it was also a supply depot for posts around the California and Oregon borders such as Fort Gaston in Hoopa and Fort Bragg in northern Mendocino County . At its peak , the fort had 14 buildings all of crude plank construction . The fort was laid out in a typical military design with a quad at the center of the post which served as its parade grounds . Along with the two buildings that served as barracks for the enlisted men , there were quarters for the officers , an office , a hospital , a bakery , a storehouse / commissary , a guardhouse , a blacksmith ' s shop , and a stable . The period between the fort ' s establishment and the beginning of the Civil War was marked by many skirmishes between the settlers and the local tribes . One of the first major conflicts was the so - called Red Cap War , fought in the area around present - day Weitchpec and Orleans . Soldiers from Fort Humboldt were called into action to bring calm back to the area during this conflict . The leaders and soldiers of the fort were often criticized by settlers who sought a more violent response to Indian attacks . The infamous Indian Island Massacre of the Wiyot people occurred at the end of this period on 25 February 1860 . The fort ' s commander at this time , Major Gabriel J . Rains , reported to his commanding officer that " Captain Wright ' s Company [ of vigilante s ] held a meeting at Eel River and resolved to kill every peaceable Indian - man , woman , and child . " The vigilantes were also known as the " Humboldt Volunteers , Second Brigade , " reported to have organized at Hydesville and the town called " Eel River " in 1860 is now named Rohnerville . The 1860 U . S . census provides a snapshot of life on the fort . Among its residents that year were Major Rains , his wife Mary , and their six children ( including 2 daughters age 19 and 16 ) . Also living at the fort were Captain Charles Lovell , his wife Margeret , and their four children ; Lieutenant Alex Johnson , his wife Elizabeth , and their four children ; Lieutenant James Dodwell , his wife Johanna , and their two children ; and Lieutenant Edward Johnson , his wife Christiana , and their two children . The fort ' s physician Lafayette Guild and his wife Martha occupied the Surgeon ' s Quarters . In the barracks were 47 soldiers , all apparently living without their spouses . Among the many well - known soldiers who served at the fort was a young captain , Ulysses S . Grant , who was there for five months in 1854 . Charles S . Lovell would be promoted to major and commanded a brigade during the Second Battle of Bull Run , Antietam , and Fredericksburg . Robert C . Buchanan became a general during the Civil War . Other famous Civil War generals , George Crook and Lewis C . Hunt , served here during this period . Gabriel J . Rains would become a brigadier general in the Confederate Army . Dr . Lafayette Guild would go on to serve directly under General Robert E . Lee as the Medical Director for the Army of Northern Virginia for all its major campaigns . Civil War years , 1861 – 1865 . By the summer of 1861 the American Civil War was well underway , and the resulting national conflict would bring major changes to Fort Humboldt . Federal soldiers were recalled to eastern battlefields and were replaced by units of the California Volunteers . These volunteers were drawn from local settlers who inaugurated a hard - line and violent policy toward the Native peoples . During the Civil War , Fort Humboldt was the headquarters of the District of Humboldt ( also termed the Humboldt Military District ) , which was part of the Department of the Pacific . The District ' s posts included Fort Bragg and Fort Wright in northern Mendocino County , and extending north through Humboldt County to Fort Gaston in Hoopa and Fort Ter - Waw near Klamath ( after the Great Flood of 1862 , moved to Camp Lincoln near Crescent City ) . Other posts included Camp Curtis ( in Arcata ) , Camp Iaqua , Fort Seward ( in southern Humboldt County ) , and Camps Baker , Lyon , and Anderson . Final years and abandonment , 1865 – 1867 . The end of the great Civil War brought more changes to Fort Humboldt . The California Volunteer units were disbanded in 1865 , and U . S . regular troops returned to the fort from battlefields in the east . Six months after Appomattox , the first Regular Army unit to return to Fort Humboldt was Company E , 9th Infantry Regiment , on November 8 , 1865 Company E was one officer and 49 enlisted men . By 1866 , all forces , except one company of artillery , were withdrawn from Fort Humboldt . This unit was Company E , 2nd Artillery Regiment , led by Major Andrew W . Bowman , the first Regular Army commander at Fort Humboldt since Captain Lovell in 1861 . The fort becomes a sub - depot maintained primarily to provide supplies to Fort Gaston in Hoopa . Property belonging to the Quartermaster was auctioned on April 25 , 1867 . Items sold included 120 cords of wood , 2 boats with oars and sails , a heavy wagon , and an ambulance wagon . On September 14 , 1867 , the last unit was withdrawn from Fort Humboldt and the post was abandoned , although the Humboldt County journalist Andrew Genzoli recorded that " January 1867 was the last Monthly Post Return for Fort Humboldt . Sergeant Antoine Schoneberger , Ordnance Sergeant , was on duty during the period 1866 - 1870 . " The " Humboldt Times " reported the sale of other government property on August 10 , 1870 , including 32 buildings ( $ 655 ) and 13 mules ( $ 602 ) . Cemetery . Ten soldiers are known to have been buried at Fort Humboldt : In May 1894 , the remains of the U . S . soldiers buried near the site of Fort Humboldt were relocated to the Grand Army of the Republic plot in the Myrtle Grove cemetery in Eureka . Cooper period , 1893 – 1928 . After abandonment by the military , the lands were transferred to the Department of the Interior on April 6 , 1870 , and the fort fell into ruin . However , units of the California National Guard used the area one final time in August 1893 . One hundred and thirty - five soldiers from the Second Artillery Regiment , California National Guard , arrived in the Steamer " Pomona " on August 17 , and marched through Eureka to Fort Humboldt . In 1893 , the land and its one remaining building were sold to W . S . Cooper . Cooper reportedly subdivided the property as soon as he acquired it , naming the new subdivision Fort Humboldt Heights . Cooper ' s daughter reported that on two occasions her father partially restored the remaining building as he realized its future importance . In 1894 a sentry box from Fort Humboldt was exhibited at a fair in San Francisco . According to a newspaper article , " Among the Humboldt exhibits there is one which stirs the heart of every patriot and awakens memories of the nation ' s great captain . It is the original sentry - box of Fort Humboldt , here General Grant did duty when he was there . The old cavalry barn was destroyed by fire on October 21 , 1895 . On February 7 , 1925 , the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a bronze plaque which reads - " Fort Humboldt . Occupied by U . S . troops from 1853 to 1865 . General U . S . Grant was stationed here in 1853 . " The plaque is still at the park , though hidden by trees . The tablet is bronze mounted on a huge rock blasted from Medicine Rock near Trinidad . The original plaque was stolen and was later replaced by the Daughters of the American Revolution . In 1929 , the " Fort Humboldt Post " of the American Legion spent several days restoring fort buildings . The first wireless radio station in Humboldt County was located at Fort Humboldt . The United Wireless Telegraph Company began operating the station around 1900 with the call sign " PM Eureka . " This was many years before Humboldt County had a " wired " telegraph which ran south to Petaluma . The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company took over from 1911 to 1917 , changing the call sign to " KPM " . Also during this era the hospital building received some restoration . Upon Cooper ' s death in 1928 , his wife gave the land to the city of Eureka . Restoration . In the 1930s , local veteran organizations became interested in restoration of the fort . They took pictures , sent to the National Archives in Washington , D . C . for plans and specifications of the fort , and began restoration of the area and development of a museum . The job turned out to be larger than they could do , and soon the Works Progress Administration was worked into the project . Fort Humboldt was registered as a California Historical Landmark on January 11 , 1935 . Also during the 1930s , the " Days of General Grant " was a four - day celebration centering on the Fourth of July . Local businesses went all - out making storefronts look like pioneer days . The male citizens grew beards , and both men and women dressed in 19th century clothing . The celebration repeated four or five years in a row . Prior to the fourth annual celebration in 1939 , the " Humboldt Standard " newspaper wrote that " it is an event which holds promise of becoming one of the lasting pioneer pageants of the West , comparable in importance to the Salinas Rodeo , the Pendleton Roundup , and the Portland Rose Festival . " By the 1940s the fort had become a Eureka city museum devoted to General Grant and local memorabilia . At some point , statues of General Grant and General Robert E . Lee ( which were apparently made of wood ) were placed in the park and were still there in 1947 as can be seen in the Shuster aerial photographs from that year . In 1952 Robert Madsen was elected mayor of Eureka , and during his administration more headway was made toward actual restoration of the fort , as the city council showed a great deal of interest in the project . Through informal meetings with the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors , it was decided to approach the State Division of Beaches and Parks to see if they were interested . In the summer of 1952 representatives of the State attended a luncheon meeting held in Eureka and there stated they were interested in setting the fort up as a state monument . They explained that they would eventually make an authentic restoration . In 1955 the area was deeded to the State of California with the understanding that the state would reconstruct the historic buildings and interpret the settlement of the northern California coast . Ranger C . D . Thompson was the first Monument Supervisor and began living at the fort in 1956 . He first remodeled the old building into an office for District One of the Division of Beaches and Parks . The office was headquarters for the District Supervisor , whose staff consisted of the Assistant District Supervisor , a secretary , the Ranger - Monument Supervisor , district carpenter foreman , district accounting technician , and possibly a landscape architect and typist . An archeological survey was conducted during the late 1950s by Donald Jewell and John Clemmer . The Timber Heritage Association ' s web site states that the present logging display at the park was established in 1962 . Fort Humboldt was designated a State Historic Park in 1963 . The park seems to have been nominated to the National Register of Historical Places in September 1970 ( NPS Reference # 70000927 ) . Some restoration ensued , with the hospital the sole remaining building of the original construction . The General Plan , created in 1978 , developed by California State Parks , calls for a re - creation of the entire fort complex . Although the Surgeon ' s Quarters was re - created in 1985 , this General Plan has been slow to be implemented . Several archeological digs were also conducted during this period and a bronze plaque stating that the fort is California Historical Landmark # 154 , was placed near the parking lot about 1980 . In 1986 exhibits were installed in the hospital to tell the story of the fort and the intercultural conflicts . Late 20th century and a new millennium . In more recent years , several Civil War re - enactments were held at the fort in the 1990s , but were moved to Fortuna in 1998 . In 2000 , students from the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program planted a historic garden next to the hospital which contains medicinal , edible , and ornamental plants typically found in a 19th - century garden . This garden received a " Keep Eureka Beautiful " Award of Merit in 2001 . The park marked Fort Humboldt ' s 150th anniversary in January 2003 . A color guard from Eureka High School ' s Naval Junior ROTC hoisted a replica American flag with 36 stars . The original flag that was first raised over the fort in 1853 was also on display . This flag was kept by the soldier ( Private Joseph Snedden ) who helped raise it . Snedden became a Humboldt County resident after he left the Army and eventually gave the flag to Mrs . Vera O ' Conner - Berry . She , in turn , gave the flag to the Redwood Forest Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1923 . This organization started a preservation project in 1990s to stabilize the flag . The flag is now kept by the Regent of the Redwood Forest Chapter . In October 2008 permanent interpretive panels went on display in the nearby Bayshore Mall ' s food court . These eight panels , part of a collaborative project between California State Parks and the North Coast Redwood Interpretive Association , explore the early frontier life of Fort Humboldt and Buck ' s Port where the mall now sits . In 2009 Fort Humboldt was one of 48 California state parks slated for closure due to the state ' s budget crisis . Due to public opposition , the closures were not carried out . Collections . In addition to various displays of the trappings of military service and a vintage mountain howitzer cannon , the hospital building houses artifacts and particularly rousing accounts ( including extensive signage ) of the Native American experience of European settlers . A culturally and historically correct dugout canoe constructed of the heart of a redwood tree is on display . Though not directly related to the military history of the site , fully operational trains that operated on local standard gauge railroads in the early days of logging are present on the site . The logging equipment exhibit includes a Donkey engine . Invented in the 1880s by John Dolbeer of the local Dolbeer and Carson Lumber Company , the machine is included among other logging equipment showcasing advances over the 150 years of local logging history . Visitor information . Permanent displays are augmented by special events during the year . Of particular note are the prominent views of Humboldt Bay , the Samoa peninsula , and portions of Eureka from the bluff occupied by the park and structures . The park entrance is located one block off U . S . Route 101 near the Bayshore Mall in Eureka .