Camp McGarry here on the old Applegate Trail was an Army fort manned from 1865 to 1868.

Troops protected the Idaho-California mail and stage roads and the nearby trails in Nevada and Oregon.

Officers' quarters, mess hall, barracks and a 100-horse stone barn were constructed 12 miles south of the fort.

In 1866, Camp McGarry was made headquarters of the District of Nevada. In autumn, 1868, troops were moved to Camp Winfield Scott, north of Paradise, Nevada; and Camp McGarry, largest military reservation in Nevada, comprising 75 square miles, was abandoned.

In 1871, the land was relinquished for use as an Indian reservation.