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FORT WRIGHT
Between July, 1856, when Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Thomas J. Henley, requested official designation of the valley as Nome Cult farm, and the granting of his request in 1858, Round Valley slowly filled with farms and ranches despite its reservation status. Relations between the various Indian groups, settlers and White employees of the reservation reached a state of extreme hostility. Bloodshed became a frequent occurrence as settlers massacred Indians. Superintendent Henley requested that the United States Army be sent to the valley to mediate. Late in 1858, a company of the U.S. Sixth Army departed Benicia for Mendocino County. Due to inclement weather, the |
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march was forced to halt at Fort Weller in Redwood Valley, but Lieutenant Edward Dillon was sent ahead with a party of seventeen men to occupy the barracks in Round Valley. Fort Wright was then established on the western edge of the Valley.
Originally the soldiers were to protect the Indians from White attacks but soon were deployed to capture Indians throughout the area and bring them to confinement on the Reservation.
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