Fort Ruby was a remote military outpost established in 1862 in Ruby Valley, Nevada. About 100 military personnel protected an emigrant, stage, and mail route through Overland Pass. Fort Ruby soldiers were tasked with keeping peace in the area until the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869.
Between 2005 and 2014, archaeologists from the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with Passport in Time volunteers and local Native American tribes, collaborated to conduct research at Fort Ruby. Excavations revealed building foundations and artifacts that shed light on the lives of Fort Ruby soldiers.
Chimalis Kuehn, an archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service, will describe the history of Fort Ruby, along with highlights from archaeological investigations. Learn why one soldier referred to Fort Ruby as “a bleak inhospitable place.”
