Camp Beale Spring
Camp Beale Spring (1871-1874) - A temporary U.S. Army camp established in 1871 by Captain Thomas Bryne and Company F, 12th U.S. Infantry near present-day Kingman in Mohave County, Arizona. Named for Navy Lieutenant Edward F. Beale who earlier explored the area in the service of the U.S. Topographical Engineers. Abandoned in 1874. Also known locally as Fort Beale Spring, on the marker as Camp Beale Springs, on post returns as Camp Beales Springs, and in Cullum as Camp Beall's Springs.
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Beale Spring at Camp Beale Spring -
Old Kingman Water Storage Tank at Camp Beale Spring in use circa 1910 -
Camp Beale Spring Entrance and Markers
History
Lieutenant Beale traveled through the Beale Spring area starting in 1857 where he established a wagon road along the 35th parallel. A part of his instructions included the famous camel experiment to test the use of camels in the southwest deserts. In 1865, Beale Spring became a stop on a toll road from Prescott to Hardyville (now Bullhead City).
During the Hualapai War of 1866-1870, Captain Samuel B. M. Young, 8th U.S. Cavalry commander of Fort Mojave established a temporary Army outpost at the spring on 27 Mar 1867.
A U.S. Army camp was established at the spring on 25 Mar 1871 by Captain Thomas Bryne and Company F, 12th U.S. Infantry as directed by S.O. 13, 1871, HQ Department of Arizona to protect travel routes during Indian unrest in the area. The post was built out with 12 adobe buildings including a 60' by 20' enlisted barracks. The camp was garrisoned by detachments of Company F, 12th U.S. Infantry from Fort Whipple.
The Beale Springs Indian Agency was established in January 1873 at the Camp as a reservation for the Hualapai Indians. The camp closed on 6 Apr 1874, when the Hualapai Indians were forced to leave the agency for the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation at La Paz. Captain Byrne established Camp La Paz to oversee the reservation but within two years many of the Hualapai had returned to their original lands.
After 1874, the Spring again became a way station on the toll road. The site remained active well into the 1900s and the springs became a source of water for the adjacent town of Kingman.
Current Status
Markers and some ruins. The spring is still active. There are actually two springs in the area, Beale Spring and Atlantic Spring. Near Kingman in Mohave County, Arizona.
Location: Along Fort Beale Dr., Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona.
Lat: 35.2043913 Long: -114.0830635 Elevation: 3533' Bing, Google
GPS Locations:
35.204391, -114.083064
35.203697, -114.081825
Sources:
- Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 34
- Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 11
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 1095
Links:
- North American Forts - Camp Beale Spring
- Mohave Museum - Camp Beale Spring
- Kingman Arizona Historic District
- Mohave Museum - Camp Beale's Springs (A very good article)(now a bad link)
- Go Kingman - Camp Beale Springs
Fortification ID:
- AZ0014 - Camp Beale Spring
- AZ0015 - Fort Beale Spring
- AZ0016 - Camp Beale Springs
- AZ0017 - Camp Beales Springs
- AZ0018 - Camp Beall's Springs