Historical Marker · No. 808
Camp Salvation
Calexico, Imperial County · California
Erected by California State Park Commission in cooperation with the City of Calexico and the Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, October 3, 1965, 1965
The gold rush needed a refugee camp before anyone reached the gold. Emigrants coming the southern way crossed the Colorado and then the desert beyond it, and many arrived at the Mexican boundary with nothing. Lieutenant Cave Couts, escorting the International Boundary Commission, set up here on September 23, 1849 and fed them until the first of December. Ten weeks, and the plaque calls it a refugee center in those words. Calexico grew up on the ground afterwards.
What the plaque says
Camp Salvation Here on September 23, 1849, Lieut. Cave J. Couts, Escort Commander, International Boundary Commission, established Camp Salvation. From September till the first of December 1849, it served as a refugee center for distressed emigrants attempting to reach the gold fields over the Southern Emigrant Trail. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 808 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the City of Calexico and the Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, October 3, 1965.
Where it stands
32.67002, -115.49325 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Tecolote Rancho Site — 9.9 mi
- Site of Fort Romualdo Pacheco — 17 mi