Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation

This is Numu and Newe homeland—Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone country, shared seasonally with the Bannock long before any soldier arrived. The Army's Fort McDermitt stood here from 1865; when it closed in 1889, the military land became an Indian agency, and Paiute and Shoshone families settled on it. In 1936, under the Indian Reorganization Act, it became a federal reservation, though the people had to trade hereditary chiefs for an elected government to win recognition. Fort McDermitt holds the greatest concentration of Northern Paiute speakers anywhere, spanning the Nevada-Oregon line along the Quinn River.

What the plaque says

In the mid-1860s many Paiutes returning from Oregon’s Indian reservation, joined some from the pyramid lake Indian reservation (home of the “cui-ui eaters”) because of poor treatment and the dishonest dealings of U.S. Indian agents. These Native Americans settled about fort McDermitt, where they aided the local military against bannocks and others resisting settlers who were taking over. Nearby mercury mines furnished employment for Native Americans adjusting to the life style of the settlers. Likewise, today a local precision assembly industry utilizes the dexterity skills of the Indians today. Red and green clays from the canyon are now made into pottery.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Fort McDermitt — steps away
• Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins — 4.8 mi