Site of Putnam's Cabin

Charles Putnam put up a stone building here in August 1861 and it became whatever the valley needed: trading post, hospital, way station and, by April 1862, a fort. Settlers sheltered inside while the Owens Valley war ran up and down the valley outside, and cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Evans broke the siege. The settlement was called Putnam's for five years, until it borrowed the name of the army camp northeast of here and became Independence.

What the plaque says

One hundred thirty feet west of this site, Charles Putnam built the first cabin of permanent habitation in what is now Inyo County in August 1861. The building served as a home, trading post, hospital, and 'fort' for early settlers, as well as a survival point for travelers. It became the center of the settlement of 'Putnam's' which five years later took the name 'Independence.'

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Manzanar National Historic Site — 5.7 mi
  A concentration camp on twice-taken ground, where the United States imprisoned more than eleven thousand of its own.
• Mount Whitney — 16 mi
  At 14,505 feet, the highest summit in the contiguous United States, eighty miles from the lowest point.
• Alabama Hills — 17 mi
  Rounded golden granite under the Sierra wall, and Hollywoods oldest outdoor set.
• Owens Lake — 31 mi
  Patsiata, the lake Los Angeles drank, and the most expensive dust in America.

More markers nearby

• Mary Austin's Home — steps away
• Camp Independence (Fort) — 2.4 mi
• Site of Bend City — 4.0 mi
• Manzanar Relocation Center — 6.1 mi