Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields
Camp Leonard
Located in the Kem River Valley, about
15 miles northeast of Keysville, Kem County, on the north bank
of the south branch of the river, Camp Leonard was established
in the late summer of 1863 by a company of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry to protect
the region's mining camps front impending Indian marauders. During
that year, some 850 Owens Valley Indians left the Sebastian Indian
Reservation because of the scarcity of food there, all intent
on returning to their former homes. Camp Leonard, remaining operative
for the remainder of the year, had been established for prevent
their return.