Camp Low or San Juan Bautista Post, was a military post first established at

San Juan Bautista San Juan Bautista is the Spanish-language name of Saint John the Baptist. It may refer to: Places Bolivia *San Juan Bautista, Bolivia, Jesuit mission ruins near the village of San Juan de Taperas Chile *San Juan Bautista, Chile, Juan Fernández ...

in December 1864 by

California Volunteers California State Volunteer Units 1861 – 1866 The following are California State Volunteer Units that were active between 1861 – 1866 serving in the Union Army, most west of the Rocky Mountains in place of Federal troops: California Brigade ...

, in response to the attacks of the

Mason Henry Gang The Mason Henry Gang were bandits operating in Central and Southern California in 1864–1865. As the Civil War was in progress, they were able to pose as Confederate Partisan Rangers, and their original mission was to rid the area of (anti-slave ...

in the surrounding area, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The post was named in honor of the Governor of California

Frederick F. Low Frederick Ferdinand Low (June 30, 1828July 21, 1894) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 9th Governor of California and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Early life and education Born in Frankfort ...

Historic California Posts: Camp Low, California State Military Department, The California Military Museum website, accessed September 26, 2013
/ref> In December 1864 Major

John C. Cremony Major John C. Cremony (1815 – August 24, 1879) was an American soldier who wrote the first dictionary of the Apache language and later became a newspaperman in San Francisco. Early life Cremony was born in Boston in 1815 and claimed to have be ...

, marched three companies of California Volunteers under his command into the town of San Juan Bautista. Two were infantry and one was cavalry. They at first bivouacked on the plaza. But soon they made the National Hotel on the plaza their barracks.William N. Abeloe ed., Mildred B. Hoover, Hero. E. Rench, Ethel G. Rench, Historic Spots in California, Third Edition, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1966, p.311 In February 1865, Company B of the Native Cavalry, California Volunteers arrived from San Francisco at Camp Low under Captain Porfirio Jimeno. On April 12, 1865, Lieutenant

John Lafferty John Lafferty or Laverty (1842 – November 13, 1903) was a sailor in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War and is one of only 19 people in history to receive the Medal of Honor twice. Biography According to his first Medal of Honor c ...

and a detachment of Native Cavalry, encountered the outlaw John Mason far to the southwest of the camp at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. Mason made a desperate attempt to escape despite being wounded in the hip by Lafferty's pistol and losing his horse. Lafferty returned to Camp Low on the 13th, bringing the captured horse and Captain Jimeno sent another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt.South San Juan, April 12th, 6 pm. Lieutenant Lafferty and detachment returned this moment, bringing with them the captured horse of the murderer Mason. The detachment surprised Mason at seven o'clock this morning, at the head of the Great Panoche Valley. The murderer made the most desperate attempt to escape and finally succeeded, but not until his horse was shot and he himself badly wounded in the hips by a shot from the Lieutenant's pistol. The commanding officer, Captain Jimeno, will send another detachment immediately to keep up the hunt until Mason is either killed or captured. (Alta California

an Francisco An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

April 13, 1865; 1:7) After the Mason Henry Gang was driven out of central California in May 1865, the post was abandoned in June 1865, following the departure of the Native Cavalry to Arizona Territory.

References

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

Camp Low Closed installations of the United States Army Formerly Used Defense Sites in California History of San Benito County, California 1864 establishments in California {{SanBenitoCountyCA-geo-stub