The Presidio de Calabasas, also known as Fort Calabasas or Camp Calabasas, was a stone

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

built by

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1837 south of Tumacacori,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. It was built on the land of the Grant of Manuel María Gándara, by Gándara to protect his lands near the

Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas, also known as Calabasas, is a Spanish Mission in the Sonoran Desert, located near present-day Tumacacori, Arizona, United States. History 18th century The original San Cayetano mission at Tumacacori was fou ...

from the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

. Civilians established a small farming settlement called

Calabasas Calabasas may refer to: * Calabasas, Arizona, former populated place in what is now Rio Rico, Arizona * Calabasas, California, city in Los Angeles County, California See also * Calabaza Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish langua ...

, in the area nearby the protection of the Presidio. Following the

Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase ( "La Mesilla sale") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effect on June 8, 1854. The purchase included lan ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

stationed Major Enoch Steen and four companies of the 1st U.S. Dragoons, now the 1st U. S. Cavalry, at old Camp Calabasas on November 27, 1856. Major Steen renamed it Camp Moore. The site was abandoned in March 1857 for the new Fort Buchanan. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Calabasas was briefly occupied by the Confederates in March 1862 before the arrival of the

California Column The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, ...

in April. The Californians transferred their garrison at

Tubac, Arizona Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which ...

to the site in September 1865 and renamed it Fort Mason, Arizona Territory. The

1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers The 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers was a cavalry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Recruits were largely drawn from the Californio population (colloquially known as "Native Californians"), though i ...

and 7th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry occupied the post until relieved by troops of the Regular Army in May 1866. The Regulars abandoned Fort Mason due to persistent

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

in the fall of 1866 and established Camp Cameron. All these posts were located south of the confluence of Potrero Creek and the Santa Cruz River. Camp Cameron was established about 16 miles northeast of Calabasas and existed from October 1, 1866 to March 7, 1867.Robert Frazer, Robert W. Frazer, Forts of the West: Military Forts and Presidios and Posts Commonly Called Forts West of the Mississippi River to 1898, University of Oklahoma Press, 1975, p.7
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References

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Tumacácori National Historical Park Archaeological sites in Arizona Buildings and structures in Santa Cruz County, Arizona Colonial Mexico History of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Mexican-American culture in Arizona American frontier 1837 establishments in Mexico