At the top of Grapevine Canyon, the adobe buildings of Fort Tejon State Historic Park guard a beautiful tree-lined meadow. Between 1854 and 1864, this U.S. Army fort protected people in the surrounding region from the social and cultural conflicts between American settlers and California Indians.
For almost ten years, Fort Tejon provided a source of employment, protection, and social activities for local residents. The foremost duties of the Dragoons stationed here were to protect and control the Indians living on the Sebastian Indian Reservation, and to deter raids by the Paiutes, Chemeheuvi, Mojave and other desert Indian groups. The Dragoons’ wide-ranging patrols covered most of central and southern California and sometimes extended as far as Utah.
