Camp Winfield Scott was established at Paradise Valley, Nevada north of Winnemucca, in 1866 by Capt. Murray Davis, Company A, 8th U.S. Cavalry. The camp was built of adobe, rock and lumber along Cottonwood Creek at the north end of Paradise Valley. The camp was established to control hostile Indians who were attacking settlers and miners in the valley. Some references call the facility Camp Scott and others call it Fort Scott. The enlisted men’s quarters and Army garrison at the camp were built by Angelo Forgnone and Battiste Recanzone in 1865. The camp is now part of a private ranch but some of the adobe, rock and wooden structures are still in existence at the ranch. A Medal of Honor was once approved for action during a battle in Paradise Valley. On April 29, 1868, a group of 17 Paiute Indians ambushed a search party of four U.S. cavalry soldiers, one rancher and an Indian guide. They had been looking for alleged horse thieves while traveling through snowpack near Hinkey Summit north of Paradise Valley in Humboldt County. Three of the soldiers suffered gunshot wounds. Pvt. James C. Reid, the only soldier of the four without a wound, dismounted from his horse and dragged the injured soldiers through the snow into a nearby cave as the rancher ran for help. Reid held off the Paiutes into the evening, while in the cave. Pvt. Thomas Ward and Sgt. John Kelly eventually died of their wounds. Second Lt. Pendleton, the detachment’s commanding officer, survived. For his efforts of heroism, Reid was awarded the Medal of Honor. As a frequent visitor to Paradise Valley, to visit relatives who still live there, I have seen Camp Scott and I have been over Hinkey Summit many times where the cave is that Reid defended his fellow soldiers from the Indian attack. The citation dated April 29, 1868, stated, "The Medal of honor is presented to Private James C. Reid, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism on April 29, 1868, while serving with company A, U.S. Cavalry, in action in Arizona Territory.” However, the actual location of the battle was Paradise Valley, Humboldt County, Nevada, not Arizona Territory. Reid was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and his home town was San Francisco. Reid’s citation for the medal, though was issued more than a year later on July 24, 1869 — after his unit re-located to Arizona. To this day, Private Reid’s Medal of Honor Citation mistakenly says the incident occurred in Arizona Territory, not Nevada. In addition, Reid’s command never received the medal according to several letters written between Reid’s command and the War Department in the summer of 1869. Thus ended the story of the only Medal of Honor ever earned in Nevada, yet was never actually received by Reid. This travesty is a disgraceful omission by the federal government that should be acknowledged publicly. I am not going to hold my breath waiting for this to happen. Dennis Cassinelli is a Dayton author and historian. You can order his books at a discount on his blog at denniscassinelli.com.
