Fort Breckinridge, also called Old Camp Grant, in Arizona, was the second military post to be established after the Gadsden Purchase.

Troops from the first Fort Buchanan built it in May 1860 at the confluence of the San Pedro River and Aravaipa Creek. It was built to protect area settlers and emigrants from hostile Indians and was first called Fort Arivaypa. It was soon renamed Fort Breckinridge in honor of Vice President John C. Breckinridge. In February 1861, Fort Breckinridge troops reinforced Fort Buchanan troops during the Bascom Affair’s hostilities at Fort Bowie.

In July 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, the area faced a Confederate invasion from Texas. The Army abandoned and burned Fort Breckinridge and other southern Arizona posts to keep them from Confederate hands.

In May 1862, the California Volunteers rebuilt the fort and renamed it Camp Stanford after California Governor Leland Stanford. However, a few months later, it was renamed back to Fort Breckenridge in October. Federal forces again destroyed the post in July 1865 to keep supplies out of Confederate hands.

With the Civil War over and Indian attacks increasing, the fort was again rebuilt in November 1865 by the  2nd California Infantry. This time, it was named Fort Grant in honor of Union hero General Ulysses S. Grant. Regular troops replaced the California Volunteers in March 1866.

Later that year, flooding destroyed the post again. The troops then moved to an upper terrace on the San Pedro River’s East bank, and the fort was redesignated as a camp rather than a fort. The troops were kept busy fighting hostile Apache, who were prone to making raids on area settlers.

In early 1871, when Pinal and Arivaipa Apache requested sanctuary near the fort, they were allowed to hunt and farm the area and start a camp nearby. Unfortunately, other Apache bands continued to raid the territory during this time, and though unfounded, many settlers blamed those bands living near Camp Grant. On April 30, 1871, a mob of angry citizens from Tucson and their Papago Indian mercenaries clubbed, shot, and mutilated 144 Aravaipa Apache people, primarily women and children, near Camp Grant. Known as the Camp Grant Massacre, their actions were taken in “retaliation” for a Gila Apache raid in which six people had been killed and some livestock stolen.

A temporary Indian Reservation was then established near Camp Grant, but in 1872, it was moved to San Carlos. Afterward, a new Fort Grant was established at the base of Mount Graham, which was better positioned to fight the still-hostile Apache. They abandoned Old Camp Grant in March 1873.

Today’s site is situated near the Aravaipa Campus of the Central Arizona Community College between Mammoth and Winkelman on Arizona State Route 77. There are no remains.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.

Also See:

Arizona Indian Battles

Forts of Arizona

Forts & Presidios Photo Gallery

Indian Wars, Battles & Massacres

Military Campaigns of the Indian Wars

See Sources.