Fort Bidwell, California

In 1865, General John Bidwell backed a petition from settlers at Red Bluff, California to protect Red Bluff's trail to the Owhyhee Mines of Idaho. The U.S. Army commissioned seven forts for this purpose, and dispatched a Major Williamson in April to explore a site for a fort in either Goose Lake Valley or Surprise Valley, from which he selected a site near Fandango Pass at the base of the Warner Mountains in the north end of Surprise Valley, and orders to build the fort were issued on June 10, 1865. Although Surprise Valley settlers desired Army protection, ranchers dispossessed of lands for the fort complained, and claimed damages from the Army. The fort was built in 1865 amid escalating fighting with the Snake Indians of eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. Fort Bidwell is now registered as California Historical Landmark #430. ==Geography==

Fort Bidwell is located near the north end of the Surprise Valley. The community's ZIP Code is 96112 and elevation is about . The coordinates for the town are . The airport, (FAA identifier: A28), is about north of the center of the community at . The Fort Bidwell Indian Community is affiliated with the Paiute nation. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 3.2 square miles (8.3 km), of which 99.48% is land and 0.52% is water. Climate This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Fort Bidwell has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. ==Demographics==

Fort Bidwell first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census. The whole population lived in households. There were 94 households, out of which 34 (36.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 34 (36.2%) were married-couple households, 12 (12.8%) were cohabiting couple households, 31 (33.0%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 17 (18.1%) had a male householder with no partner present. 25 households (26.6%) were one person, and 16 (17.0%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.91. The age distribution was 35 people (19.4%) under the age of 18, 9 people (5.0%) aged 18 to 24, 42 people (23.3%) aged 25 to 44, 44 people (24.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 50 people (27.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 47.5years. There were 97 males and 83 females. There were 123 housing units at an average density of , of which 94 (76.4%) were occupied. Of these, 57 (60.6%) were owner-occupied, and 37 (39.4%) were occupied by renters. ==Politics==

In the state legislature, Fort Bidwell is in , and . Federally, Fort Bidwell is in . ==See also==