Fort Crook Museum, Fall River Mills

About Fort Crook Museum

Fort Crook Museum in Fall River Mills preserves the history of an 1857 military outpost built to protect travelers on the Shasta-Yreka Road and Lockhart Ferries. The museum, constructed between 1962 and 1965 by community donations, displays artifacts and information about the original fort's 25 to 30 log buildings and pine-pole stockade that stood on the Fall River seven miles north of town. Visitors explore exhibits documenting Fort Crook's role in regional settlement and its namesake, Lieutenant George Crook, who later became a Civil War general and Plains Indians advocate. The Fort Crook Historical Society, founded in 1934, operates the museum as an active community hub hosting school tours, antique truck and tractor shows, weddings, and reunions. The calendar includes seasonal events such as Pioneer Day, ice cream socials, harvest dinners, and a century bike ride. The museum welcomes families interested in Intermountain area heritage and early settler history.