Camp Holland

Camp Holland, twelve miles west of Valentine at Viejo Pass in Presidio County, was constructed in 1918 after the Brite Ranch and Neville Ranch raids by Mexican bandits. Viejo Pass was used by Indians in prehistoric times because of its good supply of water and grass. On June 12, 1880, the pass was the scene of the last Apache attack in Presidio County; on that day four Pueblo Indian scouts and Lt. Frank H. Mills of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry fought off twenty Apaches. Camp Holland, named for the J. R. Holland Ranch on which it was built, was a base for packtrains that supplied Col. George T. Langhorne's Eighth United States Cavalry as it patrolled the Mexican border. On September 9, 1919, Troop B of the Second Squadron was assigned to Camp Holland. The buildings of the camp were made of stone and wood and cost over $16,000 to construct. Although soldiers seldom lived there, Camp Holland had two barracks that could house up to 400 men, four officers' houses, a mess hall, and a guardhouse. The soldiers' everyday needs were met by a bakery, a corral, a blacksmith shop, and a quartermaster store. Since the area afforded a good supply of springwater, the camp had a sewer system and a shower house. By 1921 the army began phasing out border patrols in Presidio County. Camp Holland was closed and leased to civilians including Texas Rangers and customs and immigration border patrols in January 1922. It was eventually sold at auction to C. O. Finley. The deserted buildings were still standing in the late 1960s.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.