Military post in Idaho County - Camp Howard

The remains of Camp Howard, located in Grangeville foothills (near Mt. Idaho). The abandon fort was on our grandfather Albert Frank Nurss' land.  His twin sons, Alan Alva Nurss and Albert Frank Nurss Jr were born in Camp Howard on 13 March 1891. Albert Frank Nurss Jr died at the approximate age of 1 1/2.

Read about military activities that lead to the building of Camp Howard on page 193, Vol. 16 of Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States, Volume 16 By Military Service Institution of the United States on google books.

Also see mention of it at google books on page 526 of History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana: 1845-1889 By Hubert Howe Bancroft, Frances Fuller Victor

The Camp was abandoned and was on the property when Great-grandfather Albert Frank Nurss filed his land patent (about 1885). He used it for a short term home while he built a new one and later used it for storage.

Here is more about Great Grandfather Albert Frank Nurss:

Taken from History of North Idaho, which has sketches of prominate citizens of the area. It can be found at repository Univ of California libraries (digitized by Microsoft) or online at http://www.archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00slwerich "An Illistrated History of North Idaho Embrasing Nez Pearces, Idaho,Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties State of Idaho" Western Historical Publishing Co. 1903; Page 569: "ALBERT F. NURSS is the well known ice man of Grangeville, who also owns a good farm, which is the spot on which Howard erected headquarters in 1877 and a part of the edifice is used by Mr. Nurss as a residence. He was born in New York in 1855, and is the son of Jard and Hulda J. (Blakesley)Nurss. The mother was born in 1836 and died in 1902. The family removed to Illinois when our subject was young and he was raised mostly by his relatives. When twenty-three he went to Kansas and worked for a year, then he went to Nebraska and one year later found him in the famous Wood river country of southern Idaho. When he came here in the fall of 1882, there was still excitement regarding the Indians. After renting land and selling the crop he wrote to the land department of the United States regarding this famous camp Howard and finding it subject to entry he took it as a preemption and later filed a homestead right on it. For seventeen years Mr. Nurss has been in the ice business in addition to handling his farm, now having a regular wagon and delivers to the people of Grangeville, enjoying a thriving trade. In Illinois, in 1877, Mr. Nurss married Miss Nora,daughter of J. M. Davis, a pioneer of Illinois. Mrs.Nurss was born in Illinois in 1860 and has two brothers and three sisters, who are all living in the east except one, in Idaho county, who came as a pioneer here in the early sixties. Mr. Nurss has five brothers and sisters all deceased. The following named children have been born to them : Roy E., Mary McLean. Dora. Gracie Bickford, Allen, Harvey, Effie. Mr. Nurss is a member of the W. of W.. ofthe I. O. O.F., and is a Democrat. He was a member of the school board for seven years. Mrs. Nurss is a devout member of the Baptist church."