Within the collection, there are trains, logging equipment, including a fully functional Steam Donkey engine, and an authentic Native American dug-out canoe.

After repeated depredations by white settlers, Northern California tribes such as the Yurok, Karuk, Wiyot, and Hupa retaliated and the Army was sent to attempt to restore order.

[1] Fort Humboldt was established on January 30, 1853, by the Army as a buffer between Native Americans, gold-seekers and settlers under the command of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan of the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment.

The fort was laid out in a typical military design with a quad at the center of the post which served as its parade grounds.

[1] The period between the fort's establishment and the beginning of the American Civil War was marked by many skirmishes between the settlers and the local tribes.

Rains, reported to his commanding officer that "Captain Wright's Company [of vigilantes] held a meeting at Eel River and resolved to kill every peaceable Indian – man, woman, and child.

Dr. Lafayette Guild would go on to serve directly under General Robert E. Lee as the Medical Director for the Army of Northern Virginia for all its major campaigns.

By the summer of 1861 the American Civil War was well underway, and the resulting national conflict would bring major changes to Fort Humboldt.

Six months after the surrender at Appomattox, the first Regular Army unit to return to Fort Humboldt was Company E, 9th Infantry Regiment, on November 8, 1865.

One hundred thirty-five soldiers from the Second Artillery Regiment, California National Guard, arrived in the Steamer Pomona on August 17, and marched through Eureka to Fort Humboldt.

Cooper's daughter reported that on two occasions her father partially restored the remaining building as he realized its future importance.

According to a newspaper article, "Among the Humboldt exhibits there is one which stirs the heart of every patriot and awakens memories of the nation's great captain.

The United Wireless Telegraph Company began operating the station around 1900 with the call sign "PM Eureka.

For example, an editorial in the Blue Lake Advocate stated: "The whole scheme is a silly outburst of a maudlin sentimentalism which is simply ridiculous and is the laughing stock of the community.

To take $32,000 from the taxpayer for the state to buy a few acres of land suitable only for a potato patch or a truck garden will be paying too much" (4 February 1906).

They took pictures that they sent to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. for plans and specifications of the fort, and began restoration of the area and development of a museum.

Prior to the fourth annual celebration in 1939, the Humboldt Standard newspaper wrote that, "it is an event which holds promise of becoming one of the lasting pioneer pageants of the West, comparable in importance to the Salinas Rodeo, the Pendleton Roundup, and the Portland Rose Festival."

In 1952 Robert Madsen was elected mayor of Eureka, and during his administration more headway was made toward actual restoration of the fort, as the city council showed interest in the project.

Through informal meetings with the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, the State Division of Beaches and Parks were approached to see if they were interested.

The Timber Heritage Association's web site states that the present logging display at the park was established in 1962.

The General Plan, created in 1978, developed by California State Parks, calls for a re-creation of the entire fort complex.

Several archeological digs were also conducted during this period and a bronze plaque stating that the fort is California Historical Landmark #154 was placed near the parking lot about 1980.

A color guard from Eureka High School's Naval Junior ROTC hoisted a replica American flag with 36 stars.

Snedden became a Humboldt County resident after he left the Army and eventually gave the flag to Mrs. Vera O'Conner-Berry.

The eight panels, part of a collaborative project between California State Parks and the North Coast Redwood Interpretive Association, explore the early frontier life of Fort Humboldt and Buck's Port, where the mall now stands.

In addition to various displays of the trappings of military service and a vintage mountain howitzer cannon, the hospital building houses artifacts and particularly accounts (including extensive signage) of the Native American experience of European settlers.

Of particular note are the prominent views of Humboldt Bay, the Samoa peninsula, and portions of Eureka from the bluff occupied by the park and structures.