Fort Dalles

Fort Dalles was a United States Army outpost located on the Columbia River at the present site of The Dalles, Oregon, in the United States. Built when Oregon was a territory, the post was used mainly for dealing with wars with Native Americans. The post was first known as Camp Drum and then Fort Drum.^[2]

Construction

In the fall of 1849 United States Army troops arrived in the new Oregon Territory.^[3] This Rifle Regiment established a military base at The Dalles on the Columbia River.^[3] Built in 1850, the log fort was constructed under the supervision of Major Tucker.^[3] Prior to the arrival of federal troops, the location had been used as a post by the militia of the Oregon Provisional Government under the command of Henry A. G. Lee during the Cayuse War and was named Fort Lee and Fort Wascopam.^[4] The post was built at the site of the former Wascopam Mission operated by the Methodist Mission.^[4]

New buildings were built from 1856 to 1858 under the direction of the commander Captain Thomas Jordan at a cost of nearly $500,000.^[4] In 1858, the log fort was torn down and a new fort was constructed under the command of Colonel George Wright.^[3] Wright was in command of the 9th Infantry. The site overlooked an encampment used by Lewis & Clark in October 1805.^[3]

Operations

During the Yakima Wars Fort Dalles served as operational headquarters for the Army.^[5] The garrison had eight companies of troops assigned during this time.^[5] After these wars the post was downgraded to a quartermaster’s depot in 1861.^[5] A fire burned down the officer’s quarters in 1866.^[4] Fort Dalles was then abandoned in 1867.^[5]

Fort Dalles Museum

The Fort Dalles Museum is located in the surgeon’s quarters built in 1856 during the Yakima Wars, and the only remaining officer's house from that period. Exhibits include arrowheads, military and pioneer artifacts, period antiques and photographs, tools, weapons, saddles, and information about the fort.^[6]

The Anderson Homestead includes the 1895 Anderson House, which is a Swedish log house, a granary and a barn. Tours are included with admission to the museum.

There is also a building housing antique horse-drawn wagons and carriages, early automobiles and other vehicles.

The Fort Dalles Surgeon's Quarters is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is considered one of Oregon's finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture.^[7]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Wasco County, Oregon
• Malcolm A. Moody House

References

External links

• Official Fort Dalles Museum website

Pioneer history of Oregon (1806–1890) Topics American Fur Company Columbian Exchange Executive Committee Ferries Hudson's Bay Company Oregon & California Railroad Oregon boundary dispute Oregon Country Oregon Lyceum Oregon missionaries Oregon Spectator Oregon Territory Oregon Trail Oregon Treaty Organic Laws Pacific Fur Company Provisional Government Events Treaty of 1818 Russo-American Treaty of 1824 Willamette Cattle Company Champoeg Meetings Star of Oregon Whitman massacre Cayuse War Donation Land Claim Act Holmes v. Ford Rogue River Wars Constitutional Convention Modoc War Great Gale of 1880 Places Albina Applegate Trail Barlow Road Canemah Champoeg Elliott Cutoff Fort Astoria Fort Dalles Fort Vancouver Fort William French Prairie Linn City Meek Cutoff Methodist Mission Oregon City Oregon Institute Philip Foster Farm Thomas and Ruckle Road Tualatin Academy Whitman Mission Willamette Trading Post People George Abernethy Jesse Applegate Ira Babcock Sam Barlow François Blanchet Elijah Bristow Tabitha Brown Matthew Deady Abigail Scott Duniway Thomas Lamb Eliot Philip Foster Peter French Joseph Gale Cornelius Gilliam David Hill Chief Joseph Joseph Kellogg H.A.G. Lee Jason Lee David Thomas Lenox Asa Lovejoy Morton M. McCarver John McLoughlin Joseph Meek Ezra Meeker James D. Miller John Minto Robert Newell Joel Palmer Osborne Russell Sager orphans Levi Scott Henry Spalding William Vandevert Elijah White Marcus Whitman Narcissa Whitman Geo. H. Williams Ewing Young Transportation Columbia Lot Whitcomb Canemah Colonel Wright Gazelle Oregon Steam Navigation Company Oregon history pre-Pioneer Pioneer