Camp Polk was a former

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

camp in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

that was established in

Deschutes County Deschutes County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 198,253. The county seat is Bend. The county was created in 1916 out of part of Crook County and was named for the Deschu ...

in 1865.History of a Place Timeline: Camp Polk Meadow Preserve
from

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary public broadcasting, public media organization for the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington (state), Washington. It provides news, information, and programming via television stati ...

's ''The Oregon Story'' It was a post of the District of Oregon. One of nine camps created during a time of conflict between settlers and Native Americans, it was located three miles northeast of the present-day city of

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. The camp was intended to house troops who would protect

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s on the

Santiam Wagon Road The Santiam Wagon Road was a freight route in the U.S. state of Oregon between the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschut ...

from

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attack. Part of Company A, a group of volunteer soldiers from the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

under the command of Captain Charles La Follette, were stationed at the post. The camp was named for Polk County, which was the home of most of the soldiers and their captain.Camp Polk Meadow Historical Timeline
from Deschutes Basin Land Trust The troops received orders before winter in 1865 to leave the camp. A portion of the troops remained at the post until the spring of 1866 when Camp Polk was abandoned. Later the area was homesteaded by the Hindman family. Today part of the former area of Camp Polk is preserved by the Deschutes Basin Land Trust as the Camp Polk Meadow Preserve. The Hindmans' 1871 barn on the preserve is Deschutes County's oldest structure.

References

External links

Camp Polk Meadow Preserve
from Deschutes Basin Land Trust
Camp Polk Cemetery
from U.S.genweb
Image of Hindman Barn
Snake War Protected areas of Deschutes County, Oregon Military installations in Oregon Former installations of the United States Army American Civil War army posts Oregon in the American Civil War 1865 establishments in Oregon 1866 disestablishments in Oregon {{DeschutesCountyOR-geo-stub