Fort Dalles was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
outpost located on the Columbia River at the present location of
The Dalles, Oregon
The Dalles ( ;) formally the City of the Dalles and also called Dalles City, is an inland port, the county seat of and the largest city in Wasco County, Oregon, Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 United ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Built when
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 ...
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.
Construction
The first post was built on a site which overlooked
an encampment used by
Lewis and Clark
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...
in October 1805.
This post was built in 1838 by the
militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
of the
Oregon Provisional Government under the command of
Henry A. G. Lee during the
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War (1847–1855) was an armed conflict between the Cayuse people of the Northwestern United States and settlers, backed by the U.S. government. The conflict was triggered by the Whitman massacre of 1847, where the Cayuse attacked a ...
and was named Fort Lee.
[Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] The post was built at the site of the former
Wascopam Mission operated by the
Methodist Mission
The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee (missionary), Jason Lee was ...
.
[
In the fall of 1849 United States Army troops arrived in the new ]Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...
.[Horner, John B. (1921). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J. K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 122-123] This rifle regiment occupied the now-abandoned Fort Lee at Wascopum (now The Dalles) on the Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
.[ Beginning in April 1858, the log fort was torn down and several new buildings, including a commander's house, barracks, and stables, were constructed under the command of Colonel George Wright, in command of the 9th Infantry.]
Operations
During the Yakima War
The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Plateau War or Yakima Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington Territory, and the tr ...
s Fort Dalles served as operational headquarters for the Army.[ Fort Dalles was then abandoned in 1867.]
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 arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling.
...
s, military and pioneer artifacts, period antiques and photographs, tools, weapons, saddles, and information about the fort.[http://www.historicthedalles.org/fort_dalles/fort-dalles_gallery.htm Surgeon's Quarters exhibits]
The Anderson Homestead includes the 1895 Anderson House, which is a Swedish log house, a granary
A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...
and a barn
A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...
. Tours are included with admission to the museum.
There is also a building housing antique horse-drawn wagon
A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are i ...
s and carriage
A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...
s, early automobiles
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
, and other vehicles.
The Fort Dalles Surgeon's Quarters is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. It is considered one of Oregon's finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
.
See also
*
* Malcolm A. Moody House
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Former installations of the United States Army
Dalles
Dalles may refer to:
* The Dalles, Oregon, a city in the U.S.
** The Dalles Dam
** Fort Dalles
** The Dalles High School
** The Dalles Municipal Airport, or Columbia Gorge Regional Airport
** Dalles Formation, a geologic formation
* Dalles ...
Columbia River Gorge
Cayuse War
Buildings and structures in The Dalles, Oregon
Military and war museums in Oregon
Museums in Wasco County, Oregon
History museums in Oregon
National Register of Historic Places in Wasco County, Oregon
1850 establishments in Oregon Territory
1867 disestablishments in Oregon
Snake War