Fort Harney was a United States Army outpost in eastern Oregon in the United States. It was named in honor of Brigadier General

William S. Harney William Selby Harney (August 22, 1800 – May 9, 1889) was a Tennessee-born cavalry officer in the US Army, who became known during the Indian Wars and the Mexican–American War for his brutality and ruthlessness. One of four general officers ...

. Fort Harney was used as a supply depot and administrative headquarters from 1867 to 1880 during the Army's campaign against

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

bands in Eastern Oregon and the Bannock uprising in the same area. Today, nothing remains of Fort Harney except a small cemetery.

Camp Harney

In 1864, the Army had begun using a site along Rattlesnake Creek, in what is now Harney County, Oregon, for temporary supply drops. The site was unofficially known as ''Rattlesnake Camp''. As civilian wagon trains passing through eastern Oregon increased and the number of miners in the area grew, the demand for protection from Native American raiding parties required the Army to establish a number of permanent outposts in eastern Oregon. Rattlesnake Creek was located near the center of eastern Oregon, making it an ideal place for a military supply depot and administrative headquarters. The Army established a permanent outpost near the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek on 16 August 1867.Friedel, Megan K.
"Oregonscape"
''Oregon Historical Quarterly'' (Vol 110, No. 1), Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, Spring 2009, p. 160.Michno, Gregor
''The Deadliest Indian War The Snake Conflict, 1864-1868''
Caxton Press, Caldwell, Idaho, 2007, p. 228.McArthur, Lewis A. and Lewis L. McArthur, "Fort Harney", ''Oregon Geographic Names'' (Seventh Edition), Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, Oregon, 2003, pp. 367–368. The post was originally called ''Camp Steele''. However, Major General Henry W. Halleck, commander of the Military Department of the Pacific at the time, disapproved the ''Camp Steele'' name and suggested the camp be named in honor of Brigadier General William S. Harney who commanded the Army's Department of Oregon in 1858 and 1859. Based on General Halleck's recommendation, the post was officially designated ''Camp Harney'' on 14 September 1867. The first unit to man Camp Harney was Company K of the

23rd Infantry Regiment The 23rd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. A unit with the same name was formed on 26 June 1812 and saw action in 14 battles during the War of 1812. In 1815 it was consolidated with the 6th, 16th, 22nd, and ...

."Fort History"
Fort W.S. Harney Chapter, Oregon State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Hines, Oregon, 3 February 2003.

Military campaigns

In 1867 and 1868, General

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...

led companies from the 1st Cavalry Regiment and

8th Cavalry Regiment The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except Worl ...

, mounted infantry from the 9th Infantry Regiment and 23rd Infantry Regiment, and Indian scouts from the

Wasco Wasco is the name of four places in the United States: Places United States * Wasco, California, a city in California ** Wasco State Prison, located in Wasco, California * Wasco, Illinois, a former hamlet (unincorporated town) in Illinois, now pa ...

and Warm Springs tribes in a successful campaign against Northern Paiute bands in eastern Oregon and northern California. This was part of the conflict known as the Snake War. Camp Harney was one of the outposts used to resupply Crook's troops during the campaign. General George Crook on the Trail

The Indian raids in eastern Oregon ended in 1869 after a treaty was signed by General Crook and Wewawewa, the chief of the area's dominant Paiute band. The treaty signing ceremony was held at Fort Harney.Nitz, Karen
"Community Patriotism"
''Images of America Harney County'', Arcadia Publishing, San Francisco, California, 2008, p. 99. In 1872, the local Paiute bands were settled on a reservation north of Malheur Lake in eastern Oregon. Camp Harney was within the reservation boundary. The camp housed Army troops assigned to guard the reservation from white trespassers and to keep the Paiutes from leaving. Despite the Army's presence, white settlers used reservation lands for grazing. That unchecked encroachment helped ignite the Bannock War in 1878.Allen, Cain
"Malheur Indian Reservation"
''The Oregon History Project'', Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 2005.Allen, Cain
"Report by W. V. Rinehart, 1879"
''The Oregon History Project'', Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2016. During the Bannock War, Camp Harney once again served as an important Army supply depot and military headquarters. The camp was in the center of the conflict area and several newspapers reported that Camp Harney was in imminent danger of being overrun by Native American warriors. However, the United States Army forces under General

Oliver O. Howard Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard lost his right arm while leading his men against ...

quickly defeated the Bannocks and Paiutes engaged in the uprising. By January 1879, there were 543 Bannock and Paiute prisoners being held at Camp Harney. After the war, the prisoners were resettled on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the Washington Territory, north of the Malheur reservation. The Army officially changed the name of the post to ''Fort Harney'' on 5 April 1879. However, without a reservation to guard, there was no reason to maintain the post. As a result, Fort Harney was abandoned on 13 June 1880. On 13 September 1982, the Malheur reservation lands were officially returned to the public domain except for the Fort Harney site which was retained by the Army. The Army returned the parcel to the public domain on 2 March 1889. After the fort was abandoned, local settlers dismantled the buildings, using much of the materiel to build up the nearby town of Harney City. Today, nothing remains of Fort Harney except a small cemetery.

Fort infrastructure

In 1867, Camp Harney was busy and growing rapidly.Gilliss, Julia (compiled and transcribed by Charles J. Gilliss and edited by Priscilla Knuth), ''So Far from Home An Army Bride on the Western Frontier, 1865-1869'', Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, Oregon, 1993, pp. 152–153. It was located in the high desert country of eastern Oregon at an elevation of above sea level. The fort structures were built on a flat west of Rattlesnake Creek between steep ridges that flanked the stream. North of the site there were stands of pine that supplied the camp's sawmill with timber.United States Geological Survey topographic map
Harney ACME mapper
''www.acme.com'', 29 March 2009. By 1877, Camp Harney was a well-developed frontier outpost. It had a large parade ground oriented north and south with a headquarters building and guardhouses. There was a home for the commanding officer plus five additional officers' quarters, two were log structures and three were frame buildings. There were three log

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

building for enlisted troops plus four log houses for enlisted men with families. To feed the men, the camp had

mess hall The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

s, kitchens, a bakery, and a slaughter house to provide fresh meat. There were quartermaster's storehouses, a military commissary, a hospital, and a sawmill. The post also had a blacksmith shop and stables for 150 horses. In addition to the Army troops, the post had four civilian clerks, two

masons Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

, one

saddlemaker The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to Mammal#Anatomy, an animal's back by a girth (tack), girth. The most common type is List of equestrian sports, equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been crea ...

, a shoemaker, a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, a

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

, and four

laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...

maids.Hart, Herbert M., ''Tour Guide to Old Western Forts'', Pruitt Publishing Company, Boulder, Colorado, 1980, p. 134.

Location

The historic Fort Harney site is located east of

Burns, Oregon Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the 2010 census, the population was 2,806. Burns and the nearby city of Hines are home to about 60 percent of the people in the sparsely pop ...

. To reach the Fort Harney site from Burns, head east on

U.S. Highway 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. ...

for ; then turn north on a gravel road leading to the ghost town of Harney City, which is two miles (3 km) from the highway. The Fort Harney site is located on private property about two miles (3 km) north of the Harney City town site.

References

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External links

Oregon History: Civil War in Oregon
Buildings and structures in Harney County, Oregon Closed installations of the United States Army Harney 1867 establishments in Oregon 1880 disestablishments in Oregon Military installations established in 1867 Military installations closed in 1880