Fort Harney was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

outpost in eastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the United States. It was named in honor of Brigadier General William S. Harney. 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 Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

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 Harney County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,495, making it the sixth-least populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Burns. Established in 1889, the county is named in ho ...

, 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 Henry Wager Halleck (January 16, 1815 – January 9, 1872) was a senior United States Army officer, scholar, and lawyer. A noted expert in military studies, he was known by a nickname that became derogatory: "Old Brains". He was an important par ...

, 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."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 California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. This was part of the conflict known as the

Snake War Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints ...

. 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 Malheur Lake is one of the lakes in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located about southeast of Burns, the lake is marsh fed by the Donner und Blitzen River from the south and the Silvies River ...

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 quickly defeated the

Bannocks The Bannock tribe were originally Northern Paiute but are more culturally affiliated with the Northern Shoshone. They are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People. Their traditional lands include northern Nevada, southeastern Oreg ...

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 The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat, ...

in the

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

, 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 A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

that supplied the camp's

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

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

guardhouse A guardhouse (also known as a watch house, guard building, guard booth, guard shack, security booth, security building, or sentry building) is a building used to house personnel and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormi ...

s. 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 ...

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

s, a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

, and a

slaughter house A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

to provide fresh meat. There were quartermaster's storehouses, a military

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

, a hospital, and a sawmill. The post also had a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop and

stables A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

for 150 horses. In addition to the Army troops, the post had four civilian

clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and administ ...

, two masons, 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 Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

, 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 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

{{reflist, 30em

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