Fort Simcoe 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 ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

erected in south-central

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 ...

to house troops sent to keep watch over local

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

tribes. The site and remaining buildings are preserved as Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, located eight miles (13 km) west of modern

White Swan, Washington White Swan is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yakima County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,033 at the 2000 census. History White Swan is an unincorporated community located on the Yakama Indian Reservation, presumably named ...

, in the foothills of the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

History

The site was a school for tribes of

Indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

from areas all around the present state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Prior to 1850, the site was used as a school where Native American children taken from their families were forced to cease practicing traditional customs and speak English, a specific practice in

ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills socia ...

. Punishment for non-compliant children included imprisonment in a small jail. The fort was built in the late 1850s in an old oak grove watered by natural springs by future

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

general

Robert S. Garnett Robert Selden Garnett (December 16, 1819 – July 13, 1861) was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when he became a Confederate States Army brigadier general. He was the first general offi ...

. The fort was in use for three years. The park was established in 1956. The fort was built in the middle of the Yakima Valley and the Yakama Tribe's traditional fishing areas. This location allowed soldiers of the new commander to keep an eye out for visitors to the tribe and basically keep an eye on the tribe. The Fort Simcoe program can be labeled as an act of cultural genocide. Fort Simcoe is viewed this way because the U.S. government merged 14 different tribes from their original homes and enforced assimilation to American culture. The tribes were to learn famous Americans and given Christian/American names. In 1922, the U.S. government decided to move the Indian agency from Fort Simcoe to Toppenish which triggered extreme emotions. Moving the Indian Agency recalled the act of relocations for generations of the original tribes. The location of the fort also provided trading routes established by waterway or railroad. Architect Louis Scholl designed and constructed the fort. Fort Simcoe is similar to the design of Fort Dalles where there are blockhouses at each corners but no stockade allowing barracks to define the fortification. James Harvey Wilbur and Captain Frederick Dent took on the challenge of creating a road passage to Fort Simcoe, and said about their goals that "the fort's location also fits perfectly with the army strategic goal to carve out a road system that connected California with Washington Territory".

Park and museum

Fort Simcoe Historical State Park is a , day-use heritage park 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, ...

. The park is primarily an interpretive effort, telling the story of mid-19th-century army life and providing images of the lives of local Native Americans. Five original buildings are still standing at the fort: the commander's house, three captain's houses, and a blockhouse. Various other buildings have been recreated to appear original. Houses are filled with period furnishings. The park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The interpretive center, the original commander's house and two officer's buildings with period furnishings open to the public from April through September on Wednesday through Sunday. The original blockhouse and other recreated fort buildings are not open to the public. Special re-enactments and living history events are held during the year, as well as other special events.

References

External links

Fort Simcoe Historical State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Fort Simcoe Historical State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Photos of Fort Simcoe
Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey {{authority control Simcoe State parks of Washington (state) Museums in Yakima County, Washington Military and war museums in Washington (state) Native American museums in Washington (state) Parks in Yakima County, Washington Buildings and structures in Yakima County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Yakima County, Washington Simcoe Protected areas established in 1956 1956 establishments in Washington (state)