Fort Dalles 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, ...

outpost located on the Columbia River at the present site of

The Dalles, Oregon The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermisto ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Built when

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 ...

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 Radiohead ...

in October 1805. This post was built in 1838 by the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

of the Oregon Provisional Government under the command of

Henry A. G. Lee Henry A. G. Lee (c. 1818 – 1851) was a soldier and politician in Oregon Country in the 1840s. A member of Virginia's Lee family, he was part of the Fremont Expedition and commanded troops during the Cayuse War in what became the Oregon Ter ...

during the

Cayuse War The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease ...

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 The Wascopam Mission or Dalles Mission was a branch of the Methodist Mission active in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first post established outside the Willamette Valley, opened at Celilo Falls along the Columbia River on March 21, 1838, by Re ...

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 was the principal leader fo ...

. 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 Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

.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 The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...

) on the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

. A log fort was constructed in 1850 under the supervision of Major Tucker, and named Camp Drum. When the United States Congress changed the land requirements for Army forts to from , suddenly Camp Drum's tiny military contingent could control the land it required. Although no stockade was built around the post, Camp Drum became Fort Drum on May 21, 1853, and then Fort Dalles on June 21, 1853. New buildings were built from 1856 to 1858 under the direction of the commander Captain Thomas Jordan at a cost of nearly $500,000. 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 George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

, in command of the 9th Infantry.

Operations

During the

Yakima War The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Yakima Native American War of 1855 or the Plateau War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington T ...

s Fort Dalles served as operational headquarters for the Army. The garrison had eight companies of troops assigned during this time. After these wars the post was downgraded to a quartermaster's depot in 1861. A fire burned down the officer's quarters in 1866. 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, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

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 is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

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.Alle ...

. Tours are included with admission to the museum. There is also a building housing antique horse-drawn

wagons A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

and

carriages A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping a ...

, early

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. It is considered one of Oregon's finest examples of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Closed 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 * Dallesport, ...

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

Construction

Operations

Fort Dalles Museum

See also

References

External links