Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first

U.S. 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, cl ...

base located in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

(HBC) trading station

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...

. Its buildings were formed in a line adjacent to 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, C ...

about 2,000 yards (1800 m) from the water. It is now located within modern

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

Establishment

With the ratification of the

Treaty of Oregon The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to t ...

between Great Britain and the United States in 1846, the

Oregon boundary dispute The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in ...

was settled. The two nations agreed to a partition of the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel, situating

under U.S. jurisdiction. However, the agreement permitted Great Britain's

to continue operation throughout the territory, including at Fort Vancouver. The Vancouver Barracks were established in direct response to the

Whitman massacre The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others ...

and

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 ...

. Congress wished to provide military power to facilitate the removal and control of the regions' native peoples and promote settlement of the Pacific Northwest by white Europeans. The

chose to build their base immediately adjacent to Fort Vancouver because of the settlers and institutions already in place there. By October 1849, a cross-country mobilization brought personnel and supplies to the Vancouver Barracks. Colonel William Loring led this brigade of mounted soldiers, accompanied by 700 horses, 1,200 mules and 171 supply wagons.

Pacific Northwest Indian Wars

As conflicts between indigenous peoples all around the

and American settlers escalated and became violent, a number of wars broke out. This series of "Pacific Northwest

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

," lasted from around 1848 until 1879. Forces from Fort Vancouver actively campaigned against the native peoples. The Vancouver Barracks was involved in nearly every operation against Native Americans throughout the Pacific Northwest. Major military conflicts administered through the Vancouver Barracks include the

, Rogue River Wars, Snake River War, Klickitat War,

Puget Sound War The Puget Sound War was an armed conflict that took place in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington in 1855–56, between the United States Military, United States military, local militias and members of 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 ...

Coeur d'Alene War The Coeur d'Alene War of 1858, also known as the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Pend d'oreille-Paloos War, was the second phase of the Yakima War, involving a series of encounters between the allied Native American tribes of the Skitswish ("Coeur d'Alene ...

Paiute War Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

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 ...

Modoc War The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard M ...

Nez Perce War The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict in 1877 in the Western United States that pitted several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the ''Palus people, Palo ...

Bannock War The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute warriors in Idaho and northeastern Oregon from June to August 1878. The Bannock totaled about 600 to 800 in 1870 because of other Shoshone peoples b ...

, and

Sheepeater Indian War The Big Horned Sheepeater Indian War of 1879 was the last Indian war fought in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States; it took place primarily in central Idaho. A high mountain band of approximately 300 Shoshone people, the Tukudeka, ...

. These wars targeted a number of indigenous groups including the Cayuse, Shasta, Tutuni, Klickitat, Nisqually, Puyallup,

Yakama The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their ...

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, Coeur d'Alene,

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...

, Modoc,

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

, and

Muckleshoot The Muckleshoot ( lut, bəqəlšuł ) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They are descendants of the Duwamish and Puyallup peoples whose traditional territory was located a ...

, among others. During these wars, the Vancouver Barracks functioned as an administrative center, station for troops, training ground, supply depot, and prison. Forces from the Vancouver Barracks continued to intervene on behalf of settlers beyond this era of Indian Wars.

Incarceration of Indigenous Peoples

Since the establishment of the Vancouver Barracks, the U.S. Army always maintained a prison or Guard House. Native Americans were forcefully imprisoned there as late as 1889. Groups of Native Americans were incarcerated as prisoners of war, in preparation of relocation to reservations, or as a precaution to protect white settlements. The U.S. Army also targeted charismatic and spiritual leaders or used the threat of incarceration against mobilizing leaders. The extent of this incarceration of indigenous peoples caused some historical accounts to refer to the Fort as a reservation.

World Wars

The post remained in active service, being expanded for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

into Vancouver Barracks. During World War I it was the home of the Army's Spruce Production Division under the command of Colonel

Brice Disque General Brice Pursell Disque (July 19, 1879 – February 29, 1960) was a U.S. Army officer and businessman. He is best remembered for having headed the Spruce Production Division during World War I, for conceiving the idea of sending military t ...

. In the interwar years, the 5th Infantry Brigade was based there.

Joseph E. Kuhn Joseph E. Kuhn (June 14, 1864 – November 12, 1935) was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of major general, and was most notable for his command of the 79th Division during World War I, and his post-war comma ...

commanded the post and the 5th Infantry Brigade from October 1923 to July 1925. From 1936 to 1938, it was commanded by future Army Chief of Staff

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when Vancouver Barracks was used as a staging area for the

Seattle Port of Embarkation Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, the post included 3,019 acres (12.22 km²), and had billeting space for 250 officers and 7,295 enlisted persons. After WWII, Vancouver Barracks became a sub-installation of Fort Lewis and maintained a small contingent of active duty troops. The majority of billeting space was later transformed into military offices and became home to the 104th Division of the Army Reserve, plus

Washington National Guard The Washington National Guard is one of the four elements of the State of Washington's Washington Military Department and a component of the National Guard of the United States. It is headquartered at Camp Murray, Washington and is defined by its ...

units as well. Vancouver Barracks closed in 2011, in accordance with the requirements of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. A 2012

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

ceremony saw the south and east barracks officially turned over to the care of the National Park Service.

Restoration

Because of its significance in United States history, the HBC Fort Vancouver was declared a

U.S. National Monument In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...

on June 19, 1948, and redesignated as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site on June 30, 1961. In 1996, a 366-acre (1.48 km²) area around the fort, including Kanaka Village, the Vancouver Barracks and the bank of the river, was established as the Vancouver National Historic Reserve maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

which offers tours of the fort.

Names of location

Throughout its service as a U.S. Army station, Vancouver Barracks had several designations. At its foundation it was called Camp Vancouver but in 1850 it was renamed to Columbia Barracks. This name was used until 1853, when the station was renamed to Fort Vancouver, which lasted until 1879 when Vancouver Barracks was finally adopted.United States. National Park Service
"Vancouver Barracks."
Accessed December 31, 2016.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
{{authority control Installations of the United States Army in Washington (state) Military installations closed in 2011

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Buildings and structures in Vancouver, Washington Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States

History of Vancouver, Washington Oregon Trail Military and war museums in Washington (state) Museums in Clark County, Washington National Historic Sites in Washington (state) Tourist attractions in Vancouver, Washington Washington Territory