Fort Yamhill | |
---|---|
Polk County, Oregon, U.S. | |
Coordinates | 45°04′08″N123°34′12″W / 45.068952°N 123.570056°W |
Type | Military base |
Site information | |
Owner | United States |
Controlled by | United States Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1856 |
In use | 1856-1866 |
Materials | wood |
Demolished | 1866 |
Garrison information | |
Past commanders | Philip Sheridan |
Fort Yamhill Site | |
Nearest city | Willamina, Oregon |
Area | 54.4 acres (22.0 ha) |
Built | 1856 |
NRHP reference No. | 71000681 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 27, 1971 |
Fort Yamhill was an American military fortification in the state of Oregon. Built in 1856 in the Oregon Territory, it remained an active post until 1866. The Army outpost was used to provide a presence next to the Grand Ronde Agency Coastal Reservation. Several officers stationed at the United States Army post prior to the American Civil War would later serve as generals in that war.
Built in Polk County, Oregon, the outpost consisted of a wooden blockhouse, sentry box, barracks, officers’ quarters, carpenter's shop, hospital, cook houses, blacksmith shop, tables, barn, sutler's store, and laundress quarters. [2] The wood blockhouse was built to provide a refuge to settlers of the area in case of attack by the Native Americans. [3] After the fort was abandoned the block house was moved from the hill it was positioned on and served as a jail in the Valley Junction area, and later moved about 30 miles (48 km) east to Dayton. [3]
Total cost to build the fort was $36,053. [2] The post's first troops were under the command of William Babcock Hazen. [3] This garrison consisted of 76 men under three officers, but was reduced in 1858 to two officers and 33 enlisted men. [3]
Company D of the Fourth California Infantry took over at the fort on November 11, 1861 under the command of Lyman S. Scott. [4] They replaced the Ninth Infantry that was commanded by 1st Lieutenant Philip A. Owen. [4] For a time between September 1863 and October 1864 the post was under the command of 2nd Lieutenant James Davison. [4]
The blockhouse of the fort was moved to a park in downtown Dayton in 1911 to honor city founder Joel Palmer. [6] The actual site of the fort grounds, which is in the Willamina vicinity, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. [7] The address of the site is withheld, [7] however the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department runs the undeveloped Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area in partnership with Polk County and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. [6] As there are no remaining buildings at the fort grounds except a relocated Officer's Quarters building, the parks department plans to reconstruct some of the fort buildings, including a new blockhouse. [6]
In 2005 and 2013, Fort Yamhill served as the site for the Oregon State University historical archaeology field school. Students worked to uncover the foundations of Fort-era buildings.
Yamhill County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,722. The county seat is McMinnville. Yamhill County was named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Tribe.
Sheridan is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. Platted in the 1860s when it received a post office, the city was incorporated in 1880. A major fire burned much of the city in 1913, and a flood covered much of the city in 1964. The population of the city as of the 2020 Census was 6,233, an increase from 6,127 at the 2010 census.
Willamina is a city in Polk and Yamhill Counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population was 2,239 at the 2020 census.
Fort Mackinac is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes. The British did not relinquish the fort until thirteen years after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Fort Mackinac later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort has been adapted as a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park.
The Yamhill River is an 11-mile (18 km) tributary of the Willamette River, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of the South Yamhill River and the North Yamhill River about 3 miles (5 km) east of McMinnville, it drains part of the Northern Oregon Coast Range. The river meanders east past Dayton to join the Willamette River at its river mile (RM) 55 or river kilometer (RK) 89, south of Newberg.
Fort Larned National Historic Site preserves Fort Larned which operated from 1859 to 1878. It is approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Larned, Kansas, United States.
Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the Western United States during the middle and late 19th century. The fort was named after Colonel and later General Stephen Watts Kearny. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near Kearney, Nebraska. The town of Kearney took its name from the fort. The "e" was added to Kearny by postmen who consistently misspelled the town name. A portion of the original site is preserved as Fort Kearny State Historical Park by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Oregon Route 18 is a state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast, near Lincoln City, and Newberg. OR 18 traverses the Salmon River Highway No. 39 of the Oregon state highway system, named after the river alongside its westernmost segments.
Fort Hoskins was one of three "forts" built by the U.S. Army to monitor the Coastal Indian Reservation in Oregon Territory in the mid-19th century. The Fort Hoskins Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Hoskins was garrisoned by a number of companies of soldiers throughout its short existence, and future Union Civil War generals Christopher Columbus Augur and Phil Sheridan were stationed there.
The 4th California Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment recruited from northern California during the American Civil War. It was organized at Sacramento, Placerville, and Auburn in September and October 1861.
Fort Dalles was a United States Army outpost located on the Columbia River at the present location of The Dalles, Oregon, in the United States. Built when Oregon 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.
Valley Junction is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the junction of Oregon Route 18 and Oregon Route 22, on the South Yamhill River east of Grand Ronde. A now-abandoned section of the Willamina and Grand Ronde Railway short line passed through Valley Junction. The Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area and Spirit Mountain Casino are nearby.
The 1st Oregon Infantry Regiment was an American Civil War era military regiment recruited in Oregon for the Union Army. The regiment was formed in November 1864. At full strength, it was composed of ten companies of foot soldiers. The regiment was used to guard trade routes and escorted immigrant wagon trains from Fort Boise to the Willamette Valley. Its troops were used to pursue and suppress Native American raiders in eastern Oregon and the Idaho Territory. Several detachments accompanied survey parties and built roads in central and southern Oregon. The regiment's last company was mustered out of service in July 1867.
The Dayton, Sheridan and Grand Ronde Railroad (DS&GR) was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad in Yamhill and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Fort Miller, also known as Camp Barbour, was a fort on the south bank of the San Joaquin River in what is now Fresno County, California. It lay at an elevation of 561 feet. The site is now under Millerton Lake, formed by the Friant Dam in 1944. It is registered as California Historical Landmark #584.
The District of Oregon was a Union Army command department formed during the American Civil War.
Courthouse Square Park is a town square occupying one city block in downtown Dayton, Oregon. The 1.8 acres (0.73 ha) urban park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park contains the historically significant blockhouse or military fortification that was originally located at Fort Yamhill. In 1911, the structure was moved to Dayton from its original site. The land for the park was donated by Joel Palmer and the park was named 'Courthouse Square' as part of an attempt to make Dayton the government seat of Yamhill County. Although Dayton did not become the county seat and no courthouse was ever constructed, the park's name remained. The Park also contains a picnic shelter, grassy areas shaded by Douglas Firs and native oaks, a basketball court, a playground and public restrooms.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Oregon had no organised militia and had sold most of the equipment bought for the Rogue River Wars. The state's governor, John Whiteaker, was pro-slavery and opposed to Oregon's involvement in the conflict. As such, it was only in late 1862 with a new governor that the state raised any troops: the 1st Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.
Fort Hill is an unincorporated community in Polk and Yamhill counties in Oregon, United States. It is located about a mile east of Spirit Mountain Casino on Oregon Route 22 near the South Yamhill River. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Fort Hill as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. The hill of the same name, located just east of Valley Junction, was the site of a blockhouse built by settlers in 1855–1856. The blockhouse became part of Fort Yamhill, and was later moved to Grand Ronde Agency and is now located in Dayton.