Fort Yamhill, on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, was established in March 1856. A detachment of troops, dragoons -mounted infantry- were assigned to the fort to keep the Indians on the reservation and to keep the white people off the reservation. Too often, the tribes were being attacked by the violent white militant settlers, and too often the tribal people were influenced by liquor, and other inducements, to sell all they had to whites. The Indian office and the military set about to remove the tribes from direct contact with the white men, and to establish a series of forts to enforce order for both populations. These forts were Fort Umpqua, situated to manage travel and relations south of the Coast reservation at the Umpqua River, and to help gather up the remaining tribal peoples to the Coast Reservation; Fort Hoskins, to control travel from the Siletz Valley and the central section of the Coast Reservation into the Willamette Valley; and Fort Yamhill, to control persons traveling to and from the Reservation and the upper Willamette Valley. The troops at the fort maintained order at the reservations, using the forts for jails for violent or intoxicated Indians. They are also occaisionally sent on assignments to collect and return Indians who have escaped the reservations and are making a “ruckus” (usually gambling, drinking, and fighting) wherever they gather in or on the edge of the settler towns. There is never an uprising at the reservations, so the forts are never used to their full measure, to protect the troops from an Indian attack.
It was illegal to sell liquor to Indians, that this was a major trade that the Indian Superintendent and the military controlled. It was illegal for the tribal people to leave the reservation. Fort Yamhill was purposefully situated on a hill -now Fort Hill-Â alongside the Salmon River Wagon Road (also called Klikitat trail), and it overlooking the pass into the Yamhill Valley. Lieutenant Philip Sheridan was assigned to the fort from nearly its creation and helped plan the siting of both forts Yamhill and Hoskins. Lt. Sheridan was in charge of the fort for a short time, May 1857, until he is called into service in the Civil War (1861) where he distinguishes himself as a hero of the war for the Union. The fort is established in March of 1856, under the command of Lt. William Hazen, and remained occupied until March 1866. Captain L. S. Scott of the 4th California Volunteers in 1864 is assigned to Fort Yamhill with his Company D, and is the last commander of the fort before it is decommissioned (Special order 121, September 23, 1864). The army would own the property for some time and passed oversight to the Indian Office to be used for reservation lands.
Likely the first map to situate Fort Yamhill is the Hazen map of 1856.
Hazen Map 1856-Fort Hill is center right with the flag. The map plans the siting of the tribes and features of the reservation and may have recorded where everything was situated too.
The Smith Map of 1856 plans more directly the roads and features of the reservation. It would be interesting to understand more completely the relationship between the two maps from 1856.
Smith map 1856, in the Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area Interpretive Master Plan
The Smith Map is also in the Fort Hoskins Microfilm Records (Available at the Oregon State Archives.) Here I have labelled the features based on the legend.
C. Gardner draws another map of Fort Yamhill in 1858 with updated layout, with proposed additional buildings. Note the roads, besides the Salmon River Wagon road, on left.
Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area Interpretive Master Plan
Finally the Fort Yamhill Plan of 1864.
Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area Interpretive Master Plan
When the fort is decommissioned the buildings are likely taken apart and the boards used to build other reservation buildings. The Blockhouse itself is moved to Old Grand Ronde and is used as a police station jail until just before 1900. Stories also circulate of the upper floor hosting dances and the lower floor hosting a post office.
Grand Ronde Police c. 1893
In 1911 the fort is sold and moved to Dayton and situated in the central park square of the town. Fort Yamhill today has been rebuilt and restored condition in Dayton, Oregon.
Wagon train moving the parts of the fort c. 1911
An Officers quarters, for the commander of the fort, remain at Fort Hill as the only remaining facility, a house. The building has been investigated (History Detectives) and determined to have been the original building which was later added onto. I visited the house once, few years ago, and there are signs that the second floor staircase was moved. Many things in the house were clearly moved around over the years. The house does not appear on the maps of the fort labelled as a house, instead the site of the house appears close to or at the site of the Settler store, labelled “J” on the 1858 map above.
Today, the Fort Yamhill State Heritage Park has undergone numerous archaeological investigations by David Brauner (OSU) and is slated to be developed into a replica fort in the future with rebuilt facilities for tourism. Oregon State Parks now works with the Grand Ronde tribe on interpretation and programming, because the tribe owns much of the acreage around the park, which has become the tribe’s Cultural use area, including Pow wow grounds, and Chachalu Plankhouse. Most recently the property was turned over the tribe for administration, but its unclear if the tribe owns the land title.
Image from Dayton park interpretive sign
References
Fort Yamhill Heritage Area State Park Master Interpretive plan
Dayton Interpretive sign, plan
Microfilm records of the U.S. Adjutant General, Film 2, Fort Hoskins, Oregon State Archives, Salem