Recently, I came upon a number of postcards of soldiers at the Grand Ronde Reservation. It was a common practice to turn photos into postcards.
On Ebay these images were available for purchase. Image 808 is labelled Grand Ronde 1911 on the back.
and this image, I assume it could be 1911 like the photo above. The tent behind it is a Sibley tent and none of the men are identified by name or company.
I have since purchased copies of the postcards. In image 668 above, I noticed a familiar face in the second soldier from the left.
The man (left) looks identical to another image (right) in a well known photo from the Old Grand Ronde blacksmith shop in the photo below. He appears to have exactly the same gear on in both photos, besides the missing rifle and utility belt in the right image. I assume that the image on the left is from 1909 and on the right is from 1911.
I initially thought he was from a local National Guard company. It turns out that the 4th regiment, H company was stationed in Dallas, Oregon at the armory. For years we never knew who this man was- and we still don’t know his name. I did not recognize the army uniform- pre-WWI- and he was thought to just be an unidentified white man. It was common for people to travel through the reservation to the coast in these days. Other people in the photo are known, center left in an apron is John Mose Hudson, the blacksmith at the reservation, my GG grandfather. Right center holding the trap is Peter Petit. I am guessing that the man far left, a younger man, is another army soldier in shorts- possibly part of the same unit- while the face in the background (above Hudson’s left shoulder) is unknown. The second soldier seems very informal, only the hat and shirt are army issue. I do not know how the buildings were situated at Old Grand Ronde, It is likely that the blacksmith’s shop was near the blockhouse.
Its possible these soldiers were from the H company. Newspaper records records state they were combined with the 3rd regiment in 1911 and that the Oregon National Guard was being realigned to match the regular army organization. A newspaper account notes that H company was camping on the way to the coast in 1911 to man the battery at Astoria. The coast route from Dallas would have gone through Grand Ronde. The US was very concerned with Coastal defenses due to the build up in preparation for war in Europe in the period (build up to WWI). Documents suggest the Oregon National Guard built up troop defenses around important businesses and natural resources targets in and around Oregon. Dams, power plants and canals had detachments of troops stationed near them.
I initially thought perhaps the National Guard company was visiting Grand Ronde for a reason. In 1911 Fort Yamhill was sent to Dayton under arrangements made by the Oregon Historical Society. George Himes the first president of OHS made the arrangements himself. The competition for the fort between area cities was fierce, and Sheridan really wanted it- they said their Sheridan history and close vicinity was better-but Dayton was the first to claim the fort and their Joel Palmer history concentrated two histories in the same town. OHS was operating under orders from “the Oregon House and senate that the Oregon Historical society … and it is hereby authorized to take steps to secure said blockhouse, and to preserve the same as one of the important historical monuments of the early pioneer history of Oregon” brought by Representative Galloway. (Virginia Enterprise March 27, 1903: 6)
Palmer never had much to do with the fort, he did make arrangements to get the army to help with setting up the reservation. The army helped site the location of future forts while traveling with Palmer, although was forced to resign (August 1856) before the military plans were realized in 1856. Palmer had set up a Grand Ronde Guard of hired citizens for a few months April to May 1856- in case local white people chose to attack the reservation. Lieut. Phil Sheridan had history with the fort. He commanded it for a couple months (June 26, 1857 to July 31, 1857, and from June 26, 1861 to September 1, 1861) but histories online and newspapers suggesting that he built the fort are inaccurate- the honor likely belongs to Lieut. Hazen who was the first commander of the fort. Sheridan became a captain in 1861, and from there he went into the Civil War to become the hero of the Union. But other men stationed at the fort also became generals, like General Hazen- who planning the settlement of the tribes on a map (Hazen Map of the Grand Ronde Indian reservation, 1856) and help siting of the forts Yamhill and Hoskins. Also Joseph Hooker, Joseph Wheeler, Andrew Jackson Smith, and David Allen Russell were stationed there and later became generals and fought in the Civil War.
But it turns out that other troops would come visit Fort Yamhill, likely due to its famous history with General Phil Sheridan.
The caption above states that the soldiers were from the 1st Infantry. It is unlikely they had any official business at the reservation. The fort had been decommissioned after 1866 when it was abandoned by the army. In the 1870s it was moved done for the hill to Old Grand Ronde to serve as a jail for the Grand Ronde Police force. The upstairs was reportedly also used as a dance hall. Gilbert Litchfield of McMinnville, in his bio, was the clerk at Grand Ronde at the fort until 1890. He had purchased the fort and other building at public auction for $2.50 (Putnam Patriot, January 16, 1925: 8). The blockhouse in the 1890s to 1910, as in a state of disrepair and abandoned. The troops likely knew the Sheridan history and were tourists getting their photos taken at the famous military blockhouse. Perhaps when plans were being made to move the blockhouse-and many histories that appeared about the blockhouse in the local newspapers- this attracted more attention. But its unlikely that there was any military action when the blockhouse was taken apart and moved by wagon to Dayton.
If anyone has insight into the identification of the soldiers please contact me.
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