Beginnings of Fort Yamhill

In April and May 1856 Joel Palmer hired 60 men to be the Grand Ronde Guards, to build a fence and control access and egress to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. They were all laid off in early May, likely due to the fact that threats from settlers upon the Indians did not happen. In June, the Rogue River tribes arrived on the reservation after having gone through a stressful and grueling war in Southwestern Oregon. They first came to Grand Ronde to join a number of their relatives that had arrived in March, from the Table Rock Reservation. The final removals arrived at the Coastal area of the Coast Reservation in late June after having walked from Port Orford up the coast, they settled at the outlet of the Salmon river, where the Nechesne Tillamook people had a village. The coastal encampment became the Salmon River Encampment.

But continued statements of fear and anger from area settlers caused Palmer to resign on August 16, 1856. Following this, the US military continued plans to have a new Fort built, Fort Yamhill. Lt. Hazen was in charge of the building operations. He was a signal officer stationed at Fort Vancouver and had fought in SW Oregon near Fort Lane. Hazen arrived at Grand Ronde in mid-March to form a military camp, and on March 31, 1856, Hazen was set to construct the new fort. By October 30, 1856, Fort Yamhill blockhouse was completed and the first company, “F”, was stationed there under his command. Captain Smith chose the name for the fort, based on it being situated along the Yamhill River.  Smith wrote, “through the energy of the acting-assistant quartermaster of this post, Lt. Hazen, the officers and men of this command are all in quarters so far completed as to be very comfortable for the winter.” Hazen received a commendation for his work.

There were no reported outbreaks from the Indians on the reservation. Rodney Glisan reported that sometimes the Indians would get a hold of alcohol and there would be a ruckus. They had a hard time tracking down the sellers of the illegal drinks. The first use of the fort guard house was to hold troopers, one of whom, Turner, had knifed to death a fellow trooper, Private Connor. In September, before the blockhouse was completed, another Trooper Meehan was beaten to death by Stolzer who was tried in the Polk County and was sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary and $5.

The Blockhouse and associated fort buildings that grow up on the hill were meant to keep the peace among the Indians and to keep whites from coming onto the reservation to commit violence and to sell them alcohol. Occasionally, troopers would be sent out to capture and return escaped Indians who hated the reservation and were confused as to why so many of their people were dying there. They set the blame on “Indian doctors” who did not perform their duties when their patients died. The reality is that the Indian peoples from some 35 tribes were being newly exposed to European-born illnesses, and they also suffered malnutrition, climate changes, exposure, and some violence from living among so many other strange people. (see other essays in this blog for evidence of early reservation deaths.)

Lt. Phillip Sheridan arrived at the fort on April 25, 1857, to relieve Lt. Hazen who was promoted and sent to Texas. On August 12, 1857, Company K arrived at Fort Yamhill and relieved Company F. Company K was stationed at the fort for many years. There was a long-standing row between Hazen and Sheridan that lasted some 40 years, with each of them casting accusations upon each other, with Sheridan noted as being extremely petty (Hazen Bio). Histories suggesting the Sheridan had some role in the building of the Blockhouse are inaccurate, although Sheridan could have been responsible for building many of the associated buildings that were situated around the top of the hill.

See biographies of Rodney Glisen and William Hazen, for the facts of the early years.