Oregon Forts

American Forts: West

OREGON

Last Update: 14/MARCH/2009

Compiled by Phil and Pete Payette - Š2009 American Forts Network

Camp Baker
(1862 - 1865), Phoenix
Garrisoned by the OR Volunteer Cavalry to observe Confederate sympathizers in nearby Jacksonville. Located one-half mile west of town. Possibly also known as Camp Phoenix.

Camp Stuart
(1851), near Medford
A temporary Dragoon post southeast of town.

Camp Stewart
(1853), Jacksonville
A temporary Army camp. Replaced by Fort Lane.

Camp Alden
(1853), near White City
Located at Hailey's Ferry near Upper Table Rock east of town. A temporary camp established after the "Battle of Evans Creek" (August 1853) that was replaced by Fort Lane after only a few weeks.

Fort Table Rock
(1853 ?), near Central Point
A temporary Army post at the Rogue River and Stewarts Creek. The Treaty of Table Rock was signed here in September 1853.

Fort Lane
(1853 - 1856), near Central Point
A log and mud structure not far from Lower Table Rock, considered a sacred place by Indians. Site located on the south-side of the Rogue River, near the mouth of Bear Creek, four miles east of town. It was built by the Dragoons (after the Table Rock Treaty) to protect the Rogue River Indian Agency on the north-side of the river.

Fort (David) Birdseye
(1855), Rogue River
A settlers' stockaded log house located on the south bank of the Rogue River near the mouth of Birdseye Creek. The D.A.R. erected a monument here in 1929.

Fort Vannoy
(1855 - 1856), near Grants Pass
Headquarters post for the OR Volunteers during the Rogue River War, located on the north bank of the Rogue River four miles west of town. It consisted of a group of several log houses, possibly stockaded. Exact site undetermined.

Fort Briggs
(1850's ?), Josephine County
A settlers' fortification. It was later burned down. Undetermined location (below Cave Junction ?).
(NOTE: Two vague references: west of Grant's Pass, or east of O'Brien. There is a Briggs Creek northwest of Selma.)
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Fort Hayes
(1850's ?), near Wonder ?
A settlers' fortification. Undetermined location, possibly at Hayes Hill ?
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Camp Galice
(1854 - 1856), Galice
An OR Volunteers arsenal and powder magazine during the Rogue River War.

Fort Leland
(1855 - 1856), Leland
A fortified (stockaded) tavern, Grave Creek House, on Grave Creek east of Sunny Valley. Occupied by the OR Volunteers.

Camp Medill (1858), a temporary field camp, was also located somewhere on Grave Creek.

Fort Bailey
(1855), near Wolf Creek
A fortified tavern occupied by OR Volunteers, located five miles south of Cow Creek.

Fort (William) Smith
(1855 - 1856), Glendale Junction
A settlers' stockaded house used by the OR Volunteers during the Rogue River War. Located on the north-side of Cow Creek four miles above Glendale.

Camp Gordon
(1856 ?), near Azalea
An OR Volunteers camp.
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Camp on Chetco River
(1856), near Brookings
An OR Volunteers camp at the mouth of the Chetco River.

Fort Miner
(1856), Gold Beach
A civilian fortification at the mouth of the Rogue River. Actually two log cabins surrounded by earthworks. It became a refuge for 100 settlers during a month-long siege by Indians.

Camp Rogue River
(1856), Gold Beach ?
An OR Volunteers camp reportedly located at the mouth of the Rogue River.

Fort Lamerick
(1856), Big Meadows
An OR Volunteers log breastwork during the Rogue River War. Abandoned after about two months. Site located in extreme northeast Curry County upstream from Illahe.

Camp at Big Bend
(1856 - 1857), near Illahe
An OR Volunteers post, later garrisoned by Federal units.

Fort Orford
(1851 - 1856), Port Orford
Two unnamed civilian blockhouses were located on Fort Point, built in July 1851, and were later destroyed by fire in 1868. The separate Regular Army post, built two months later (September 1851), known as Fort Orford, was abandoned in 1856.

Of interest nearby is the Historic Port Orford Lifeboat Station.

Nearby at Cape Blanco State Park are the ruins of the WWII anti-aircraft radar site Cape Blanco Radar Station (1942 - 1945), located near the lighthouse. This may have been Station B-29 (which was reportedly near Port Orford), one of a chain of 65 stations along the entire Pacific Coast.

Fort Rowland
(1855 ?), Curry County
A settlers' fortification. Undetermined location.
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Fort Kitchen
(1855 ?), Coos County
A settlers' fortification. Undetermined location.
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Fort Umpqua (1)
(1832 - 1850), Elkton
A British fur trading post on the south (or west) bank of the Umpqua River, also known as (Thomas or Desportes) McKay's Fort. It was later acquired by the Hudson's Bay Co. and moved five times, although remaining in the same general area. The last location was opposite the mouth of Elk Creek. A reconstruction of the stockaded post is planned in the near future.
(website courtesy of Scott Dano)

Fort Umpqua (2)
(1856 - 1862), near Gardiner
Built at the end of the Rogue River War from salvaged material from Fort Orford. Located on the north bank of the Umpqua River about two miles from its mouth. It was closed in 1862 after the Indian troubles died down. The old blockhouse and soldiers' barracks were later moved into town as a memorial.

Fort Flournoy
(1855 ?), near Lookingglass
A settlers' fortification just west of town.
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Camp Elliff
(1855 ?), Douglas County
A civilian camp. Undetermined location.
(info courtesy of Ted Cook.)

Siletz Blockhouse
(1858 - 1866), Siletz
A two-story blockhouse built to protect the Siletz Indian Agency. It was a subpost of Fort Hoskins. Originally called Yaquina Bay Blockhouse (1856 - 1858) located at the mouth of the Yaquina River near South Beach. It was dismantled and floated upriver in 1858.

Fort Hoskins
(1856 - 1865), Hoskins ?, Logsden ?
A Federal post originally located on the Luckiamute River near the mouth of Bonner Creek, it was soon relocated in 1856 to the eastern side of the Siletz River Indian Reservation, about 38 miles northwest of the original site.

Camp Adair (State Military Reservation)
(1942 - 1946/present), Adair
A WWII training center for the 70th, 91st, 96th, and 104th Infantry Divisions, and later used as an Italian POW camp. Located on 50,000 acres along the Benton - Polk county line on both sides of US 99W, north of Corvallis. Some structures and foundations still remain. A portion of the original reservation is still in use by the Oregon National Guard as the Camp Adair Weapons Firing Range. Portions of the post are now within McDonald State Forest, and other portions are private property.
* This entry is listed here for historical interest only. *

Camp Russell
(1864 - 1865), Salem
A Civil War training camp once located at the state fairgrounds, present-day 17th Street and Silverton Road.

Camp Withycombe (State Military Reservation)
(1909 - present), Clackamas
An Oregon National Guard summer training area, originally known as the Clackamas Rifle Range, located just east of town. Renamed in 1917. Still in use by the state guard. Located here is the Oregon National Guard Military Museum and Reserch Center.

Fort Lafayette
(1863), Grand Ronde
Officially known as Post at Grand Ronde Indian Agency, it was a temporary outpost of Fort Yamhill built by OR Volunteers.

Fort Yamhill (State Heritage Area)
(1855 - 1866), Valley Junction
Settlers first built a blockhouse on what became known as Fort Hill. The Army arrived in 1856, erected a palisade and renamed it. The blockhouse still exists, which was moved sometime after 1866 to the Grand Ronde Indian Agency three miles away where it was used as a jail, and then moved again in 1911 to a city park in Dayton. There are no remains at the original site, but there are interpretive markers and site preservation efforts underway.

Fort Wallace
(1812 - 1814), Keizer
A Pacific Fur Company post built by William Wallace and J.C. Halsey as an outpost of Fort Astoria. Sold to the North West Co. in 1813 with the other American assets in the region and renamed Wallace House. Site probably located in River's Edge Park on the south edge of town.

William Henry House
(1813 - unknown), near Newberg
A North West Co. trading post.

Fort Champoeg
(Champoeg State Heritage Area)
(1813 - 1861 ?), near Donald
Originally Willamette Post of the North West Company, a two-room log cabin. Also known as Fort Kalapuya. Taken over by the Hudson's Bay Co. in 1830 and enlarged and renamed. Also spelled Champooick. A fire and a flood in 1861 destroyed the post and settlement. The history of the post is told at the nearby Champoeg state park museum. Friends of Historic Champoeg.

Also of interest nearby is the Willamette Mission State Park (1834 - 1840). The Methodist mission was moved to Salem (then known as Chemeketa) in 1840.

Camp Clackamas
(1862), Oregon City
A temporary state militia post that lasted only one month. Located at the mouth of the Clackamas River about one mile north of town. Replaced Camp Barlow.

Camp Barlow
(1862), near Oregon City
A temporary Civil War encampment for the OR Volunteers, located two miles north of town. The entire garrison moved to Camp Clackamas.

Camp McKinley
(1898), Portland
A Spanish-American War muster camp for state troops. Located on the racetrack grounds at Irvington Park (NE 7th Ave. between NE Fremont and NE Brazee Streets).

Fort William
(1834 - unknown), Sauvie Island
A trading post built by Nathaniel Wyeth, originally located at Warrior Point on the north-end of the island, but moved to the center in 1835 after spring flooding. In 1837 the Hudson's Bay Company leased the post for use as a dairy farm.

Fort Clatsop (National Memorial)
(1805 - 1806), near Warrenton
A 1955 reconstruction of the 50-foot square stockaded winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, on the exact spot. It is located about five miles southwest of the Fort Astoria site, and about three miles inland from the ocean. This was the first American-flagged military post west of the Rocky Mountains. The reconstructed fort was destroyed by fire in October 2005.

Camp Rilea (State Military Reservation)
(1927 - present), Camp Rilea
An Oregon National Guard training area originally named Camp Clatsop. Additional land was purchased in the 1930's, and the post was Federalized in 1940 for WWII training. Reverted back to the state in 1947. Renamed in 1959. Still in use by the state guard.

Salt Camp
(1805 - 1806), Seaside
Several men from the Lewis and Clark Expedition stayed here during the winter to boil ocean water to produce salt.

Astoria Post
(1811 - 1824, 1830 - 1848), Astoria
A Pacific Fur Co. post until 1813, when the North West Co. purchased it, and renamed it Fort George. Became a Hudson's Bay Co. trading post, but was then abandoned for several years after Fort Vancouver was established by the HBC across the river in present-day Washington state. Reactivated in 1830 (HBC records cover 1820 - 1848), the settlement eventually developed into the present town. This was the first permanent white settlement in the state. It was also the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The post itself was later renamed back to Fort Astoria after the British left. The present blockhouse and stockade is a reconstruction on the original site, located on Exchange Street between 14th and 15th Aves..

Located near here was American Camp Astoria (1850 - 1851), a temporary Federal post which was transferred to Columbia Barracks, WA.

¤ HARBOR DEFENSES of the COLUMBIA RIVER (partial)
(see also Forts Canby and Columbia, WA)

¤ Fort Stevens (State Park)
(1863 - 1947), Hammond
Originally called Fort at Point Adams, an earthwork battery. Placed on care-taker status from 1883 to 1897. Concrete Endicott-era batteries here are Battery David Russell (1903 - 1944), Battery William Clark (1899 - 1942), Battery Lyman Mishler (1897 - 1941), on which a harbor entrance control post was built in 1941, West Battery which later became Batteries Lewis and Walker, Battery Meriwether Lewis (1897 - 1920), Battery Leverett Walker (1897 - 1920), Battery James Pratt (1902 - 1943) (currently under restoration), Battery Constant Freeman (1902 - 1920) built into the old fort - later destroyed, Battery 245 (1944 - 1947) later used by USAF as a radar platform, Battery Elias Smur (1902 - 1920), and Anti Motor Torpedo Boat Battery 1 (1943 - 1946) by the river jetty. Railway mortars were stored here in WWII. This was the Columbia River mine depot during WWII. Battery Russell is well to the south of the rest of the batteries, and faces the ocean instead of the river. In July 1942 Battery Russell was fired upon by a Japanese submarine, but it was too far away to be fired back upon. This made it the only seacoast fortification in the 48 contiguous states to be attacked by a foreign enemy vessel since the War of 1812. Fort Stevens commanded Fort Canby and Fort Columbia in Washington. Several of the 1905 Officers' Quarters on the parade ground are now used as part of the Officers' Inn Bed and Breakfast, available by reservation.

WWII fire-control stations in Oregon were located at Columbia Beach, DeLaura Beach (two), Hammond, and Sand Island (two). Several other stations were located within the fort. Nothing is left of these.

Although not directly affiliated with Fort Stevens, an SCR-270 anti-aircraft radar site (1942 - 1945) was located at Tillamook Head (Ecola State Park) near Cannon Beach. The Tillamook Head Radar Station was also known as Station J-23, one of a chain of 65 sites along the entire Pacific Coast. Ruins exist.

NEED MORE INFO:
Towns:

Of related interest near Brookings is Crissey Field State Recreation Area, a former World War II Army auxiliary airfield. Several structures (overgrown foundations ?) supposedly still remain.

Interior Oregon - page 2

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