Fort Naches

Fort Naches (1856-1856) - A U.S. Army Yakima War Fort established in 1856 near Yakima, Yakima County, Washington. Officialy named Camp on Nechess River but was also known as Fort Naches, Fort Na-Chess and locally Naches Basket Fort. Abandoned later in 1856. History A temporary U.S. Army post established by Colonel George Wright, (Cullum 309) and Companies A and C of the 9th U.S. Infantry in April 1856. In May of 1856 Colonel Wright was joined by Companies B, F, G, I, and K. in an expedition against hostile Indians. This expedition remained in the field until August and brought about the surrender of five hundred hostile Indians on the Weuache River in the latter part of July. A military road for the transportation of wagons and war supplies was built from The Dalles to Fort Naches by Captain Frederick T. Dent, (Cullum 1199), and was completed in the spring of 1856. In May and June 1856 there were about two thousand troops and teamsters at the Fort. The post itself was an oval-shaped earthwork located about nine miles up the Naches River on the south bank, five miles west of Painted Rocks. The post was known as a "Basket Fort" by local settlers because of the many gabions used in its construction. A gabion is a large wickerwork basket designed to contain earth in a vertical structure to protect troops and important military structures like batteries and magazines. Fort Naches was used as supply depot until Fort Simcoe was built later in 1856. Colonel Wright moved everything to Fort Simcoe. Current Status A small marker is located at the GPS location on the east bank of the Naches River. Access is from U.S. Hwy 12 at the Low Road crossing (Marker 1). The actual site has a marker on the opposite side of the river near 5651 South Naches Road, Naches, Washington (Marker 2). {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Near Yakima, Yakima County, Washington. Maps & Images Lat: 46.686217 Long: -120.654633 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1,320' GPS Locations: 46.686217, -120.654633 Fort Naches Marker (1) 46.683948, -120.666865 Fort Naches Marker (2) See Also: Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 834. Links: North American Forts - Fort Naches Waymarking - Naches Basket Fort The Old Trail from The Dalles to The Basket Fort on The Naches Fortification ID: WA0228 - Fort Naches WA0227 - Fort Na-Chess WA0232 - Camp on Nechess River WA0228 - Naches Basket Fort Visited: No