Fort Bennett (1)

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During the “Battle of Frenchtown” or “Battle of Walla Walla” during the “Cayuse Wars” the First Oregon Mounted Volunteers Under command of Lieutenant Major Kelly on December 7, 1855 took possession of a French Canadian farm that had recently been abandoned by the La Rocque family and where barricades had been thrown up. The day and its location have a lot of historical significance because that is where the controversial death of the Walla Wallas chief, Peo-Peo-Mox-Mox occurred. By December 10 reinforcements had arrived and the Indians retreated. “On December 15, Lieutenant Colonel Kelly abandoned the defenses at the La Rocque cabin, which had been named Fort Bennett, after the officer who was killed on the first day of battle. That place had become a muddy hole, reeking with the smell of dead men and animals.”( Stephen B. Emerson)

The LaRocque cabin on what is now the Bergevin ranch west of the historical marker on Highway 12 between Lowden and the Whitman Mission in Walla Walla County WA

More information on French town is here: http://www.frenchtownpartners.zoomshare.com/0.html

And the battle here: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8132

Links:

Sources:

• Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 180
• Frazer, Robert W., Forts of the West, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 1965, ISBN 0-8061-1250-6, page 168
• 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 829
• North American Forts

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