Category:Fort Hoskins: Difference between revisions

Fort Hoskins (1856-1865) - This fort was established in Benton County as the result of a concentration of Indians at the Siletz Agency on 26 Jul 1856. Fort Hoskins was initially garrisoned by Company G and F of the 4th U.S. Infantry under Captain Christopher C. Auger, and was named for Lieutenant Charles Hoskins, killed during the Mexican War while serving alongside Auger. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, troops here were summoned east. State volunteers garrisoned the fort until it was permanently closed when the war ended in 1865.

Fort Hoskins History

The history of Fort Hoskins is thoroughly detailed in a cultural resources overview of the fort and surrounding area by David Brauner and Nahani Stricker (1994). That history is summarized below.

Fort Hoskins was a small military garrison, used for a relatively brief period from 1856 to 1865. It was, however, a time of rapid change and development in the Willamette Valley, years that marked the end of Indian occupation, and the beginning of settlement and community establishment. Fort Hoskins was initially established to oversee the resettlement of western Oregon native tribes to the newly established Coastal Indian Reservation. The fort was to serve a dual purpose — to keep Indians on the reservation, and to protect Indians from incursions by settlers.

The location for Fort Hoskins was selected based on its strategic position close to the soon-to-be established Siletz Agency, 18 miles to the west near the present town of Logsden (the Agency was instead sited further west at present day Siletz). At the time, the only known trail through the central Coast Range began near the fort site and ran up the Luckiamute River to the Siletz Valley. Anyone passing to or from the Agency would have to pass directly in view of the fort (though several other trails from the Willamette Valley to the Coast were soon established). This location also offered close proximity to the newly settled community of Kings Valley, for readily available building materials and supplies.

Fort Hoskins contained some 15 buildings, including officer quarters and soldier barracks, munitions and supply storage, a bakery, hospital, barns and corral, gardens, and housing for the laundry workers. The fort had no defensive structures, only a simple fence around the quarters and central parade grounds. A gravity feed water system was developed for the fort, as was an improved "wagon road" to Siletz Agency (so rough that only one wagon ever made the trip).

A force of up to 150 men were based at Fort Hoskins, though many were stationed at the blockhouse at Siletz Agency or elsewhere. During much of its history, life at the fort was uneventful. Men were infrequently dispatched to round up escaped Indians. Several threats of attack (from both Indians and whites) proved to be ungrounded.

By the outbreak of the Civil War, Fort Hoskins had about outlived its usefulness. Several new routes had been established through the Coast Range Mountains, rendering the fort’s location less strategic. Reservation lands were shrinking, with more Indians gaining permits to work off the Reservation. By 1864 it was decided to close the fort, and consolidate functions at Fort Yamhill. Staffing at Fort Hoskins was reduced to a skeleton force. The fort then served briefly as a training base for the Oregon Volunteer Infantry. At the conclusion of the Civil War, Fort Hoskins was closed, and all remaining goods, structures, and facilities were sold at auction. The property reverted to its lessor, Henry VanPeer.

Current Status

The site is one mile west of State Highway 223, in the upper reaches of Kings Valley at the site of the previous settlement of Hoskins. The property occupies a low ridge at the "big bend" of the Luckiamute River, which flows south and west of the property. Benton County acquired the property in 1992, as the site of an interpretive park. Currently, the site is predominately forestland, though also includes a historic farmhouse, a few remnant outbuildings, several acres of abandoned pasture, and an old orchard. A caretakers mobile home and the park water treatment facility are also located on the site.

Prior to purchase the property had been managed for over 100 years as a family farm. The property was last actively farmed by Dick Dunn in the early 1970s. By the 1990s the farmstead was rapidly deteriorating. Open pastures were filling in with fir and blackberries. Most commercial timber was harvested in 1985. With the exception of the Franz-Dunn house, the farm buildings were in a state of rapid decay.

The site of Fort Hoskins was "rediscovered" in the early 1920s, though to local residents it was never fully "lost". During the late 1960s the property was briefly considered as a location for a new State Park. Archeological examinations in 1976 and 1977 allowed for re-creation of much of what is now known about the fort and its history. Recognizing the significance to local history, and interested in developing a new park in this region, Benton County acquired an option to purchase the site in 1991.

Location: The 126 acre Fort Hoskins Park property is located west of the community of Kings Valley in the upper Luckiamute River Valley. The property is now largely wooded and undeveloped, with an old farmhouse (circa 1870) and the ruins of several farm buildings and a schoolhouse. Benton County purchased the property for a park site in 1991.

Sources:

• Oregon Military History, Forts-Camps-Roads
• Benton County Documents (see links below)

Links:

• Benton County Management Plan
• Fort Hoskins Historic Park
• Detailed Historical Brochure(pdf)
• Yahoo Map