Fort Orford
Fort Orford (1851-1856) - Established 14 Sep 1851 by 2nd Lt. P. T. Wyman and a detachment of Company I, 1st U.S. Artillery from Astoria, Oregon pursuant to Order #15, Division of the Pacific dated 19 Aug 1851. The fort was named after the town of Port Orford. The post was abandoned 22 Aug 1856 pursuant to Order #19, Department of the Pacific, dated 22 Aug 1856. (see also Fort Point)
History of Fort Orford
After the initial siting by Lt. Wyman, the fort was constructed with local cedar logs and lumber. Fixtures and fittings were shipped in from San Francisco. Initially 14 buildings were constructed. A blockhouse and wall were erected later during the Rogue River Indian War of 1855-56.
The Rogue River Indian War was over in June, 1856 and Fort Orford was used to ship some of the surrendered Indians to the reservations along the central coast on the steamship Columbia. The remainder of the Indians were marched to the reservations. The fort was no longer necessary once the hostile Indians had been removed and it was abandoned in August of 1856. In September of 1856 much of the fort was dismantled and shipped for use at Fort Umpqua (2) which protected the southern end of the coastal reservations.
The remnants of Fort Orford were destroyed in a fire that consumed most of Port Orford on 10 Oct 1868.
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Location: In Port Orford in Curry County, Oregon. Bounded on the East by Oregon Street, on the North by an extended Seventh Street, by graveyard point on the West, and by the Pacific Ocean on the South side. Maps & Images Lat: 42.743404 Long: -124.498851 |
Sources:
- Oregon Military History, Forts-Camps-Roads
- Masterson, Patrick, Port Orford, A History, BookPartners, Inc., Wilsonville, Oregon, 1994, ISBN 1-885221-08-8, pages 87-90
- Frazer, Robert W. (editor), Mansfield on the conditions of The Western Forts, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 1963, ISBN 0-8061-1083-X, pages 118-119, Exhibit M
- McArthur, Lewis A. & McArthur, Lewis L., Oregon Geographic Names, Oregon Historical Society Press; 7 edition (December 2003), 1073 pages, ISBN 0875952771, ISBN 978-0875952772, page 371-372
Links:
Publications:
Visited: Yes 25 Aug 2007
Picture Gallery
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Fort Orford site from the northeast corner -
Fort Orford site from the south -
View of the Fort Orford Site from below the southeast edge
