Fort Hoskins

Infobox Military Structure
name= Fort Hoskins
partof=
location= Benton County, Oregon


caption=
type= Military base
built=
builder=
materials= wood
height=
used=
demolished=
condition=
ownership=
controlledby= United States Army
garrison= 4th Regiment of California Infantry
commanders=
occupants= Philip Sheridan
battles=
events=

Fort Hoskins was one of three "forts" (which were actually unfortified posts) built by the U.S. Army to monitor the Coastal Indian Reservation in Oregon in the mid 19th century.

History

The post was begun in 1856 on the Luckiamute River under the supervision of then Captain Christopher C. Augur.Corning, Howard M. "Dictionary of Oregon History". Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] Fort Hoskins was finished in 1857 with then lieutenant Philip Sheridan in charge, and was named after Lt. Charles Hoskins who had died in the U.S.-Mexican War. The fort was located about 19 miles northwest of Corvallis. The unincorporated area of Hoskins took its name from the fort.

Fort Hoskins was garrisoned by a number of companies of soldiers throughout its short existence. Two soldiers who were stationed at the fort during the American Civil War kept journals of their experiences: Royal A. Bensell and William M. Hilleary. Their accounts are of unmitigated boredom and dampness, but they provide a good picture of 19th-century life in the area.

Fort Hoskins played an indirectly important role in local and state history due to the leadership of several out-of-state soldiers who decided to stay in the area after they were mustered out of the army. Several placenames in the area, such as Kings Valley, are connected with these soldiers. The fort never saw any action, though a bloodless insurrection by the natives at Yaquina Bay was put down by the soldiers, and was abandoned in 1865.

Today

There is nothing left of the fort today except for a few recovered artifacts. Dr. David Brauner, an anthropologist at Oregon State University, has made the fort an area of specialization of his. Benton County recently opened the site as [http://www.co.benton.or.us/parks/facilities/hoskins.php Fort Hoskins Historical Park] .

Books

* Bensell, Royal A.; Barth, Gunther (ed.) (1959) "All Quiet on the Yamhill: The Civil War in Oregon: The Journal of Corporal Royal A. Bensell, Company D, Fourth California Infantry."
* Brauner, David R.; Stricker, Nahani A. (2006) "Fort Hoskins Illustrated: An Archaeologist Reflects."
* Hilleary, William M.; Nelson, Herbert B. and Preston, E. Onstad (ed.) (1965) "A Webfoot Volunteer: The Diary of William M. Hilleary 1864-1866."

ee also

* 4th Regiment of California Infantry
* Fort Dalles
* Fort Yamhill

External links

* [http://ftp.wi.net/~census/lesson40.html "Sovereigns of Themselves: A Liberating History of Oregon and Its Coast, Vol. VII"] , a self-published history

References