V
mi
Seventeen Military Posts M
Are the Result of
Sixty-Two Years of
Developments of the
Department of
Written for The Journal by Calvin C.
Thompson.
THK forts of the department of the
Columbia were established dur-
ing three distinct periods. First,
during the early Indian wars
prior to 1860; secondly, during
the Civil war, and. thirdly, during the
Spanish-American war excitement, when
the country suddenly found itself face
to face on a war oasis wun a nauun
whose navy, on paper at least, was
equal or superior to that of its own.
Other small posts were established from
time to time for Indian defence pur
poses, but these have all been aban
doned. Since the sudden leap to the
front rank of the ancient yet youthful
empire of Jnpan. and the American fear
of trouble from that source, a new Im-
pulse has been given to the public de-
mand for better coast defenses and
army organlxation. '
Not only is me war ueparimeni pmu-
nlng
recommendlng
series
niln-s and other lines or derenses along
the Pacific coast, but reorganization of
the army in several vital points Is be-
ing urged. Instead of many little gar-
risons. hundreds of miles apart, army
men are recommending concentration
of troops In larger posts, located near
rullroad centers, and the maintaining
of the army units at full war strength.
Posts Guard Great Area.
Now that the spirit of change, ex
pansion and Improvement of the Pacific
coast defenses Is in the air, a brief
sketch of the widely scattered military
posts of the Pacific northwest will he
of interest. Tn all this vast empire,
extending from the foot of the Rocky
mountains on the east to the Pacific
on the west and from California on the.
south to the Arctic ocean on the north.
there are but 17 forts with 253 officers
and 5265 men.
The first Pacific northwest military
post to be established by the United
States government was Fort Vancouver,
on the north bank of the Columbia
river. a few miles from Portland. Since
the site upon which it stands was se
lected bv the farseelng eye of Dr.
John McLoughlln, chief factor of the
Hudson"s Ray company in Oregon, near
the close of Monroe's administration,
Vancouver has been a central point in
northwest history. The unfurling of
the stars and stripes at the top of a
lofty Oregon fir tree by order of Major
John 8. Hatheway, lay 13, 1849,
session of the fort and of the Oregon .
IMUIKfU III,' irrKiiiiiiiin ' ' ' J ' v .. . . ,
country. The headquarters or tne
partment of the Columbia were es
tablished at Vancouver in 1878.
Fort Vancouver Pioneer Garrison.
In 1848, a year before Oregon terri
tory was organized by an act of con
gress, two companies of American sol
diers, commanded by Major John S.
Hatheway, sailed from New York to
aid the settlers of the Pacific nprth
west in their struggles to keep
savage tomahawk and torch from their
frontier homes. Upon reaching the Co -
lumbla river May 11, 1849, one company
was left at Astoria and the other ar-
tlvrd .at Fort Vancouver, May 13.. Dur-
Ing the next quarter of a "century
troops marched from Vancouver to par-
tlclpate In many conflicts, among the
most historic being the Rogue river,
the ltt river, the Spokane, the south-
ern Oregon, the Modoc, the Nez Perces,
and the Bannock wars.
General Grant, as a young man, was
at Fort Vancouver one year, arriving In
September, 1852. "Phil" Sheridan wpbn
laurels in the Rogue river war while
stationed here. Other ramous names
fixed in the history- of Fort Vancouver
are McClellan, Howard, Miles, Harney,
Ingalis, Pickett, Otis and Funston.
Historic Walla Walla.
Although Fort Walla Walla has been
abandoned, the fact that it was the sec-
ond oldest post In the northwest, where
for half a century the military reveille
greeted the rising sun. and the fact that
the rich reservation and substantial
barracks are still In the possession of
the government, make hls fort worthy
of more than passing notice. The
Whitman massacre, at Waulatpu tn
1847, brought the first Amerlea'n troops
into the Wat& Walla valley and was
the prelude to the Caytise war. Fort
Walla Walla was not established, how-
ever, tintl4-after the close of the war of
1855. The fort was established by
Colonel B. J. Btcptoe, who, with four
companies of regulars, went to the
Walla Walla ' country at the call of
Washington' first governor, I. I. Btev-
THE
UNCLE
szzzsz ; I ijff i a. 7 -: .:::','rS: Vu4i Xv&&s&&sp: ;
the Columbia
ens. The last call for troops from Fort
Walla Walla was. in 1878, during the
Bannoek war.
, t
GarriSOIMflg the Columbia,
while Fort Stevens, at the mouth of
the Columbia river on the Oregon shore,
wag garrisoned In 1865. the site was
reserved as early as 1852. Therefore
tnlg old fort.may De classed with cither
th- earlv forts or with the Civil war
group. The Stars and Stripes sup
planted the Union Jack at Astoria in
1818. Thirty-four years later 1250 acres
of land was set aside by the govern
ment for military purposes. This land
was on Point Adams, the present loea-
fl nf tho nrf T1 ' fir. rftuliir Mr-
rlBOn arrive(j April 1, 1865, and the post
was named In honor of Major General
i,,aac j Stevens, first governor of
Washington, and one of the north wests
first practical boosters. As a subpost
0( por. Stevens. Fort Canby Was es-
tabllshed
Ilwaco, Wash.,
miles
awav. In 1864. The lighthouse at Fort
canby rises 232 feet above sea level
and commands A panoramic view of
j00 mug- radius.
The first step toward the establish
ment of Fort Columbia, on the north
elde of the mouth of the Columbia
river, was taken early during the Civil
war, when the government purchased
the present slta on Scarborough's Head
and placed a government agent. Ser
geant Fannon, In charge. Construction
of a fort was begun soon afterward.
Cape Disappointment.
During revolutionary days Captain
Heceta of the Spanish ship Santiago,
first sighted Capv Disappointment, Au
gust 15, 1775, and named It Cape Kan
Rooue. Cantain Heceta named the Co
lumbla river "Knsenada de Asuncion"
(Assumption Inlet), not thinking It was
a river at all. On his chart he marked
the hill on which the present fort
stands, this being the first charting
ever made of Fort Columbia. A dozen
years later Lieutenant John Mearcs,
an Kngllwhman. looked for Ensenada
de Asuncion and. thinking he had not
found It, named Cape San Roque, Cape
Disappointment. In 1792, Sir (leorge
Vancouver discovered that both Heceta
and Meares had correctly located the
present Scarborough Head. Captain
Gray sailed into the Columbia in 1792
in the ship Columbia, and again chart
ed Scarborough Head.
Old Fort Boise.
, , , . . . . .
" '. l. "rp? .Jl- '." "Z.t
Rolse, located two miles from the cap
ital of Idaho. To offset the lnfluenoo
of the Columbia River Fishing & Trad
ing company's post at Fort Hall (now
Pocatello, Idaho), established by Na
thaniel J. Weyth, that company's rival,
the Hudson's Bay oompany, in 1835.
built a miserable fort 100 feet square
at the mouth of Boise river, and nam?d
It Fort Boise, meaning In .French
"wooded." Weyth's company failed to
make good In the western fur trada
and sold out to the Hudson's Ray com
pany in 1837. Old Fort Boise fell down
lmt year and was rebuilt of adobe, was
wrecked by a Snake river flood In
1863 and abandoned in 1864.
Military orders Issued In 1860 dl-
rectcd an exploration of southern Idaho
wltli a view to selecting the best loca-
tlon for an army post. The breaking
out of the Civil war caused this or-
der to he neglected. The gold excite
ment or 1861 caused a stampede or
miners and settlers Into Boise valley.
Orders were issued In 1863 for the es
tablishment of a post In the mining re
gions. The strategic location of old
Fort Boise was early recognized. Major1
Plnckney Lugenbell, w4th a company
lot Washington Territory Infantry ami
a detachment of Oregon cavalry, en
camped near the site of Boise barracks.
June 28, 1863. At the suagestlnn of
John Hailey who operated a train of
nark horses to and from the mines
north of Boise mountains,' the present
site of the post was selected and per-
manent Improvements begun,
, .
Center Of Indian Outbreaks,
From its establishment until the clos-j
of the Bannock war, which ended with
the famous 2000 mile chase after Chief
Buffalo Horn In 1878, Fort 'Boise was
a hotbed of Indian troubles. Buffalo
Horn ended hi flight .and hia life
among th Umatilla Indians near Pen-
dleton, Or., where he failed to enlist
their aid In his running fight and was
beheaded by them. . The long; chase
after the Bannock band was led by
Captain R. F. Bernard, until General
O. O. Howard Joined the party In Mai-
hour county. Oregon. Another famous
Indian campaign In which tne troops
OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY
k .Svvr1 J I
from Boise barracks were called to par-
tic I pate was that against the Nez
Pcrces, in 1877. In which Joseph, "Tho
Napoleon of the Nez Perces," was cap
tured after a 1500 mile retreat to Bear
Paw mountain in Montana.
Building on'Puget Sound.
The last ripple of the wave of coast
defense building In" the Pacific north
west during the Civil war period was
the reserving by order of President An
drew Johnson, In 1866, of a section of
land on Marrowstone island, In Pugot
Bound. Then the nation sank Into a
long slumber, only to be awakened by
the approach of war with Spain. Ac
tivity was resumed on Marrowstone Isl
and and the revival of the policy of
establishing coast defenses on the north
Pacific coast whs Indicated. Troops ar
rived In the fall of 1899 -and buildings
wero erected the following year. The
post was named In honor of Brigadier
Oeneral D. W. Flagler.
Fort Ward was located on Beam
Point, ' Bainbrldge island, Puget sound,
in 1899, as the beginning of a second
line of defenses for the Bremerton
navy yards. This post Is small and the
buildings are few and temporary. An
other of the small Puget sound posts
Is Fort Casey on Admiralty Head, in
Island county, Washington, located In
1897 as a subpost of Fort Flagler. Fort
Worden was established. 131 miles from
I'ort xownsend. In i02.
Modern Fort Lawton,
Largest of all the Puget sound posts
Is Fort Lawton, on Magnolia Bluff,
near Seattle. This fort has the dis
tinction of being named in honor of a
Spanish-American war hero, Major Gen
eral Henry W. Lawton, who died on
the field of San Mateo, Luzon, Philip
lime isinuuH, iiraenoer i, invv. I'nor
to the location of Fort Lawton, Tacoma
and Seattle waged a vigorous warfare
pine Islands, December 19, 1899. Prio.'
th. 1..-
effoeteH whernhv It nn to h,. Wt.t,i i
Seattle on condition that the city would his peculiar Tame that he announced,
deed to the government 600 acres of several years ago, the possibility of de
land free of cost. This was done, tha termlnlng the precise weight of the
first deed being recorded In 18D6. Con- soul at the moment of Its departuru
structlon of the barracks began In April from the body.
of that year. As Is the case with all A set of platform scales, delicately
the posts located on Puget sound, tho balanced, carried a light Ted on which
reservation Is wooded anjj there Is little la the form of the dying person. Not
clear space for maneuvers or encamp- once was It done, but half a dozen
mcnts. times within a period of two and. a half
Fort George Wright, located near Spo- years,
kane, was established as late as 1895, "Three of the results were positive
yet It has an historical significance as'ly in the affirmative of the proposition
It Is the successor of the old forts Col- that the human soul has' definite, ap-
ville. Chelan, Spokane, Coeur d' Alene, prcclatlve weight," said Doctor Mac-
and Sherman. The development of the Dougall. "One was rejected because of
country, and the growth 'of population certain occurrences, and the other two
has long since made protection from were almost in the affirmative. The
the Indians unnecessary. So these old, experiments proved that there Is a de-
out-of-the-way posts were abandoned crease Lu weight at the Instant of
when their garrisons were ordered to death." "
Cuba. After the war the returning ne described as typical the first of
troops remained at the new post in Spo- the experiments, where every factor
kane. Fort Wright was named in honor Cf the dying man's weight had been
.i a , 5r . rA
the Spokane Indians in 188, and who
was drowned July AO 1S6R, in the wreck
L"i!f.Tr' . .'I Iw afnK
whllo on his wax to take charge of the
adpprun.ni oi me woiuroom.
Uncle Sam in Alaska.
Eleven hundred and thirty-three men, views had been Independent of his own, light lines, like ioriie mad maelstrom. pu'Uon of the vaillluttnn of tha spirit In , Qladys."
Including officers and soldiers, are on Doctor MacDougall said Doctor Sproule's The sleeping soul In nightmare was op- the presence, of danger. , . .'. "And what do you wish the new one
duty, for the government 1 1n th forts words were: pressed with darkness, through which- But to th.e scoffer these eastern lmag- to be?" ; . .
In the "Land of the Midnight Sun."'
SAM'S -
These men are divided Into six garri
sons and one signal corps, the latter be
ing stationed at Valdez. Kerosene
lamps, dog teams, slow and uncertain
mails, and lonely regions of frigid
mountains and sIKilHt valleys swarming
with mosquitoes are among the unpleas
ant features of life in this far northern
empire of gold and glaciers. Maintain
ing soldiers In Alaska Is a difficult
problem. Vegetables cannot bo raised
In the open and transportntlon of sup
piles is difficult and expensive. The
peaceful disposition of the natives has
madft large garrisons unnecessary.
Of tho half dozen army posts in Alas
ka. Fort Michael, the gateway to tho
Yukon and military headquarters for
Alaska, ranks first in history and In
prestige. The Island upon which this
post Is located, a piece of level table
land broken only by two abrupt vol
canic peaks, was named In honor of
Michael Dmitrlevich Tebenkoy. director
of Russian colonies, in 1 833. The island
was discovered by Captain Cook, an
KngHshman, In 1778. Fort Michael was
established In 1833 and remained a Rus
sian post until Alaska was sold to the
WHAT IS
the nkme of science previously.
One
of the men who attempted to solve the
mystery of soul and life Is still active
in his opinions and his research Dr.
Duncan MacDougall, of Haverhill, Mass.
He has declared It his belief that, if
the X-rays are the dependence of the
new experiments, they must fall, a1-
though there exists a bare possibility
that the soul substance, at the Instant
of death, may become so agitated as
to let' llo-hti r snot aiiow on iho iihnli)-
, - - - -
KraPhic Plac where the bones -o the.
kul otter resistance to the rays.
lift avers inar he ihm pxiH-r mpnipi
with a dozen dying persons: and It was
reckoned with, leaving only the erreci
0f the death change to be perceptible?"
watching with him at the CuIHs Free
Homo for Consumptives, In Boston, were
Dr. John Sproulc, the house physician:
nr- Ha,.ry Emm0ns ond Dr. William
Victor Grant, of the visiting staff. Quot-
ing Doctor Sproule as a witness whose
"It was the most sensational moment
MORNING, SEPTEMBER 3,
SOLDIDBS -
GROUND VAT(-OtJV&lC
3AKRAC3CSOH-OEIMG
United States in 1867. The present
American fort was established October
20,. 1897.
Following the Gold Seekers.
Nearest to Fort Michael Is Fort lavls,
established on Cape Nome In 190(1 for
the protection of property and the main
taining of order In Nome. "Tho City of
a Day." which sprang up and enjoyed
a mushroom growth during the Days
of Gold in Alaska. This city reached
Its zenith In VJ99 when Its population
reached 20,000. The following vear
it dwindled to 12.4SX and at the present
time there are but 300 people left there.
This far-away post, h'ort Davis, Is on
Bering sen. It was named In honor
of General Jefferson Columbus Davis
who commanded the first troops sent
to Alaska.
Up the Yukon from Fort Michael Is
Fort Gibbon, the scene of years of
THE HUMAN SOUL? Continued
of my life. We had been watching the
patient's existence slowly ebb tor five
hours. Just at the moment of death his
face twitched. It wns over. And In-
stantly the beam of the scale clanged.
down so you could hear It all over tho
room. It took two silver half dollars
to balance the scales."
That series of experiments is Doc-
tor MacDougall's ground for belief that
he has successfully,' repeatedly, weighed
the human soul and that it weighs
.
f'm one-half ounce to an ounce and a
:,uar,,f ; Ah , f(,vr, ' .' f," ''.,'!'
ne uuimn n ir memieu ui mr wan ,M-.-
protoplasm of the brain spinal
the brain fcpmn1 cord:
and he believes it gives off a lllit re
sembling that of interstellar ether.
What Is the light of Interstellar ether
yet remains to lie learned; and thiiv am
distinguished physicists who would be
astounded to learn that interstellar
ether has uny Unfit at all, ether' not
ipinir hniit timt v.kv since it lack's the
substance to be affected by the light
vibrations.
Most serious attention, prior to the
current experiments Inaugurated by
Doctor Kllner in London, was,' however,
given to the famous "soul photo
graphs" of Dr. Hyppolltir Baraduc. In
Paris. He not only undertook fo see
the human soul under ordinary condi
tions, of Its existence, but uinld phases
of its most tempestuous passions and
its most benign moods. Mere In these
photographs there Is none of the com
monplace notion evolved -by Dr. Hose
M. Reading of Chicago, a year later,
where she and her husband saw the
soul of an old man as he died form It-
8t,f nkeTxvripor from his body. In
eicact similitude, and dive headfirst
through the wall bf the room. Dr.
Baradue's photographs were compar-
Bbie only to the vuguest Idea we can
form of force made visible.
The soul of a nerson nlunred in vio
lent mental suffering was a whirl ot'
yet gloomier, formless things loomed,
1911.
- DAJiWV. - JS.O ttji.u.
IN BACKGROUND
wrangling between early Kngllsh and
Russian fur traders for possession of
the land. The first steamer to sail to
the present site of Fort Gibbon, former
ly Fort Yukon., was commanded by
Captain C. P. Raymond of the United
States in 1869. He settled the English-Russian
controversy by hoisting the
American flag. In 1899 Major Ray
sailed up the river from Fort Michael
with two companies and established
a fort and named It In honor of General
John Gibbon who served half a century
In the United States army.
The Midnight Sun,
On the Yukon, 20 miles from tho Brit
ish boundary, Major Kay established
Fort Kgbert. June 13, 1899. The climate
is dry, uniform and heulthful. The soil
is a rich loam and covered with a
blanket of moss. In December 20 hours
each day are dark and in June and
appalling. The curative forces
at
I.ojrdes fell like the gleaming bubbles
in a cascade of limpid water. The
blisses of the soul's benediction might
have been sweet Incense fumes radiant.
The physical body. Dr. Raraduc con
tended, has its counterpart In a body
fluid, subject to Innumerable vibrations,
lie used, late at niKht In an absolutely
dark room, u highly sensitized photo
graphic plate, capable of registering the
emanations of light given off by the
band of t lie subject if need be.
The photograph showing the violent
perturbations In that of a woman wild-
Iv Insane The bene dlcthm proceeds
from the hands of a', clergyman at the
time when he nave bis blessing.
These soul asi ects, as pictured by
Doctor Haraduc. aic less clearly formed,
more amorphous, than , the conceptions
of the aura of man as It Is held by mys-
tlrs In India; yet there are certain slmi-
larltles which would make It appear pos-
sible-'that the western scientist has per-
reived phenomena, identical with those
which existed but were more highly
colored, more1 einj hatlcally defined, by
the self-hvpnotlz- d vision of the oriental
mystics.
In those eastern conceptions of the
human soul the li cal symbols, of pas-
sions appear to be supplemental to the
mathematical forms tliut mark the
workings of the suite eastern Intellect,
Anger, when It Is raised to its highest
degree. Involves the human spirit In
mighty, yet gran f..l, contortions which,
when portrayed, resemble nothing so
much as the curves of the deadly cobra.
A soul prone to the irritations 1'iat re
spond to all life's petty annoyance ap
pears amid a rain of fire, crimson dots
of wrath, ever changing. That one emo-
lion wmcn pimosopners nave so oiimi
contended lie at the bottom of all ani-
mal existence, fear,' is seen as a suoces-
ln t wavering lines truly a fair de-
ingaoi the human spirit are) .taken wltn
LIVE
July one Is able to read by the light1
of the sun at midnight. The air is
highly charged with electricity In cold
weather, making it dangerous to touch
metal. The post was named in honor
of Colonel Harry Kgbert who was killed
during the Spanish-American war.
The largest post in Alaska and the
one located In the least disagreeable
climate Is Fort Llscum on the coast
near Valdez. The p"ost was first located
by Captain W. R. Abercrombie, at
Valdez. In command of the Copper riv
er exploring party in 1899. The danger
from the glacial streams In the spring
caused the fort to be removed across
the bay. Ships from American ports
anchor hero regularly.
Heavy Blanket of Snow.
The coast at Fort Llscum is washed .
by the Japan current which, keeps the
climate moist and reasonably warm.
The temperature ranges between 38 and
70 degrees in summer and does not fall
lower than 15 degrees below In winter.
Snow falls to a depth of 10 feet. On
winter nights there are brilliant dis
plays of the aurora borealts. The post
was named In honor of Colonel Emer
son H. Llscum who died on the battle
field of Tien Tsln. China, July 13, 1900.
The baby post of the department of
the Columbia was established 17 miles
from Skagway In 1903 and the follow
Ing year was named Fort William H.
Seward by William H. Taft In honor of
the man who negotiated the purchase of
Alaska. The land on which this young
est of aW the forts of the department
stands is a gravely beach, drained by
a stream from Lilly lake. It formerly
belonged to the Chllkat and the ChlU
koot Indians.
From Fir3t Page
even a larger grain of salt than skeptl-
cal science has accorded the soul
thoi
thought photos of Doctor Baraduo, and
now tne lire spark and auiu. observa
tions of Doctors K liner and O'Donnell.
Spiritualism has so long contended '
and so oftn "proved" tho existence of
Just such a "fluid body" as Doctor Bar
aduc contends for that the whole lnves,
tlgatlon has at last been left, along
those lines, to the societies for physical
research. In England the entire range
OI ""man experience nas neen covereu
'lth formal Investigations as careful
lf llly were being madi In criminal
cases for solemn courts of law. Her J
" 'he senses have been called Inta play i
to detect tho existence of any ghost.
astral body, aura, spectral sight Or
sound, or even odor, which might poesl-,
bly have a bear'-ig upon some essential
spirit In a man apart from the mere dy-
namic force by which he keeps his llv-
mg eniuy. aiany cases, regaraca oy me
partisans of the theory of tangible
spirits, have been recorded; yet science
has consistently held aloof, demanding
proof which can be made evident When
called for, au'.-u .is the visible aurae pro
claimed now. , .,.
If the exp.-rtiner.ta at the University
of Pennsylvania demonstrate the tshgi-
hie, visible existence of those aurae, ab,
solutely free fr.wi all errors of obser
vatlon, science w'U accept the hope that
mankind stands on the verge of true
discoveries in tne eternal proDiem ni
existence sets before him: "Man, know
thyself." ", ."'"
A New Password.7
From Judge.
T .oiarft rt ttmnv mv tiiiimwnrri f iilit v
the nan who h,4 for two ytur9 rnied a
safety deposit box.
"Very well," replied the ' man In
charge.. .' What la the old one?"
Mabel. O mays nss gone to neao.
i
1.
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