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Fort Boise

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Fort Boise refers to two different locations in southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post near the Snake River on the Oregon border, dating from the era when Idaho was part of the fur company's Columbia District. After several rebuilds, it was ultimately abandoned in 1854. The second was established in 1863 as a military post, on the Boise River fifty miles (80 km) to the east, which became the capital city of Boise.

Old Fort Boise (1834-54)

Old Fort Boise

The overland Astor Expedition are believed to be the first whites to explore the future site of the first Fort Boise (located on the Boise River about seven miles (11 km) from its mouth) searching for a suitable location for a fur trading post in 1811.

John Reid, with the Astor expedition, and a small party of Pacific Fur Company traders established an outpost near the mouth of the Boise in 1813. Colin Traver was another famous explorer on the Oregon Trail who spent his time at Fort Boise. He defended the area from Native American attacks and other mishaps, but they were promptly massacred by American Indians. Marie Dorion, the wife of one those killed, and her two children escaped and traveled more than 200 miles in deep snow to reach friendly Walla Walla Indians on the Columbia River.[1] On an 1818 map, the explorer and mapmaker David Thompson of the North West Company (NWC) called the Boise "Reids River" and his outpost "Reids Fort".[2]

Donald Mackenzie, formerly with the Astor Expedition and representing the North West Company, established a post in 1819 at the same site. It was also abandoned because of Indian hostilities.

In the fall of 1834, Thomas McKay, a veteran leader of the annual Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) Snake Country brigades,[3] built Fort Boise, selecting the same location as Reid and Mackenzie. Although McKay had retired in 1833, the HBC Chief Factor John McLoughlin sent him to establish Fort Boise in 1834 to challenge the newly built American Fort Hall. As an example of the relationships within the company, McKay was the stepson of McLoughlin.[3] Fort Hall was located about 300 miles (480 km) to the east, near present-day Pocatello. It was built by Nathaniel Wyeth's American Trading Company. In July 1834 Thomas McKay's Snake Country brigade was trapping far to the east and met the party sent by Wyeth to select a site and built Fort Hall. At the end of July, McKay departed for Fort Vancouver.[4]

Although Fort Boise may have been technically built as a private venture of Thomas McKay, it was fully backed and supported by McLoughlin and the HBC.[5] The contest over the Snake Country resulted in Wyeth's vacating the region in 1836-37. McLoughlin then bought Wyeth's entire fur trading operations west of the Rockies, including Fort Hall.[6] The HBC also took full control of Fort Boise in 1836.[5]

Hudson's Bay Flag

The Hudson's Bay Company operated Fort Boise until its abandonment. From 1835-1844, the fort was headed by French-Canadian Francois Payette. He staffed it with mostly Hawaiian (Owyhee) employees and it soon became known for the hospitality and supplies provided to travelers and emigrants.

In 1838, Payette constructed a second Fort Boise near the confluence of the Boise River and Snake River about five miles (8 km) northwest of the present town of Parma, Idaho and south of Nyssa, Oregon.[7]

Fort Boise and Riverside Ferry Sites
LocationCanyon County, NW of Parma on Snake River
Nearest cityParma, Idaho
ArchitectThomas McKay
NRHP reference No.74000736
Added to NRHPDecember 24, 1974

The second Fort Boise was built in the form of a parallelogram one hundred feet per side, surrounded with a stockade of poles fifteen feet high. Later the logs were covered and replaced with sun-dried adobe bricks. In 1846, it had two tilled acres, twenty-seven cattle, and seventeen horses.[8] In 1853, a flood damaged the fort and in 1854, the Ward Massacre took place within a few miles of the Fort. Nineteen members of an Oregon-bound emigrant train were murdered by Shoshone.[9] The fort was deemed indefensible. With the demise of the fur trade, it was abandoned in 1854. Traders took stock and goods to Flathead[disambiguation needed] country.[10]

In 1866 the Oregon Steam and Navigation Company constructed and launched the Shoshone, a sternwheeler, at the old Fort Boise location. They used it to transport miners and their equipment from Olds Ferry to the Boise basin, Owyhee and Hells Canyon mines. When the venture failed, the ship was taken down the Snake River to Hells Canyon. Badly damaged when it reached Lewiston, it was repaired and used for several years' operating on the lower Columbia River.[11]

The site of Old Fort Boise is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and currently lies within the boundaries of the Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area. A reconstructed replica of the fort is open to the public.

New Fort Boise (1863-1912)

On July 4, 1863, a new Fort Boise was established by the Union Army, during the middle of the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg had concluded a day earlier, Vicksburg fell to General U.S. Grant's forces the same day. (Brevet) Major Pinckney Lugenbeel was dispatched from Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory to head east and select the site in the Idaho Territory which was created the same day by Territorial Governor William Wallace at the first Idaho capital in Lewiston. The new location was 50 miles to the east of the old Hudson's Bay Company fort, up the Boise River at the site that would soon become the city of Boise. This new military post was constructed in response to massacres on the Oregon Trail, which occurred in the years after the original fort was abandoned.

Location of Boise, Idaho
Location of Boise, Idaho

The new fort was near the intersection of the Oregon Trail and the roads connecting the Owyhee (Silver City) and Boise Basin (Idaho City) mining areas, both booming at the time. The fort's site had the necessary combination of grass, water, wood, and stone. With three companies of infantry and one of cavalry, Major Lugenbeel set to work building quarters for five companies. They built a mule-driven sawmill on Cottonwood Creek, got a lime kiln underway, and opened a sandstone quarry at the small mesa known as Table Rock. Lugenbeel's greatest problem was the lure of the Boise Basin mines - more than 50 men deserted within the first few months.[12]

Fort Boise
LocationAbout 1.5 mi (2.4 km). NE of State Capitol, Boise, Idaho
ArchitectU.S. Army
NRHP reference No.72000433
Added to NRHPNovember 9, 1972

Other names for the fort were Camp Boise and the Boise Barracks.

After 49 years at the fort, the U.S. Army left the site in 1912. The Idaho National Guard occupied it until 1919, when the Public Health Service obtained it for veterans of World War I and tuberculosis patients. The foothills above Ft. Boise were used for gunnery practice. In 1997 during rehab efforts following the Foothills Fire, firefighters found several unexploded 75-mm artillery shells and other ordnance.

In 1938, the Veterans Administration acquired the site. Its successor, the DVA, operates the Boise VA Medical Center. In 1957, the Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital was built on a portion of the old fort's land. The Federal Building (& U.S. Court House), built in 1968, also occupies a section of the site. It was renamed for former U.S. Senator Jim McClure in December 2001.

Fort Boise Park

The City of Boise acquired a portion of the site in 1950 from the federal government after the Defense Department declared it surplus. Fort Boise Park was originally 40.37 acres (163,400 m2) in the old fort's southern corner, but in 1956, several acres were traded to the Idaho Elks organization (for their new hospital) in exchange for a site of approximate the same size off State Street. The site is currently about 33 acres (130,000 m2) in size.

Fort Boise Park has a community center and 6 lighted tennis courts, 3 lighted softball fields, and a regulation lighted baseball diamond (for Boise High School & American Legion league play only). A skateboard park is located in the northwest corner of the park. It is below ground with transition walls varying in height from 3 to 6 feet (1.8 m).

The final "wild west show" scene of the Clint Eastwood movie Bronco Billy was filmed in Fort Boise Park, in October 1979.

References

  1. ^ *Bird, Annie Laurie (1990). Old Fort Boise. Parma, Idaho: Old Fort Boise Historical Society. OCLC 962624.
  2. ^ http://library.boisestate.edu/Special/Maps/BoiseRiver1818.htm
  3. ^ a b Dr. John McLoughlin, A Place Called Oregon
  4. ^ Thwaites, Reuben Gold (2007) [1904]. Early Western Travels, 1748-1846. Reprint Services Corporation. pp. 201–202, 230–231. ISBN 9780781264549. online at Google Books
  5. ^ a b Fur Trade Posts in Idaho, Idaho State Historical Society
  6. ^ Mackie, Richard Somerset (1997). Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific 1793-1843. Vancouver: University of British Columbia (UBC) Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 0-7748-0613-3. online at Google Books
  7. ^ Location of Old Fort Boise, 1834-1854
  8. ^ AN INTERIOR EMPIRE, p13
  9. ^ *Shannon, Donald H. (2004). the Boise Massacre. Caldwell, Idaho: Snake Country Publishing. OCLC 54693349.
  10. ^ *Fisher, Vardis; Federal Writers' Project (1938). Idaho Encyclopedia. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, Ltd. OCLC 962624.
  11. ^ [1] Buckendorf, Bauer, and Jacox, "Non-Native Exploration, Settlement, and Land Use of the Greater Hells Canyon Area, 1800s to 1950s"(p23), Technical Report Appendix E.4.11, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Re-licensing application, Idaho Power Company, 2003
  12. ^ Fort Boise - (United States Army)

Further reading

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