Fort Boise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Boise refers to two different locations in southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near the Oregon border, dating from the era when Idaho was part of the fur company's Columbia District. The second was a military post fifty miles to the east which became the capital city of Boise.
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[edit] Old Fort Boise
The original Fort Boise (or "Old Fort Boise") was a fur trading post of the British Hudson's Bay Company in Idaho. First built by Thomas McKay in the fall of 1834 with the backing of HBC, it was acquired by the Company in 1836. Fort Boise's initial location was on the Boise River about seven miles (11 km) above its mouth. It was relocated in 1838 at the Boise River's mouth at the Snake River, about five miles (8 km) northwest of the present town of Parma, south of Nyssa, Oregon.[1] Fort Boise was built to compete for furs with the American trading post of Fort Hall, about 300 miles (480 km) to the east, near Pocatello. Fort Hall was subsequently acquired by HBC in 1837.
Fort Boise was a small adobe-walled fort, famous as a stopping point on the Oregon Trail. From 1835-1844, the fort was headed by French-Canadian Francois Payette. It was mostly staffed by Hawaiian (Owyhee) employees and soon became known for the hospitality and supplies provided to travelers and emigrants. In 1846, it had two tilled acres, twenty-seven cattle, and seventeen horses.[2] Partially destroyed by flood waters in 1853, it was finally abandoned after the Indian War of 1855. Another flood in 1862 finally destroyed it.
| Fort Boise and Riverside Ferry Sites | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Location: | NW of Parma on Snake River |
| Nearest city: | Parma, Idaho |
| Architect: | Thomas McKay |
| Added to NRHP: | December 24, 1974 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74000736 |
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and currently lies within the boundaries of the Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area. A replica of the fort is open to the public.
[edit] New Fort Boise
On July 4, 1863, a new Fort Boise was established by the U.S. Army, during the middle of the Civil War (the Battle of Gettysburg had concluded a day earlier). (Brevet) Major Pinckney Lugenbeel was dispatched from Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory to head east and select the site in the newly formed Idaho Territory. The new location was fifty miles to the east of the old Hudson's Bay Company fort, up the Boise River at the site which would soon become the city of Boise. This new military post was in response to massacres on the Oregon Trail which occurred in the years after the original fort was abandoned.
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.[3]
| Fort Boise | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Location: | About 1.5 mi (2.4 km). NE of State Capitol |
| Nearest city: | Boise, Idaho |
| Architect: | U.S. Army |
| Added to NRHP: | November 9, 1972 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 72000433 |
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, and 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, and in 1997 during rehab efforts following the Foothills Fire, several unexploded 75 mm artillery shells and other ordnance were found by firefighters. In 1938 the Veterans Administration acquired the site, and its successor, the DVA, presently 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.
[edit] 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 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 of State Street. The site is currently about 33 acres 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 north west 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, filmed in October 1979.
[edit] External links
- Old Fort Boise IdahoHistory.net
- Old Fort Boise National Park Service - Whitman Mission National Historic Site
- Fort Boise Park City of Boise - Parks
- Fort Boise Community Center City of Boise - Parks
- Historic Fort Boise Military Cemetery City of Boise - Parks
- James A. McClure Federal Building & U.S. Court House
- Boise VA Medical Center Department of Veterans Affairs
- Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital @ Fort Boise
- Boise's Northend neighborhood Fort Boise history
- Boise.org A Brief History of Boise
- TerraServerUSA.com Fort Boise Park: USGS topo map & aerial photo
[edit] References
FORT BOISE (RIVERSIDE) FERRY. Crossing the Snake River on the Oregon Trail. http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/0756.pdf
OWYHEE HORSE AND CATTLE RANCHES (NINETEENTH CENTURY). http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/1050.pdf
Lower Owyhee Watershed Assessment IV. Historical Conditions. (Descriptions & assesments of Fort Boise and the surrounding area) by early explorers and others. http://www.shockfamily.net/Owyhees/History.pdf
Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940
"Idaho for the Curious", by Cort Conley, 1982, ISBN 0960356630, pp. 394, 412, 545.
