Surgeon's Quarters at Fort Dalles

The architecture of the Surgeon’s Quarters is quite unique and represents a style that one would not expect in an 1850’s Oregon fort. The architect was Louis Scholl who also designed the officer’s quarters at Fort Simcoe, the style is carpenter-gothic and for that day and time was deemed to be quite extravagant. Scholl built the officer’s quarters in this style with the grandest being the commanding officer’s quarters. At the time of construction (1856) Fort Dalles was becoming a regimental headquarters of the 9th U.S. Infantry and had surpassed Fort Vancouver as the most important post along the Columbia River. It is unfortunate that only the Surgeon’s Quarters remains but you can see what some of the other quarters looked like if you check out the museum.

Fort Dalles Museum

Fort Dalles was the center of operations along the Columbia River during the 1850’s Indian Wars and had it’s share of distinguished and undistinguished military names associated with it including Maj Benjamin Alvord, Maj Gabriel Rains, Maj. Granvill Haller, Capt Frederick Dent, Maj Pinkney Lugenbeel and Col George Wright.

During the 1850’s the Oregon Dalles was the crossroads of westward travel because the rapids at the Dalles forced river traffic to portage around it and the Oregon trail met the Columbia River there.

View of the Columbia River Gorge from Fort Dalles

You can reach The Dalles and Fort Dalles by Interstate 80 East out of Portland, Oregon. The drive up the Columbia River Gorge is alone worth the trip. Take the scenic route, if you have not done that before, along the top of the gorge and don’t miss Multnomah Falls.

“As you can see, the carriage is now mounted on a steel swivel stand, has the upper racer aprons and electric controls, and has the catwalks & rails installed. The gun now raises & lowers at the touch of a switch. Soon it will traverse and elevate automatically as well.

Jack Buckmeir's 10" Gun and Disappearing Carriage Model at Camp Rlea

By watching videos of DC carriages in operation, I was able to match the speed of the model to the firing of an actual gun. I find that observing the model as it works gives you a great admiration and respect for the tremendous engineering talent of the men that designed and built the disappearing carriages.

When triggered, the barrel begins to raise slowly, then the gun levers rapidly accelerate the barrel to the in-battery position. Once fired, that accelerating facet of the design in reverse forces a quick starting lift of the counterweight and then gradually slows the inertia of the barrel backwards down to the rest position in recoil. An absolutely perfect pattern for the recoil of a large weapon…

10" Gun 1/6th Scale Model with Action Figure

I believe the museum staff has a place picked out for the display so hopefully we can have it installed soon. The completed display will need at least a 6X8 ft. footprint but an 8X8 footprint would be much better.”

We took an early ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island island to have full day at Fort Casey and Fort Ebey on July 18th 2008. This time of year the morning fog and marine layer make this a risky proposition and the short ferry ride was shrouded in fog and the drive up the island to Fort Casey was just as grey.

Fort Casey Battery Worth 10 Inch Gun on a Disappearing Carriage

We turned left into Fort Casey and drove up the hill past the hidden mortar Battery Seymour and Battery Schenck. As you crest the hill, Batteries Worth, Moore and Kingsbury come into view and your eyes are immediately drawn to the 10 inch guns of Battery Worth. Even shrouded in the fog the main battery line was impressive and the guns of Battery Worth looked like they were ready to fire. The #1 gun is in the upright firing position while the #2 gun is in the retracted hidden position.

We went through the batteries taking pictures of the open rooms. The fog prevented good pictures of the batteries themselves and we decided to drive up to Battery 248 at Fort Ebey while waiting for the fog to lift.

Fort Casey Commanding Officer's Quarters

By the time we finished at Fort Ebey the fog was lifting and we turned into Fort Casey as the sun was beginning to break through. We went through the Fort proper checking out the officer’s quarters, the NCO quarters, the enlisted barracks and the parade ground. This part of the Fort is now a conference center that was hosting a soccer camp this day. There were kids everywhere but the flavor of a coastal fort was still present.

Fort Casey Battery Worth 10" Gun Muzzle ID Ring

We began a tour of the batteries (Battery Seymour, Battery Schenck, Battery Worth, Battery Moore, Battery Kingsbury, Battery Valleau, Battery Parker, Battery Turman, Battery Van Horne and Battery Trevor) with a special look at at Battery Worth and Battery Trevor. Both have mounted guns brought over from batteries in the Philippines. Battery Worth, Gun #1 was so impressive that I used one of the shots of it in the masthead of this blog. The muzzle of each gun has an identifier ring shown in the photo. The breach blocks are missing, thrown in the Pacific to prevent their capture during World War II.

Battery Trevor has two 3 inch pedestal mounted guns also from the Philippines which give you a great view of what the smaller gun batteries looked like. The full tour of Fort Casey can easily be done in half a day but you should take your time and take in all the details.

Fort Casey Battery John Trevor

If you plan to depart Whidbey Island by the ferry from Keystone to Port Townsend you will find it is quite small and usually requires reservations. Don’t forget to visit Fort Worden in Port Towsend if you leave via this route.

Getting to Fort Inge: drive from San Antonio on U.S. 90 to Uvalde and then turn South on Ranch road 140 until you see the sign for Fort Inge, about two miles out of town. The site of the fort is only open on weekends from 8am to 8pm and has a small admission fee. Make sure to drive the length of the park along the river and see the dam.

Fort Inge Hospital and Commissary Foundation Remains

All that’s left of Fort Inge are the remains of a one company frontier fort that lasted from 1849-1869 under various flags and missions. There were a couple of substantial stone buildings whose foundations partially survive and the remnants of a long low stone wall that once surrounded the post. The wooden structures no longer exist. Inge Mountain, which once held the Fort’s flag pole, sits to the right of the post and now has a reproduction of the flag pole at the top of the 125′ peak.

You can really get a flavor of what the duty must have been like at this post and why this site was chosen. The Leona River runs along the western edge of the post providing both the necessary water supply and possibly some good forage for the horses. The post still has the lonely look and feel of the edge of the frontier and everything seems dry and dusty.

Fort Inge Stone Wall and Inge Mountain

There are interpretive signs placed near the locations of the buildings but the hot Texas sun has taken a toll on those signs, making some difficult to read. Horses run free through the post so watch your step. If you want to take the river trail or the fort trail, I suggest you have boots on and keep a sharp eye out.

This is a nice day trip out of San Antonio but don’t expect to see much more than the remains of foundations, the low rock wall and Inge Mountain. However, you will gain an insight into what it was like for the men who served here 150 years ago.

For a look at a more substantial example of a fort of this type and period you can visit Fort Martin Scott in Fredericksburg, which has one original building and several reconstructed buildings.

FOOFS President Diane Forst and Coastal Artillery Vet Bill Gilley

Saturday’s Friends Of Old Fort Stevens (FOOFS) picnic and membership drive was a celebration of the terrific work that FOOFS does at Fort Stevens. On top of the celebration they had a nifty surprise in store for us.

The first order of business was, of course, the food. Diane Forst, President of FOOFS, started a short program by doling out door prizes. Then she introduced Jack Buckmeir who has been working on the 6″ Battery Pratt Gun Restoration project. To see the progress, check out my earlier blog post. Jack had his pickup truck parked behind him, and in the truck bed was was a very large object covered with a tarp. On cue, the tarp was pulled off, revealing an engineering model of one of the Battery Russell 10″ Guns complete with an operational disappearing carriage. Jack gave a demonstration of how it works and wowed the crowd.



Jack Buckmeir's 10" Disappearing Gun Model Mounted on a Pickup

Jack’s pickup looked quite intimidating with that gun mounted on the back; it’s probably a very good thing that he keeps that tarp over it. The model is not a detailed replica of the M1900 Gun on a  M1901 disappearing carriage, but rather a 1/6 scale engineering model built to confirm the validity of the design. Jack’s amazing attention to detail made the gun look real and he plans to set it up for electrical operation in the museum’s simulated Battery Russell.

Fort Stevens Vets at FOOFS Picnic 20 Sep 2008

Each of the Fort Stevens Vets present was introduced and a group picture taken. The weather was a bit chilly and grey but everyone had a great time, so it was well worth the long drive from Salem.

I arrived at the parking lot of the McKenzie Head trail pretty late in the afternoon. To be completely honest, I am out of shape and looking at that trail going up McKenzie Head didn’t look all that appealing, especially after hiking the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse Trail. This was especially true given the McKenzie Head trail was half a mile long and up a large hill. But I was there and I wanted to visit the battery so I began to hike the trail.

Battery 247 Gun Emplacement #2

It was the biggest relief in the world to come up the trail and see the second gun emplacement. Fortunately, there were wooden benches between the Lewis and Clark information signs so I sat for a spell. It was such a beautiful sunny day that I could see out to the Pacific Ocean. I heard it’s a rarity this time of the year at Cape Disappointment. It was such a spectacular and commanding view. I could see the reason why the Army built the battery on the summit of McKenzie Head. There is immense strategic advantage in being able to fire 6″ shells over 15 miles from a elevation of 225 feet. Not only would you be able to spot enemy ships with relative ease but you can also get the same range with less of an arc. Well, that is my theory and it seems to make sense.

I also took the opportunity to look around the immediate surroundings. It is interesting to note that like its Endicott predecessors, the battery is pretty well camouflaged with plant growth, unlike its sister batteries 245 and 246. It is unknown how much of this growth accumulated after the battery was abandoned in 1947, but something tells me that the Army would have intentionally camouflaged this battery, given the natural surroundings, to make it harder for enemy ships to spot the battery. As I said earlier, the battery was built on top of a hill, which made it easier to spot enemy ships; the same could have been true for the enemy ships, if the battery wasn’t camouflaged. Camouflage nets would have been used for the guns and concrete emplacements since you can’t have plant growth obscuring the line of fire.

Fort Canby Battery 247 Interior

There is no lighting inside the battery but I had my trusty mini Mag-Lite to highlight every nook and cranny. Experience has taught me that when visiting batteries always have a flashlight handy. Most batteries don’t have interior lighting anymore so it can be very hazardous if you can’t see. You could walk into a steel door that is partially open, or trip and fall on the concrete because you couldn’t see that little step up before the entrance of a room.

Battery 247 Plotting Room

Despite 61 years of abandonment, the concrete is in excellent shape with no cracking, crumbling, or any visible deterioration. All the walls were smooth and cool to the touch. The steel doors that remain are still solid with only surface rust. The battery is pretty dry but there are some areas of standing water in the radio room. There were droplets of water all over the ceiling of the plotting room, radio room, and latrine, which I found interesting because these same water droplets in some Endicott batteries can cause stalagtite formations due to mineral leeching, much like the same process in a cave. Could this be the beginning of the same thing for the ceiling of this WWII battery? Only time will tell.

I was able to explore most of the battery but I couldn’t explore the power room, water cooler room, exhaust gallery, and the shell room for the second gun. The heavy steel doors to these rooms were closed, denying access either directly or indirectly.

Fort Umpqua Stockade and Southwest Bastion

The reconstruction must meet current building codes, which poses one of the biggest challenges. For example, the foundation is concrete but is concealed with a gravel cover. Original construction techniques are honored when possible, including wooden pegs in the bastion and hand peeling of all the logs. A modern portable saw mill is used to cut the logs in half.

Chris Peeling Logs for the Stockade

Southwest Bastion of Fort Umpqua

Entirely a volunteer effort, the funding for this project comes from individual contributions, a $10,000 grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission and several other fund-raising events.

Volunteers are needed for every aspect of building; you can also participate in this outstanding restoration project by donating $25 for a log or $15 for timber. All donations are tax-deductible and earn a certificate and a small plaque at the completed fort. They can be mailed to Fort Umpqua Volunteers, 23155 Highway 38, Elkton, OR 97436. Contact Joanne Smith, (541) 584-2160, or e-mail manygreatquilts@aol.com.

The fort is located on the west side of Elkton, Oregon, alongside the Umpqua River. The drive from Portland lasts about three hours. Take Hwy 38 from I-5 or from Reedsport, Oregon. It’s a great drive no matter what direction you take.

Breech View of Reconstructed Gun #1

While at Fort Stevens on 22 Aug 2008, I checked out the progress of the gun restoration project at Battery Pratt. The Friends of Old Fort Stevens (FOOFS) are in the process of restoring the operational features of Battery Pratt’s 6″ gun #1 and it’s disappearing carriage. Jack Buckmeir completed the engineering from original drawings and designed the reconstruction from scratch. You have to see this to really appreciate the effort and attention to detail that Jack and FOOFS have put into this restoration.

Battery Pratt Gun #1 Reconstruction

When completed, they will simulate the loading of the gun, then trip it up into firing position, fire a small charge of powder, and finally retract the gun back into loading position. Significant progress has been made as you can see from the photos. To reconstruct the gun and its disappearing carriage will cost approximately $25,000.

You can help this outstanding project! Donations can be made to the Friends Of Old Fort Stevens, Inc. at P.O. Box 138, Hammond, OR 97121. Because they have a IRS 501(c) 3 designation, your donation may be tax deductible. Check with your tax person.

For more information call the Fort Stevens Museum store manager, Jim Forst, at (503) 861-1470. You can email FOOFS at foofs@teleport.com. Their web page is at VisitFortStevens.com.

John

Battery Mishler was one of a very few ARF (All Round Fire) concrete coastal defense batteries built during the Endicott Period, housing two 10″ rifles on disappearing carriages. Each rifle had a 360° field of fire and was mounted in a 35′ diameter circular pit. Shells, powder and control mechanisms were housed in a completely enclosed underground gallery. In 1941 both emplacements were sealed and covered over with the guns in place. Without removing the cover, the guns and carriages were later cut up and taken out.

Gun position #1 roof support columns, gun mount lower right

We began at the lower level entrance gallery which runs the length of the battery into gun position #2. The battery is wet in most places and you can see stalactites and stalagmites forming at the entrance. We went up a flight of stairs to the emplacement and it became clear how big the battery is and how the roof structure works. You can see the beveled edge of the inner circular gun pit; the concrete roof laying on that edge is supported by a series of square concrete pillars placed to buttress the roof across the open part of the pit. Lighting is extremely limited so flashlights are a must; it’s so dark that when our guides turned off all the lights you could not even see your hand in front of your face.

We moved to gun position #1 past the shell hoist openings and observed several long tunnel- like rooms spoked around the side of the circular gun pits. The tunnels provided the room necessary for the gun crews to ram home the shells and powder as well as to swab out the guns after firing. We went back down the stairs from gun position #1 and viewed the shell rooms and the magazine.

Magazine Room later Control Room

The magazine is a large rectangular room that initially stored the powder for the guns and later served as the Harbor Defense Command Post. Even later it served as the operations room for the U.S. Air Force Radar Squadron. Our guide mentioned a large fire that occurred here during the 1960’s that caused the battery to be sealed up for several months while the fire burned itself out. You can see the evidence of fire damage in the magazine.

Visible throughout the battery are wall niches originally used for lanterns, and the speaking tubes for communications remind you that this battery is from another era. This is a great tour and should not be missed if you visit Fort Stevens.

For more information see Fort Stevens and Battery Mishler at FortWiki.com.

John

Battery Kinzie

After visiting the museums, we drove toward the Point Wilson lighthouse and began our tour of the 12 Endicott Period gun batteries on Fort Worden. None of the 12 concrete batteries have any guns or carriages in place. At beach level we first encountered Battery Vicars, a relatively small battery that mounted two 5″ guns, and Battery Kinzie, a large battery that mounted two 12″ guns. We drove from these two lower batteries to Battery Putnam and Battery Stoddard on the mid level. These two batteries were a bit out of the way and not as interesting as the others.

Located on Artillery Hill, the remaining eight batteries are accessed via a road that is blocked to traffic, beginning at the North end of the NCO Family Quarters street. Parking was available and we had to walk from this point. We followed the signs to Battery Walker and then to Battery Tolles. Between batteries Walker and Tolles is the remains of the Searchlight #3 installation. We followed the trail out to where the searchlight was rolled out to the edge of the cliff, which afforded a great view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

As we exited Battery Tolles we turned left toward the two mortar batteries, Battery Brannan and Battery Powell, then on toward Battery Benson. Between Powell and Benson there is a decaying metal building that was a Radar transmitter building during World War II. The four main line batteries at the top of the hill are truly impressive starting with Battery Benson, Battery Ash, Battery Quarles and Battery Randol had a total of seven 10″ guns and two 12″ guns. One can only imagine what a salvo from these batteries would sound like. In back of and above the main line batteries are the primary observation and communications stations for Battery Ash and the two mortar batteries.

We exited Battery Randol, went straight past the Memory’s Vault memorial and down the road to the point where we began the climb up Artillery Hill. You can do this entire tour in 4 or 5 hours, but there are so many trails you can take as alternatives to the main road that a full day’s tour is not unimaginable. We missed a few things but that will just give us an excuse for going back to this beautiful fort.

After you visit, you should rent the movie An Officer and a Gentleman. Almost the entire movie was shot on Fort Worden and several of the batteries are identifiable.

John