The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1916-03-02
Fan Of Fort Walla Walla


When the Indian wars of 1855
broke out, Fort Walla Walla fell in
October of that year, at the hands of
that noted chief, Peu-peu-mox-mox.
Messengers were sent to Fort Boise
and Fort Hall to warn them that their
base of supplies had fallen into ths
hands Of the Indians and to abandon
the country. During that winter the
stores of both forts were moved to the
Flathead post, north Of Missoula,
Mont, which continued to do business
until 1872. United States troops oc-
cupied Fort Hall for time but dur
ing the Civil war they were moved
over to Lincoln creek and its glory was
at an end. When the stage line was
established between Salt Lake and the
mining districts of Montana, a station
was located three miles south of the
fort aud many Of the sun dried brick
of its walls were taken there and used
in those buildings. In 1852, a pioneer
noted in his journel that 100 army
wagons stood around the fort rotting
down.
Not long since the writer made a pill
grimage to the site Of the old fort. At
the crossing Of the stream where the
stage station once stood, he found
monument lying in the grass, having
fallen from it's base. There was no
inscription to indicate for what pur.
pose the same had been placed there,
or by whom. The country on the east
side Of the river is included in the
Fort Hall Indian reservation and,
there being not house in the valley,
the landscape may be presumed to be
the same as it was on the day that
Jason Lee preached his sermon. The
grove is still there and it seemed an
easy matter to locate the place where
he stood, though of course this was a
matter of interesting conjecture.
The outlines Of the fort are as plain
as when the structure stood. Even
the well on the inside, near the south
west corner Of the Enclosure, is still
about eight feet deep, and the position
of the bastions, the gates and the
quarters are plainly discernible. They
were hidden, however, by growth Of
tall grass reaching to ones shoulders.
The old train marks and camping
places are easily located, but our two
Indian guides were unable to give us
any information as to the location of
the burial ground where sleep so many
of our pioneers. The solitude of the
place could have been no more i'm
pressive the day that Mr.. Wyeth shot
the buffalo, when the nearest settle
ment was Fort Bellevue on the Mis-
souri, river, than it was on that July
day last summer when the writer Wis
tied the historic spot.
4 = To 1.-The south. the railroad trains
could be seen bearing the burdens of
a mighty commerce and, likewise gar
nering for their owners a revenue suf-
ficient, we trust, for the services rend-
cred; cities have sprung up as by magic,
and busy and prosperous people are
now reaping the harvest sown by those
who have gone before. But the historic
ground where Wyeth unfurled the flag
of Idaho, and where Jason Lee deliver
ed the message, and where stood the
post that succored the tired and halt
ing pioneers who won and left US our
heritage, and made it possible for rail
roads to build, and cities to grow and
fortune to accumulate, is forgotten and
seen no more. It seems heartless fate,
yet but another illustration Of the
survival of the fittest' shadow that
follows us all.