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Fort Nez Percés
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Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the acute accent), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after the Nez Perce people, the fort was in the traditional lands of the Walla Walla. Founded in 1818 by the North-West Company, after 1821 it was run by the Hudson's Bay Company until its closure in 1857.
During David Thompson's 1811 voyage down the Columbia River, he camped at the confluence with the Snake River on July 9, 1811. He erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a trading post at the site. North West Company managers during an annual meeting in Fort William, gave instructions for a fort to be created near the mouth of the Walla Walla River, a few miles south of the confluence of the Snake and the Columbia.
Begun in July 1818 under the direction of traders Donald MacKenzie and Alexander Ross, the fort was constructed by 95 NWC employees. The company officials secured daily provisions for the laborers by trading with visiting Nez Perce. The surrounding area lacked a forest, so workers had to cut timber 100 miles away and send it down river to the planned fort site. Relations with the Nez Perces quickly deteriorated as construction continued, as Ross recalled.
"Soon after our landing the tribes began to muster rapidly; the multitudes which surrounded us became immense, and their movements alarming. They insisted on our paying for the timber we were collecting. They prohibited our hunting and fishing. They affixed an exorbitant price of their own to every article of trade, and they insulted any of the hands whom they met alone. Thus they resolved to keep us in their power, and withhold supplies until their conditions were granted."
The NWC employees erected an enclosure to protect the work site. The remaining laborers were 38 Iroquois, 32 Kanaka (Hawaiians), and 25 French Canadians. The company men started negotiations with Nez Perce elders to avert an outbreak of violence. The tribal leaders at first insisted that all members of their tribe be given gifts, though a less expansive settlement was adopted, ending "many anxious days and sleepless nights". Ross soon became the first chief factor of the fort or post.
Constructed on the east bank of the Columbia River, Fort Nez Percés was half a mile north of the mouth of the Walla Walla River and a few miles below the mouth of the Snake River. The location was chosen for its strategic geographic value. The nearby Walla Walla Valley had long been an important rendezvous point for parties working several peripheral fur districts. The 1815 decision by the NWC to refocus the entire New Caledonia region southward to the Columbia River meant greatly increased traffic on the river. Donald MacKenzie intended to open up the Snake River country, adding another operation converging on the area where Fort Nez Percés was built.
Essentially all company exports and supplies passed through the Columbia Gorge. The location of Fort Nez Percés at the eastern end of this trunk line to the ocean made it the most important post in the interior. In addition, increasing tensions from occupying the homelands of the local Native Americans necessitated a permanent fortified post. Finally, the area was significant to the Indians. Not only was it a major meeting and trading ground, but it was where Lewis and Clark had first met the indigenous peoples of the Columbia River and had made an informal treaty of friendship.
The fort was built with a double palisade, unique among North West Company forts. The inner wall was 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and a five-foot wide "strong gallery" was located between the two walls. The storehouse and dwellings were within. Trade was conducted via a small hole in the inner wall. The outer palisade was made of planks 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 6 inches (150 mm) thick, and topped with a range of balustrades four feet high. Towers were located at each of the fort's four corners; these contained large water tanks for fighting enemy fire. Soon after the post was built, Alexander Ross said it was "the strongest and most complete fort west of the Rocky Mountains, and might be called the Gibraltar of the Columbia."
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Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the acute accent), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after the Nez Perce people, the fort was in the traditional lands of the Walla Walla. Founded in 1818 by the North-West Company, after 1821 it was run by the Hudson's Bay Company until its closure in 1857.
During David Thompson's 1811 voyage down the Columbia River, he camped at the confluence with the Snake River on July 9, 1811. He erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a trading post at the site. North West Company managers during an annual meeting in Fort William, gave instructions for a fort to be created near the mouth of the Walla Walla River, a few miles south of the confluence of the Snake and the Columbia.
Begun in July 1818 under the direction of traders Donald MacKenzie and Alexander Ross, the fort was constructed by 95 NWC employees. The company officials secured daily provisions for the laborers by trading with visiting Nez Perce. The surrounding area lacked a forest, so workers had to cut timber 100 miles away and send it down river to the planned fort site. Relations with the Nez Perces quickly deteriorated as construction continued, as Ross recalled.
"Soon after our landing the tribes began to muster rapidly; the multitudes which surrounded us became immense, and their movements alarming. They insisted on our paying for the timber we were collecting. They prohibited our hunting and fishing. They affixed an exorbitant price of their own to every article of trade, and they insulted any of the hands whom they met alone. Thus they resolved to keep us in their power, and withhold supplies until their conditions were granted."
The NWC employees erected an enclosure to protect the work site. The remaining laborers were 38 Iroquois, 32 Kanaka (Hawaiians), and 25 French Canadians. The company men started negotiations with Nez Perce elders to avert an outbreak of violence. The tribal leaders at first insisted that all members of their tribe be given gifts, though a less expansive settlement was adopted, ending "many anxious days and sleepless nights". Ross soon became the first chief factor of the fort or post.
Constructed on the east bank of the Columbia River, Fort Nez Percés was half a mile north of the mouth of the Walla Walla River and a few miles below the mouth of the Snake River. The location was chosen for its strategic geographic value. The nearby Walla Walla Valley had long been an important rendezvous point for parties working several peripheral fur districts. The 1815 decision by the NWC to refocus the entire New Caledonia region southward to the Columbia River meant greatly increased traffic on the river. Donald MacKenzie intended to open up the Snake River country, adding another operation converging on the area where Fort Nez Percés was built.
Essentially all company exports and supplies passed through the Columbia Gorge. The location of Fort Nez Percés at the eastern end of this trunk line to the ocean made it the most important post in the interior. In addition, increasing tensions from occupying the homelands of the local Native Americans necessitated a permanent fortified post. Finally, the area was significant to the Indians. Not only was it a major meeting and trading ground, but it was where Lewis and Clark had first met the indigenous peoples of the Columbia River and had made an informal treaty of friendship.
The fort was built with a double palisade, unique among North West Company forts. The inner wall was 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and a five-foot wide "strong gallery" was located between the two walls. The storehouse and dwellings were within. Trade was conducted via a small hole in the inner wall. The outer palisade was made of planks 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 6 inches (150 mm) thick, and topped with a range of balustrades four feet high. Towers were located at each of the fort's four corners; these contained large water tanks for fighting enemy fire. Soon after the post was built, Alexander Ross said it was "the strongest and most complete fort west of the Rocky Mountains, and might be called the Gibraltar of the Columbia."
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