Vancouver Barracks

The Vancouver Barracks was the first United States Army base located in the Pacific Northwest, established in 1849, in what is now contemporary Vancouver, Washington. It was built on a rise 20 feet (6.1 m) above the Fort Vancouver fur trading station established by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Its buildings were formed in a line adjacent to the Columbia River approximately 2,000 yards (1,800 m) from the riverbank.

With the ratification of the Treaty of Oregon between Great Britain and the United States in 1846, the Oregon boundary dispute was settled. The two nations agreed to a partition of the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel, situating Fort Vancouver under U.S. jurisdiction. However, the agreement permitted Great Britain's Hudson's Bay Company to continue operation throughout the territory, including at Fort Vancouver.

The Vancouver Barracks were established in direct response to the Whitman massacre and Cayuse War. Congress wished to provide military power to facilitate the removal and control of the regions' native peoples and promote settlement of the Pacific Northwest by white Europeans. The U.S. Army chose to build their base immediately adjacent to Fort Vancouver because of the settlers and institutions already in place there.

By October 1849, a cross-country mobilization brought personnel and supplies to the Vancouver Barracks. Colonel William Loring led this brigade of mounted soldiers, accompanied by 700 horses, 1,200 mules and 171 supply wagons.

As conflicts between indigenous peoples all around the Pacific Northwest and American settlers escalated and became violent, a number of wars broke out. This series of "Pacific Northwest Indian Wars," lasted from around 1848 until 1879. Forces from Fort Vancouver actively campaigned against the native peoples. The Vancouver Barracks was involved in nearly every operation against Native Americans throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Major military conflicts administered through the Vancouver Barracks include the Cayuse War, Rogue River Wars, Snake River War, Klickitat War, Puget Sound War, Yakima War, Coeur d'Alene War, Paiute War, Snake War, Modoc War, Nez Perce War, Bannock War, and Sheepeater Indian War. These wars targeted a number of indigenous groups including the Cayuse, Shasta, Tutuni, Klickitat, Nisqually, Puyallup, Yakama, Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Paiute, Bannock, Modoc, Nez Perce, Shoshone, and Muckleshoot, among others.

During these wars, the Vancouver Barracks functioned as an administrative center, station for troops, training ground, supply depot, and prison. Forces from the Vancouver Barracks continued to intervene on behalf of settlers beyond this era of Indian Wars.

Since the establishment of the Vancouver Barracks, the U.S. Army always maintained a prison or Guard House. Native Americans were forcefully imprisoned there as late as 1889. Groups of Native Americans were incarcerated as prisoners of war, in preparation of relocation to reservations, or as a precaution to protect white settlements. The U.S. Army also targeted charismatic and spiritual leaders or used the threat of incarceration against mobilizing leaders.