In Search of Camps’ Warner: Tracking US Military Presence in the Warner Valley, Oregon 1866-1874

Summary

Following the discovery of gold and growing reports of trouble in eastern Oregon, the US Military established a series of four forts to protect settlers and miners flocking to this part of the state and to insure continued use of local military roads. One of these forts, Camp Warner, served as the primary military fort in the Warner Valley from 1866 to 1874. Camp Warner actually consisted of two separate fort locations; old Camp Warner in use from 1866-1867, and new Camp Warner in use from 1867-1874. In its heyday, Camp Warner consisted of over 80 structures that housed over 270 men along with some officers’ families and served as an important military outpost during both the Snake (1866-1868) and Modoc (1873) Wars. This paper outlines recent attempts to relocate both fort sites, now located on both private and federal lands, and to determine their state of preservation. To facilitate the abandonment of Old Camp Warner to its new location to the west, a stone bridge was constructed across wetlands that were part of the Warner Lakes. The site of this bridge was also relocated and evaluated.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15235