One local pleasure is to navigate the Cascade Mountains by car, stopping for fresh fruit in the Yakima Valley, tasting wines along the way, watching the Columbia River rise and fall, and seeing the wheat fields transforming from green to gold.
In the midst of these riches is an abandoned U.S. Army fort, one of two in our state (the other is Fort Walla Walla) that were constructed to “protect” white settlers in the 1850s and 1860s. Its name is Fort Simcoe.
Fort Simcoe, 20 miles south of Yakima at the end of State Highway 220, was originally an ancient camping area for tribes of the Yakima nation. It was sited around cold springs that bubble out of the ground (still bubbling) called Mool Mool. The name “Simcoe” likely derives from the tribal name Sim-Kwee, which describes the ridge around the nearby valley.
When disputes arose between the Yakima people and invading Euro-American visitors, sites were constructed by the U.S. Army. Simcoe seemed just right: fresh water, nearby timber, grasslands everywhere, and a relatively defendable location.
Construction of Fort Simcoe began on 8 August 1856 by companies G and F of the Ninth Infantry, led by Major Robert Seldon Garnett. Pine logs provided the basic building material. A sketch by Pvt. C.M. Schultz of Company G shows a large, gently sloping 420-foot square parade ground surrounded by more than 20 buildings. A slim flagpole towers over the north end of the grounds. Only five of the original buildings remain.
Among the surviving buildings are the Commanding Officer’s house and several others that appear to be in a time warp. They resemble English country houses, with wells, triangular pane windows and rose gardens surrounded by oak trees. These charming properties were designed by Louis Scholl, a clerk and draftsman at Fort Dalles, Oregon, who used Andrew Jackson Downing’s “Villa Farm House” as a model from Downing’s then-famous book, Architecture of Country Houses. Scholl noted that “a pack train of nearly 50 mules moved between Fort Dalles and Simcoe,” transporting building materials for these quaint structures.
From 1856 to 1859 Fort Simcoe served as a proper military base. In 1859 it was turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an Agency headquarters. A school was established, and trades were taught. The entire operation was then dominated by one of the territory’s most interesting figures, Methodist Episcopal missionary James Harvey Wilbur, known as “Father Wilbur.”
In 1853 Fort Simcoe was established as a Washington State Park under a 99-year lease from the Yakima nation. Picnic facilities, a large, manicured lawn, shade trees (mostly oak) and perfect view of the surrounding hills make Fort Simcoe a lonely, semi-secret resting place.
My late brother was a Teacher up at Ft. Simcoe Job Corp 2.5 years ago, he called it God’s Country School because it was so beautiful there and fresh mountain air. He was blessed to work there he told me💖 plus being a historical site and our Great Grandmother told us how she learned to drive a Model T Ford there and ran it up against the fence bcuz she didn’t know how to stop it.. we all laughed and had a good time listening to our Elder experiencing Ft. Simcoe💯💓🙏🏽
Thank you–I want to go!
I’m reminded of Fort Lawton/Discovery Park, which is my favorite walk: the gently sloping parade grounds, officers homes, and beautiful locatiion.
I need to check this place out!
I wish it was still called Fort Lawton because, in my opinion, “Discovery Park” is redolent of a focus group. If the name needs to be more encompassing of what the park truly is, great, but how’d we come up with something so boring as discovery park?
Such a lovely place. And often, still, a lonely place. That old veteran’s cemetery is a thing of beauty. Did you know there is an “unknown soldier” buried there?
Sorry, I should have added that Discovery Park is in the Magnolia neighborhood in Seattle.
“In the midst of these riches is an abandoned U.S. Army fort, one of two in our state (the other is Fort Walla Walla) that were constructed to “protect” white settlers in the 1850s and 1860s.”
How would the author describe Fort Steilacoom 1849-1868, located on the grounds of Western State Hospital of which the commander’s house, the chaplain’s house and two others remain.
Fort Simcoe is a well known destination for birders wanting to see Lewis’s Woodpeckers. They forage for nuts in the many oak trees.
Fort Simcoe is a very special place. It’s remote, and when there, I find it’s easy to imagine what life would have been like in the days that the fort was active.
My cousins recently moved to Naches, where our family were small orchard owners from around 1915 to the 1960’s.
They are avid hikers, just starting to get familiar with trails and destinations in the Yakima Valley.
They are also local history fans and are going to love this place.
Thanks, Junius.
passed along from a friend…
for Maynard Ft Simcoe.jpg
Junius may be from the State but I have to disagree a bit here. Ft Simcoe as “lonely and abandoned” ? Don’t think so.
Not many visitor days compared to other State Parks ’tis true. For me, that makes it a great place to visit although you might find a 16 year old Job Corps kid from Alabama smoking a joint on the grounds or tossing beer cans. During the aftermath of the Yakama Wars it served as the headquarters of the Indian Agent (a Methodist big boy appointed by Lincoln, one Father Wilbur) whose motto was “The Bible and the Plow”. His goal to corral those savages and make them farmers came after the Allotment Act aka Dawes Act. Didn’t work. Would you rather hoe a garden, or hunt elk and catch fish? Simple choice for many. One old boy told me that Wilbur instructed Peter Klickitat to hoe his garden and that he’d be back to check. Peter was apparently off to the river to fish and when Father Wilbur (The Methodist Agent) tracked him down, he whipped Peter pretty good in front of his family, so the story goes. This story came from Jack Braden who grew up in the area, a Scotsman who left the Valley one time in his life, only once to come up to Yakima to get some equipment at the Train Depot. True story. Yet Jack was the smartest man I ever met and others would say the same.
Nice to hear from you Maynard. By the bye the Officer’s Quarters at Simcoe are fantastic and worth a look, and the restoration is very good. I was out there a few years ago and found a 1904 nickel, gave it to my friend Wilferd Yallup Sr who was along for the drive. Probably a school kid dropped it. The so-called Indian Service turned it into an Indian School and many locals did not like sending their kids out there. Were they mistreated? Don’t know but probably.
I’ve been to Fort Simcoe numerous times. You can feel the evil that existed there, haunted. The iron prison, pictures of Indian school cultural indoctrinators. Has everyone missed that or just not want to see it. It’s like celebrating the grounds of the Japanese internment camps. Dan
“…Watching the Columbia River rise and fall, and seeing the wheat fields transforming from green to gold.” Lovely description. I admit that I’ve never heard of Fort Simcoe, and will definitely add it to my list of places to visit. If this winter ever ends. As a long-time bird nerd, I would definitely like to see Lewis’s Woodpeckers, as Diane described.