PlacesPages: The Dalles #2: Fort Dalles Museum

500 West 15th Street

Surgeon’s Quarters at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

When the military garrison at Fort Dalles under Colonel George Wright was strengthened due to wars with Native Americans in the fall of 1856 with 3 companies of the 9th U.S. Infantry, the fort's more prominent role called for new buildings. Assistant Quartermaster Captain Thomas Jordan directed the construction, using an 1850 house plan book by Andrew Jackson Downing. His civilian clerk, a young man named Louis Scholl who had studied engineering, drafting, art, music and languages in Germany before leaving in 1848 at age 19, drew up the plans for the officers' houses, barracks, stables, outbuildings and guardhouse using the styles in Downing's book. Scholl also designed buildings for Fort Simcoe and Fort Walla Walla. Timber was cut nearby and sawed at the fort's sawmill on Mill Creek and three other mills. The Surgeon's Quarters was the smallest and least costly of the four officer's houses at a little less than $5,000. The largest, Colonel Wright's house, cost $22,000. Government inspectors found the buildings to be too extravagant and cut off funding for further construction, preventing the construction of water storage. Bad mortar in the chimneys led to the three large officers' houses burning to the ground by the end of 1867.

Historical Photos:
Captain Jordan's Residence at Fort Dalles (CGDC)
Fort Dalles Guardhouse (CGDC)
Fort Dalles Guardhouse (CGDC)
Old Fort Dalles Horse Stables, 1898 (CGDC)

Surgeon’s Quarters at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

Fort Dalles was abandoned by the government in 1866. The Surgeon's Quarters was saved by the Sorosis Society, becoming Fort Dalles Museum in April 1905, one of Oregon's oldest history museums. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1971.

Surgeon’s Quarters at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

Interior of the Surgeon’s Quarters on June 10, 2009

The Surgeon's Quarters was designed with Carpenter Gothic architecture. Most of the finished woodwork is local alder that was sawn and hand-planed at four local mills. The painted oak-toned grained woodwork in the Surgeon's Quarters was originally done by Otis S. Savage, a painter and interior decorator who specialized in homes and steamboat interiors and served at various times as a State Representative, Wasco County Judge and Mayor of The Dalles. The finishing process consisted of washing a base coat with a sulfuric acid solution and rubbing it with tobacco stain, then when dry brushing with a mixture of beeswax and linseed oil. The woodwork was restored in 1952 by local craftsman and artist Carl Kramer.

Interior of the Surgeon’s Quarters on June 10, 2009

Louis Scholl's Drafting Tools inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

Fort Dalles Site Plan inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

Collection of Vintage Rifles inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

American Beauty Slot Machine inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

Regulator Clock inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

Regulator, the first clock in The Dalles, was purchased in the early 1850s by Mr. Delm, a jeweler. The Fort Dalles Historical Society purchased it from Clark & Newhouse Jewelers on January 28, 1913 for $30, and it is the only item in the museum that was purchased rather than donated. The clock was restored by Walter Blaser in 1962.

Regulator Steamboat Model inside the Surgeon’s Quarters

This is a model of the Columbia River sternwheeler steamboat Regulator, which was built in 1891 by The Dalles & Portland Navigation Company.

Historical Photo:
Regulator wrecked against an embankment (CGDC)

Gardner’s Cottage at the Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

The Gardner's Cottage, the only other surviving building from Fort Dalles, was built by the US Army in the early 1850s near Government Spring (now Amotan Spring), now the site of The Dalles High School. Built of frame-covered adobe brick, it had two rooms and housed the gardener who grew part of the garrison's food supply and his tools. At some point it had wings added, and was moved to the corner of 13th and Liberty, near the Rorick House, and may have been located on other sites in the years in between. It has been moved to the Fort Dalles Museum grounds and had its wings removed for restoration to its original appearance.

Historical Photo:
Gardener's Cottage, 1929 (CGDC)

Wagon Building at the Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

Also on the museum grounds is the Wagon Building, which contains a number of historic horse-drawn wagons and vehicles.

Umatilla House Omnibus on June 10, 2009

One of the wagons is a horse-drawn omnibus that served the Umatilla House hotel at First and Union, a world famous 128 room hotel that at one point did more business than all other hotels in The Dalles.

Historical Vehicle Building on June 10, 2009

Another building on the museum grounds is the Historical Vehicle Building, which contains vintage automobiles and more horse-drawn vehicles. A few of the antique automobiles are pictured below.

1904 Studebaker Electric in the Historical Vehicle Building

1907 Knox Touring Car in the Historical Vehicle Building

1907 Reo in the Historical Vehicle Building

Bells at the Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

This display on the museum grounds consists of various fire bells from The Dalles area.

The Anderson homestead was built by Swedish immigrant Lewis Anderson and was originally located in Pleasant Ridge, 25 miles southwest of The Dalles. The Anderson homestead was lived in until the 1950s, and was then vacant until the Wasco County-City of The Dalles Museum Commission acquired the homestead in 1971. The buildings were disassembled, moved to The Dalles and reassembled on this site, across 16th Street from Fort Dalles Museum. The buildings of the Anderson homestead were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 1980.

1895 Anderson House at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

Lewis Anderson built the house in 1895. It is built of hand-hewn tamarack and pine logs from farther up the ridge. Below are some pictures from the interior of the Anderson House.

Interior of the Anderson House on June 10, 2009

Historical Photos:
Anderson House at Pleasant Ridge (UO)
Anderson House at Pleasant Ridge (UO)
Anderson House at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)
Anderson House at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)
Anderson House at Fort Dalles Museum, June 4, 1978 (UO)

Anderson Granary at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

The Anderson Granary was built as a home in Rock Prairie in 1885 before it became a granary. Lewis Anderson moved it to his property in Pleasant Ridge in 1898.

Historical Photos:
Anderson Granary at Pleasant Ridge (UO)
Anderson Granary at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)

Anderson Barn at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

The Anderson Barn was built in 1890, before the house was built. The barn was built on a slope and has two levels, with the upper floor accessible from ground level on the uphill side. Fortunately, the site in The Dalles has a similar slope.

Historical Photos:
Anderson Barn at Pleasant Ridge (UO)
Anderson Barn reconstruction at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)
Anderson Barn at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)
Anderson Barn at Fort Dalles Museum (UO)

Anderson Outhouse at Fort Dalles Museum on June 10, 2009

This two-seat outhouse was also moved from the Anderson homestead.

Continue to 3: First Wasco County Courthouse…

Saturday, August 8, 2015

The Dalles #2: Fort Dalles Museum

No comments:

Post a Comment