Fort Hoskins, Benton County. Data about most of the early military establishments in Oregon are neither plentiful nor accurate, but fortunately there is a good account of the history and physical facts of Fort Hoskins. This information is in an article by Colonel Oscar W. Hoop, U.S.A., with the title "History of Fort Hoskins, 1856-65," in OHQ, volume XXX, page 346. Fort Hoskins was established as the result of the concentration of Indians at Siletz Agency and was named in honor of Lieutenant Charles Hoskins who was killed in the battle of Monterrey, Mexico, September 21, 1846. Captain Christopher C. Augur, Fourth Infantry, and his command reached Kings Valley July 25, 1856, and according to army records printed in OHQ, volume XXXVI, page 59, Fort Hoskins was established the next day. It was on Luckiamute River near the mouth of what is now known as Bonner Creek, probably on land owned by Rowland Chambers, later by Franz. Later in the year Lieutenant P. H. Sheridan began to build a road or trail from the fort over the Coast Range to the Siletz country. Augur's selection of the site for the fort was not approved by Brigadier-General John E. Wool, his superior, and there was a good deal of controversy. Augur stuck to his guns and the fort stayed where it was until it was evacuated April 13, 1865. A blockhouse was built in the Siletz country, but there was also a squabble about this, and it had to be moved. Colonel Hoop has written entertainingly of the establishment of Fort Hoskins and the life there. The present community and post office of Hoskins are close to the site of the fort, but there is nothing left of the establishment. Colonel Hoop says that Sheridan left Fort Hoskins for Fort Jones, California, May 19, 1857, and "this is the last we hear of Sheridan in the valley of the Willamette." The implication is wrong for Sheridan was at Fort Yamhill in 1861 and was not ordered east until September of that year. Heitman's Historical Register says Fort Hoskins was on Siletz River and Old Fort Hoskins was on the Willamette River six miles north of Corvallis. Neither of these statements, apparently based on official records, is correct. Fort Hoskins was actually about 15 miles airline northwest of Corvallis. Heitman's Fort Hoskins on Siletz River seems to have been the Siletz blockhouse. The official records of two forts may have been based on the notion that General Wool had the post moved, but as a matter of fact Captain Augur refused to budge.
FORT KITCHEN, Coos County. Fort Kitchen was a stockade where settlers "forted up" under command of an elected captain, William H. Packwood. It was about a mile south of the present town of Myrtle Point, on South Fork Coquille River near the mouth of Catching Creek. An account of the establishment of this fort in November, 1855, is contained in Dodge's Pioneer History of Coos and Curry Counties, page 96, et seq., where it is said the post was named for the creek. See also Victor's Early Indian Wars of Oregon, page 373, et seq. It seems probable that the firm stand taken by Captain Packwood in dealing with local Indians was successful in avoiding bloodshed in the Coquille Valley. According to Dodge, supra, page 211, the stream was named for E. C. Catching, a pioneer settler. The Catching place became a rendezvous at an early date. It is the opinion of the compiler that the name Fort Kitchen came as the result of the mispronunciation of the family name. Fort KLAMATH, Klamath County. For the origin of the word Klamath, see under KLAMATH COUNTY. The Klamath Indian name
