FORT WALLA WALLA is a United States Army fort in Walla Walla, Washington. There were actually four successive forts by this name. The first was established in 1856 by Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe, 9^th Infantry Regiment.  The military reservation housed soldiers who would fight the Pacific Northwest Indian Wars and help bring law and order to early communities of settlers.  On May 7, 1859, an Executive Order declared the fort a military reservation.

Offering a 4 pp, 7 ¾ x 9 ¾, ALS, no date, circa 1870, by JOHN J. UPHAM, a U.S. Military Academy graduate. He writes from Fort Walla Walla to a recipient Bassel about conditions of the army, his regretting not leaving and the continued use of Fort Walla Walla, including disagreements among generals.

Upham writes, “...Your letter from Fort Garland [an important enlistment site for Colorado volunteers heading south to stop Confederate attempts to take Mexico] of the 25^th of July was received...that I did not see at Pueblo as we remained there 4 days and I had made great calculations upon turning...Told me you had grown to be so strange that he hardly recognized you, which I was glad to know and congratulate you upon your restored health...I am glad that you are getting along so well in civil life and think you were decidedly sensible when you...left the army. I regret very much that I did not take your advice and do the same thinking for I think the army is a miserable place for any man...I have been thinking of taking a short leave...I do not know whether we shall remain at this fort or not as there is some opposition on the fort of Gen. Schofield to the plan of reoccupying this fort. Gen. Davis is very desirous of keeping troops here and I have no doubt some will be kept but not so large a garrison as there is here now 6 companies in the cavalry and 2 [in the] 21^st Inftry...”

On May 6, 1858, Colonel Steptoe left Fort Walla Walla with a force of 159 troops and Indian scouts on a mission into the Indian lands of the Columbia Plateau. The force included Company C, First Dragoons, and Company E, Ninth Infantry. They headed to the area around Fort Colvile (a Hudson's Bay Company post), where two miners had been killed and settlers were worried about their security. Steptoe, a West Point graduate, was an experienced combat officer who had fought the Seminole Indians and served in the Mexican-American War.

On May 15 Steptoe and his troops camped near the present-day town of Rosalia. The next day, as they moved forward, Indians questioned their intentions, noting that the soldiers were traveling east of their normal route and were equipped with artillery. They refused Steptoe's request for boats to cross the Spokane River and began to harass his troops. Steptoe turned around to return to Walla Walla, but on May 17 at Pine Creek a battle began, and 800 to 1,000 Coeur D’Alene, Palouse, Spokane, Cayuse, and Yakama Indians attacked. Colonel Steptoe and his men put up a good fight but were badly outnumbered. That night the soldiers escaped (or were allowed to escape) and made their way back to Fort Walla Walla, reaching the post on May 22. They had lost seven killed -- two officers, four enlisted men, and one Indian scout. The number of Indian warriors who died in the battle is unknown.

Army Colonel George Wright responded to this defeat by launching a punitive expedition from his base at Fort Dalles, Oregon. In August and September 1858, Wright and 600 troops fought the Indians who had routed Steptoe's force. During these battles, Wright's troops rounded up 800 to 900 Palouse horses and killed most of them to deny the tribes the hunting capability that horses provided. This infamous animal slaughter demoralized the Indians, who surrendered shortly thereafter. Colonel Wright ordered some Native leaders hanged, including the Yakama tribal chief, Qaulchan, who went to the gallows on September 24, 1858.

A very interesting letter and a fine example of Western Americana.

Folds, light toning. Upham’s handwriting is a bit challenging to decipher, but is readable.

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