Fort Simcoe, Washington Territory

Shortly after Christmas, Garnett received a message from Pandosy that a large band of Walla Wallas, Palouse, Spokanes, and Nez Perces were headed toward the fort looking for trouble. Neither man knew this was a ruse. The Indians expected the message to keep the soldiers close to the fort. In the meantime, they stole a large herd of the fort's livestock.

A chinook wind came in late January and melted the snow. This allowed a few more people to move in. Captain Anthony Heger, a military surgeon and his wife, Annie M. Whitney Heger, arrived that winter. They had the first white boy to be born at the fort, on July 17, 1857. Other officers' wives moved to the fort too.

That summer the Major wasn't bothered by Indians. But he was bothered by the fiscal stinginess of his superiors in San Francisco. His requests for supplies frequently went unheeded, reduced, or substituted. He could not get adequate funds to pay the soldiers who had to do double duty as carpenters and masons building the fort. Another problem was that the civilian laborers got paid more money than the soldiers. They would not give him money for plastering interior officers' quarters, instead insisting on wood finishing. They did not realize how the wood cracked, shrank, and warped in the dry climate, thus causing constant replacement. Much of the fort supplies were inferior or already spoiled upon arrival. Even the soap was inferior and required twice as much to do the same job. There were so many problems that by the fall of 1857, there was not one fort building that was complete. They did, however, complete a rudimentary irrigation system.

The following spring and summer the Indians were back on the warpath. Garnett took two-thirds of his forces to hunt them down. General Crook and Colonel Wright from Fort Walla Walla ended up engaging the Indians first and took care of the problem. Garnett returned to Fort Simcoe without engaging in battle. While he was gone, both his wife and son died from an unknown illness. He requested leave and went back east to dispose of their remains. He never returned.

Captain James J. Archer assumed command of the fort. The following spring, General W. S. Harney announced plans to decommission the fort. He felt a post in the Colville area was needed more, especially since the Northwest Boundary Commission would be surveying the

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