Seattle's Fight to Land the Army Post at Magnolia Bluff

Arrangements have been made for the establishment of a United States army post within the limits of Seattle. If the minimum of a four-company post is established, the expenditures in the city will amount to about $30,000 a month, including an item for the building of barracks, quarters, etc. The chances are that, if the post is established at all, it will be more than a four-company post, and in the end the post should be maintained as an artillery headquarters with a full regiment, thus retaining the several expenditures around the Sound. The Chamber of Commerce has been devoted to the project, and no doubt the rest will eventually be accomplished.

For some time the Seattle Chamber of Commerce has had its eyes open for a post. It will be remembered that last May a corps of army engineers visited the Sound for the purpose of selecting the most suitable locations for fortifications. About fifteen sites were selected, and among others the point of land which they were pleased to name Magnolia Bluff, but which hitherto was called by the steamboat men West Point. This point was especially pleasing to them because it commanded two strategic points of the Sound. First, it fronts the water at the entrance to Tacoma and the entrance to the government dry dock at Port Orchard. Second, the Sound from Point Madison south could be swept by fire from the guns on the point, and the other entrance to the Narrows could be protected. Altogether the site was declared to be a very valuable and strategic one. For the further protecting of the government dry dock and Agate passage, the engineers selected another site for fortifications at Port Madison.

On August 19, 1894, Brig. Gen. Elwell S. Otis, located at Vancouver barracks and commanding the Department of the Columbia, said in his annual report to the adjutant general at Washington: “In some locality of the northern section of this state beyond the Cascade Mountains, where now dwell 100,000 people … one moderately large garrison should be established and permanently maintained. The vicinity of Seattle … is the most favorable … Magnolia Bluff … would appear to be the proper site for the post of an infantry garrison, to be succeeded, as it doubtless would be after a few years, by an artillery camp. … A force there of only a single infantry battalion … would be of great service.”

Acting on this cue, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of Spokane immediately set about to fire the army people with the recommendations of General Otis, and met with no opposition. The bill for the post at this place was introduced by Congressman Doolittle and fought through by Senator Squire. As the bill now reads, a site for an army post will be selected on the Sound at a point recommended by a committee of army officers to be hereafter selected from the Eastern Coast for this duty. Magnolia Bluff has already been favorably reported by Gen. Otis, commanding the department, and the military men who have the matter in hand will likely take the same view as the engineers. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce is quite confident that Mr. Doolittle will not be successful in his attempt to have the post located at Tacoma, or for that matter any other point on the Sound.

The establishment of the post here would mean a great deal to the city. With even only four companies of infantry it would increase the city’s military strength about $30,000 a month. If more extensive establishments were maintained here, and possibly a troop of cavalry, the expenditure would be still greater, and the business interests would be benefited. In time the post would be converted into a regimental headquarters, and that would add greatly to the city’s prestige.

Tacoma is making a strong effort to reap the benefit of the hard work done by Seattle. An army post committee of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce has been selected and offices secured, and no stone is being left unturned to secure the coveted plum. The Tacoma Evening News of last Wednesday shows the spirit of the contest: “It is the proper thing now to drop into room 202 in the Chamber of Commerce building and register a pull for the army post which the Chamber of Commerce and Congressman Doolittle are trying to get established in Tacoma. … The Chamber of Commerce people say we must have that army post and that we are going to have it, too. It will spend a lot of money in Tacoma every month.”

It remains a mystery how Tacoma can expect to gain the post in the face of the report of the army engineers and officers. Mr. Doolittle’s amendment placing the selection of the location in the hands of a committee of officers other than those stationed at Vancouver can have no effect. The fact remains that Seattle has the best location, for disinterested officers and engineers have said so, and no matter where the new committee hails from, they cannot but view the situation in the same light as its predecessors.