The End of Fort Walla Walla
General Funston recommends abandoning the Walla Walla garrison, citing it has 'outlived its usefulness.'
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In General Funston’s annual report on the department of Columbia, he recommends that Fort Walla Walla has outlived its usefulness and ought to be abandoned. He also advises that the reward for delivering deserters be raised to $100, that the clothing allowance be abolished, and that trouser straps and spurs be done away with. Funston’s report presents a strong argument for increased pay for the men in the ranks, noting that it is difficult to obtain and keep good men at the current wages. He suggests that if the pay of a private were made to approach that of a farm laborer, the government could recruit a superior class of men from the farms who are physically fit and less prone to intemperance.
“There is no disguising the fact that recruits are obtained with difficulty and most of these are not of a satisfactory quality.”
General Funston’s 1903 assessment of the fort’s relevance mirrors the ongoing local debates about the repurposing of historic federal land in Walla Walla. The tension between military presence and economic utility, and the perpetual struggle to find affordable labor, remain core themes in the region's civic development.
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