Fort Lane Marker
The Fort property is located on the side of Gold Ray Road opposite the railroad, and roughly between the addresses 7843 and 8025.
It is possible to find a point on the Gold Ray Road from which the monument is visible (bring binoculars or a camera with a good zoom lens).
This marker was placed by the Crater Lake Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in 1929. According to an article in the Oregon Encyclopedia written by Mark Tveskov, the site is currently (2016) owned by the State of Oregon and is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as a State Heritage Site. It is currently closed to the public, but the monument and plaque are visible from Gold Ray Road, between Central Point and Gold Hill.
This Fort was named for Oregon Governor Joseph Lane who, on September 10, 1853, negotiated a treaty with the Takelma, Latgawa, Shasta and Athabaskan people. The fort was established at this time. The treaty established a reservation for the Native Americans on the north bank of the Rogue River, but war erupted in 1855 when a group of white settlers lead by James Lupton massacred a village of Natives. This resulted in a period of open warfare, during which the army rounded up peaceful or captured Natives and removed them to the Grand Ronde and Siletz Agencies on the Coast. Fort Lane was used as a place of confinement prior to the removal to Grand Ronde and Siletz. The fort was abandoned by the fall of 1856. The site is currently closed to the public to prevent the illegal removal of artifacts.