Fort Benham, Oregon, “The Indian Fighter”
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 43° 56.156 W 121° 25.409
10T E 626532 N 4865965
Fort Benham was built in 1955 for the filming of The Indian Fighter staring Kirk Douglas and was used for several other films until 1961.
Waymark Code: WMHF5
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 07/16/2006
Views: 73
The photo above is a scene from The Indian Fighter showing interior of Fort Benham including the main gate and the a chimney on building to left. The remains of these features are shown in the photo gallery along with other remains of the fort.
This fort was built for the filming of the
1955 movie “The Indian Fighter”
starting Kirk Douglas. The fort was built under a Special Use Permit from the
Deschutes National Forest to the Bend Chamber of Commerce. In 1957 some scenes
of “Oregon Passage” were
filmed at the fort. In 1958 the movie “Tonka”
(later renamed “Comanche”) also used the fort. In 1960 and 1961 the fort was
used in a number of episodes of the TV series “Have
Gun Will Travel”. In 1962 a forest fire burned part of the area surrounding
the fort which effected its future use so a few years later the fort was burned
and the area was replanted.
Today the area is covered with 40 year old pines but remanants of the fort walls, the main gate, and the large fire place and chimney can be found.
There are some roads into the area but the area is posted as no motorized vehicles so please respect the closure. Many of the roads are overgrown but still make great hiking or biking trails.
Visit Instructions:New logs for waymarks must include a photo of the location. The photo should try and match, to the extent possible, the original present-day photo posted for the waymark.