They’re part of our history hiding in plain sight.

Now for the lack of a few thousand dollars, they are at risk of being lost.

Four houses along two sides of a grassy square just inside the main gate at Western State Hospital are what is left of Fort Steilacoom.

Built before the Civil War, they represent the first official presence of the U.S. government north of the Columbia River. The fort, established on a farm leased from the British, served as a counterpoint to the British trading center at Fort Nisqually.

Enlarge image RUSS CARMACK/THE NEWS TRIBUNE FILE A tarp protects the damaged roof of Officers Quarters 2 at Western State Hospital in Lakewood.

“Soldiers at the fort provided settlers with a flow of consumers for their locally produced goods and steady stream of currency, two much-needed commodities for civilizing an area,” wrote Steve Dunkelberger and Walter Neary in their recent book on Lakewood in the Images of America series.

Fort Steilacoom would provide protection to the first settlers during the Indian War of 1855-56. It was here that Nisqually Chief Leschi was held before being convicted and hanged – unjustly, most now believe – for his role in that war. The fort’s officers led the effort to clear his name and Lt. Col. Silas Casey refused to allow the execution to take place on fort grounds.

Later, Captain George Pickett, known for his role as a Civil War commander, was dispatched from Fort Steilacoom to the San Juan Islands to protect Americans in the so-called Pig War with Britain.

After the Civil War, the post was abandoned and turned over to the territory for what was then known as an insane asylum. The fort buildings, which once completed the square around the parade ground, were used for a time by the hospital but gradually were abandoned.

Four remain as the heart of a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

“These are really important buildings, but they’re not real well-known important buildings” said Neary, a Lakewood city councilman and member of the Historic Fort Steilacoom Association.

Owned by the state and controlled by the Department of Social and Health Services, the four buildings don’t house any state programs and are not a priority for the state when scarce construction dollars are distributed.

“They are no one’s top priority,” Neary said. “They’re not even anyone’s second or third priority.”

“That’s the problem. They don’t fit in,” said DSHS architect and project manager Rich Christian. Projects that help the department fulfill its mission come first and whatever money set aside by the state usually is spent before the fort’s place on the priority list is reached.

Volunteers on a shoe-string budget have built a living history museum at the fort. Reenactments – especially those held on Memorial Day Weekend and at Christmas – use actors to show what life was like on a remote Army post more than 150 years ago.

But the long-term health of the buildings and the museum will take more than volunteer hours. It will take money.

The problems became apparent when wind and rain last year damaged roofs already at the end of their lifespans. Blue tarps are draped over the cottages designated Quarters 1 and Quarter 2. The next storm could cause similar damage to the other two.

The threat to the buildings is serious enough that the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation placed them on its 2006 most endangered historic properties list.

The bad news, though, finally produced some good news. The Legislature has not funded restoration money, but DSHS does have a reserve for emergencies. The wind-damaged roofs fit the criteria, so the two in the worst condition will be replaced this summer.

New cedar shakes will replace worn shakes. To make the roofs as authentic as possible, no vents will be installed and no plywood sheathing will be placed beneath the roofing materials. Damaged structural pieces will be repaired but no other work is planned.

What about the other two roofs? Christian said DSHS will ask for money during the next legislative session and hope for the best.

Sen. Mike Carrell, the Lakewood Republican who has helped with other restoration projects on the hospital grounds, pledged to go to work on the problem.

“We have so little history in the Lakewood area,” Carrell said. “I’m very interested in what’s going on.”

New roofs will give Historic Fort Steilacoom time to come up with long-term funding. That might mean trying to shift ownership to a nonprofit entity, a move that might help boost private fundraising.

“Now, hopefully, we all have 20 years to figure out a future for those buildings,” Neary said. “That time frame, I can work with.”