Sunday after Turkey Day. Arrived at Ft. Stevens State Park at dusk. Park is on the south (OR) side at the mouth of the Columbia River. Lots of traffic today - almost all one way - east - leaving the coast - everyone returning to Portland after the T day holiday at the coast.
For me, a perfect time to hit the coast - everyone but the locals have left.
Ft. Stevens dates back to the Civil War, but most recently was a WWII defensive position guarding the mouth of the Columbia against possible Japanese invasion, similar to the batteries located around the Golden Gate (The Presidio and those in Golden Gate Park in Marin County) at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay.
The Corps of Discovery arrived at the Columbia mouth - the journals state "Ocian in View!" in late November 1805 (they were "pour" spellers ). After a vote by the entire Corps - including Sacajawea and York, (Lewis's black "servant"), the Corps made winter camp about 6 miles to the east of the current Ft. Stevens, or 6 miles inland. They completed the fort in time for a celebration on Christmas 1805. There are are no actual remains of the fort and the recreated fort is at a location that is an estimation based on descriptions in their journals. The Corps consisted of about 30 men, one woman, one baby and Lewis's dog "Seaman."
Ft. Clapsop was named for "The Clatsops" the indigenous Chinook tribe.
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| Ft. Clatsop recreated from drawings in the Journals Copied and pasted from wiki: |
Locating and Building Fort Clatsop
In late November of 1805, after spending a number of days in what is today the state of Washington, Lewis and Clark proposed that the Corps of Discovery move to a location along the Columbia River, based on a recommendation of the local Clatsop Indians.[3] The group decided to vote on the matter, with everyone, including Sacagawea and York (explorer), participating. The group was given three choices: stay in Washington, and be subjected to boring diets of fish and rainy weather, move upriver, or take the advice of the Clatsop Indians and explore the area to the south of the Columbia River. The expedition decided to take the advice of the local Indians and overwhelmingly decided to explore the idea of spending the winter on the southern shore of the Columbia River.
Lewis decided to explore the area before moving the entire group. He and five men left to scout the area, leaving Clark and the rest of the group behind.[4] Lewis became frustrated when he could not find the abundant elk that the Clatsop had talked about. In the meantime, Clark had not heard from his companion in a number of days and became increasingly worried. During Lewis' absence, the group performed a number of housekeeping tasks, including fixing their clothes from the wear they had suffered during the long and arduous journey.
Finally, Lewis returned with the news that he had found an adequate location in which to winter. On December 7, 1805, the Corps of Discovery began the short journey to the location chosen by Lewis. Upon arrival, the men split into different groups: Clark led a party to the Pacific Ocean in search of salt, while Lewis split the remaining men into two groups. One group was in charge of hunting, while the other was in charge of cutting down trees to be used in the construction of the fort.[5]
Construction of the fort was slow, due to the incessant precipitation and unyielding wind that made working conditions less than ideal. On December 23, people started to move into the dwelling, even though it didn't yet have a roof. The next day, Christmas Eve, everyone moved in, and it was christened as Fort Clatsop on Christmas Day, appropriately named after the local Indian tribe.[6][7]
The structures of Fort Clatsop were relatively simple, consisting of two buildings surrounded by large walls. All of the men lived in one structure, while Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, her husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and their son, Jean Baptiste, stayed in the other.
Winter Activites
The winter of 1805-1806 was very long and rainy, leading to boredom and restlessness for the Corps of Discovery. They passed the time with various activities, including hunting the abundant deer and elk in the region.[8] The deer and elk meat spoiled quickly, but the skins were used to make clothing and moccasins. Realizing the importance of their trip, Lewis spent most of his time at Fort Clatsop documenting the journey, taking notes on the wildlife, terrain, and other features. Lewis also made maps of the area, which would be especially helpful to future settlers of the Pacific Northwest. Finally, Lewis and Clark occasionally traded with the Clatsop Indians, a tribe they had come to dislike, viewing them as untrustworthy and prone to theft.
Ultimately, the group's time along the Columbia River merely served as a place to spend the winter and recoup. The men were suffering from a number of different illnesses and conditions, including venereal diseases and respiratory problems, and felt that departing would make them all feel better.
Two jetties were built in the late 1800's to force water out the mouth of the river and keep the sand bars from clogging up the mouth, improving navigation. They are impressive piles of big, big rocks several miles long out into the Pacific.
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| The South Jetty, built in the late 1800's |
I have seen boats sink when fishing here. Have crossed the bar twice in an 18 foot boat. It was dangerous and thrilling - knowing that if anything broke - lespecially anything associated with the motor - or if you lost focus for even an instant, you would be in the water instead of on it.
Raining, windy today - typical OR weather at this time of year. Although it is not raining hard, the raindrops fall from the trees in fat, sloppy, dollops that make it noisy as they splat on the roof of the camper.
Warm, with the elect space heater and electrical hookup for $23.00 and unlimited hot showers. I love the Oregon State Park system. In CA they charge $36.00 and do not have electrical hookups....and they charge for showers!!!! No cell coverage here, but can get a TV signal, so watching football!! Washington and NY Giants on the TV to the cacophony of raindrops on the roof.
Tomorrow - after a quick walk through of Ft. Clatsop, will visit Ft. Astoria in Astoria, founded in 1811 by a group of American men - Hunt, Stewart, and others that came overland to set up a fur trading post for John Jacob Astor. Astor, at the time, was the richest man in the U.S., a self made millionaire fur trader from NY. Hunt/Stewart are touted as the "discoverers" of the South Pass in WY during their traverse to/from the coast, but obviously native Americans found it first..........
The South Pass later became famous as the primary continental divide crossing on the Oregon Trail in the 1840's.
Fort Astoria failed to get the trade goods and supplies that had been shipped around Cape Horn in the trading supply ship The Tonkin. It was captured and burned by Native Americans in Puget Sound, near Seattle. With no trading supplies and with only the few supplies they had lugged across the country from St. Louis, Hunt and Stewart and the others abandoned Ft. Astoria in fear of British attack during the War of 1812. The post was surrendered and was taken over by the Brits from the Ft. Vancouver Fur Post, 90 miles upstream. Ft. Vancouver is two miles north of my current townhouse and an interesting visit.
8:30 PM - rain continues unabated. Normal.
When the rain stopped, I walked the campground. There are some larger trees here........maybe 70 or 100 years old. Second or third growth. Maybe 4 feet in diameter.
Back in the camper, when the wind throws a fit, the cacophony on the roof returns......
Am warm, dry, with some good music that soothes the soul.
December 2, 2013
Monday
Drove by the location of Hunt and Stewart's Fort Astoria (AKA Ft. George) and found an empty corner on a city block lot at 14th and Exchange St. There was a small recreation of a stockade wall and the balance of the site was a log stockade and fort - painted on the adjacent building's wall. More of a pictorama than a historical site. From the site looking north there was a good view of the entire Columbia River estuary.
Drove up to the Astoria Column, but when I saw signage requiring $2.00 to park, thought I would park and not pay any of their stinkin' fees, make some phone calls and not get out of the truck but enjoy the vistas. The site provides sweeping panorama views of the entire Columbia River estuary and mouth area - from the Meagler Bridge all the way out to Cape Disappointment on the WA side to the west and to the south and north for over 15 miles.
When Robert Grey's ship "The Columbia" crossed the river bar and entered the river mouth in May, 1792, he came across the bar and upriver for about 20 miles. Grey named the river after his ship and the name stuck.
Later in the fall of 1792, George Vancouver entered the river and sent a smaller boat upriver 90 miles to the current location of the Portland airport. The leader of that excursion - Broughton - has a beach named after him north of the current PDX airport.
Tomorrow will visit Ft. Clatsop and to "dismal niche" on the WA side where The Corps holed up for several days before deciding to winter camp at Clatsop. While at The Niche, the weather was intense, wet, windy, cold and the Corps had their historic "democratic" vote (the black man York and the Native American woman Sacajawea included in the voters) about this time of the year, 208 years ago.
December 3, 2013
Tuesday
Toured Ft Clatsop, the NPS site that recreates the winter 1805 -1806 quarters of The Corps. The exact location of the original fort was never determined. In the mid 1800 settlers arrived, cleared much of the land, burned stumps and basically made determination of the exact site impossible. The Corps probably left little behind and what was left was scavenged by the Native Americans. I was told by Park Staff that there is a high degree of certainty that the recreated fort is "within a mile of the original, but no one knows for sure."
Found it interesting that when the fort was built for the approx 30 men and Charbono and his wife Sacajawea and their baby, that the couple had their own room - next to the room of Lewis/Clark. Most of the men slept 8 to a room.
Next crossed the river and visited "Dismal Niche" where the Corps spent 6 long days in November 1805. As they had been hell bent on reaching the coast, when they arrived their clothes, buffalo robe bedding, canvas and clothing was in tatters and wet from the weather. At the Niche, it rained and blew relentless the entire time. There was barely enough room on the shore for everyone to get away from the spray being blown from the bay. They were wet, cold, miserable.
Am warm, dry, with some good music that soothes the soul.
December 2, 2013
Monday
Drove by the location of Hunt and Stewart's Fort Astoria (AKA Ft. George) and found an empty corner on a city block lot at 14th and Exchange St. There was a small recreation of a stockade wall and the balance of the site was a log stockade and fort - painted on the adjacent building's wall. More of a pictorama than a historical site. From the site looking north there was a good view of the entire Columbia River estuary.
Drove up to the Astoria Column, but when I saw signage requiring $2.00 to park, thought I would park and not pay any of their stinkin' fees, make some phone calls and not get out of the truck but enjoy the vistas. The site provides sweeping panorama views of the entire Columbia River estuary and mouth area - from the Meagler Bridge all the way out to Cape Disappointment on the WA side to the west and to the south and north for over 15 miles.
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| View of the mouth of the Columbia from the Astoria column parking lot |
When Robert Grey's ship "The Columbia" crossed the river bar and entered the river mouth in May, 1792, he came across the bar and upriver for about 20 miles. Grey named the river after his ship and the name stuck.
Later in the fall of 1792, George Vancouver entered the river and sent a smaller boat upriver 90 miles to the current location of the Portland airport. The leader of that excursion - Broughton - has a beach named after him north of the current PDX airport.
Tomorrow will visit Ft. Clatsop and to "dismal niche" on the WA side where The Corps holed up for several days before deciding to winter camp at Clatsop. While at The Niche, the weather was intense, wet, windy, cold and the Corps had their historic "democratic" vote (the black man York and the Native American woman Sacajawea included in the voters) about this time of the year, 208 years ago.
December 3, 2013
Tuesday
Toured Ft Clatsop, the NPS site that recreates the winter 1805 -1806 quarters of The Corps. The exact location of the original fort was never determined. In the mid 1800 settlers arrived, cleared much of the land, burned stumps and basically made determination of the exact site impossible. The Corps probably left little behind and what was left was scavenged by the Native Americans. I was told by Park Staff that there is a high degree of certainty that the recreated fort is "within a mile of the original, but no one knows for sure."
Found it interesting that when the fort was built for the approx 30 men and Charbono and his wife Sacajawea and their baby, that the couple had their own room - next to the room of Lewis/Clark. Most of the men slept 8 to a room.
Next crossed the river and visited "Dismal Niche" where the Corps spent 6 long days in November 1805. As they had been hell bent on reaching the coast, when they arrived their clothes, buffalo robe bedding, canvas and clothing was in tatters and wet from the weather. At the Niche, it rained and blew relentless the entire time. There was barely enough room on the shore for everyone to get away from the spray being blown from the bay. They were wet, cold, miserable.
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