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Fort NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

WASHINGTON his energetic leadership, the Hudson's Bay bank of the Columbia. Lumber, pickled Company won a virtual monopoly of the fur salmon, and other products of Fort Van­ trade in the country; and the firm's couver's mills, drying sheds, forges, and Fort Columbia Department was expanded until it shops supplied not only the wants of the fur stretched from the Rockies to the Pacific, trade but also a brisk commerce with such from Russian Alaska to Mexican California, distant places as the Hawaiian Islands, Cali­ with outposts on Bay and in fornia, and the Russian settlements in Alaska. Hawaii. The farms and the busy shops and mills at Vancouver was the nerve center of Fort Vancouver marked the beginning of this vast commercial empire. From its ware­ large-scale agriculture and industry in the houses went out the supplies for the many . NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE interior posts, for the fur brigades which Much of the cultural and social life of ranged as far distant as present-day Utah and the also revolved about Fort Vancouver. Here were established the first Here we commemorate the men of the and their part in developing California, and for the vessels and forts which dominated the coastal trade well up school, the first circulating library, the first the Pacific Northwest. the shoreline of Alaska. At Fort Vancouver theater, and several of the earliest churches each year the fur returns of the entire western in the Northwest.

FORT VANCOUVER NATIONAL HISTORIC First Fort Vancouver trade were gathered for shipment to Fort and village SITE preserves the actual location of Fort . In 1824 the company decided to move its Vancouver, the nucleus of the early develop­ The fort was also the center for an impor­ At the height of its prosperity—about western headquarters from Fort George, at The fort from the northwest, about 1855. Drawn by Gustavus Sohon. ment of the Pacific Northwest. For two tant farming and manufacturing community. 1844 to 1846—Fort Vancouver was an ex­ the mouth of the , to a site decades this stockaded fur-trading post was The company started an orchard near the tensive establishment. The fort proper about 100 miles upstream, to where the State headquarters and depot for all activities of fort; and its cultivated fields and pasture measured about 732 feet by 325 feet. It School for the Deaf, in Vancouver, Wash., the Hudson's Bay Company west of the lands extended for miles along the north was surrounded by a stockade of upright now stands. The shift was made to strength­ dotted "all over the plain for a mile." Near . As such, it was the eco­ logs; and a bastion at the northwest corner en British claims to the territory north of the village and extending to the river was a nomic, political, social, and cultural hub of mounted seven or eight 3-pound guns. These the Columbia and to be near lands more lagoon, around which were a number of other an area now comprising , defenses were never tested, since the nearby suitable for farming. The new post was company buildings. These included the , Oregon, Idaho, and western Indians were not hostile and the American named Fort Vancouver in honor of Capt. wharf, a storehouse for salmon, boatsheds, Montana. PLAN OF FORT VANCOUVER settlers never acted upon occasional threats , the explorer. FROM A DRAWING BY uttered during the period of tension before and a hospital. The fur resources of the Pacific Northwest LT. M. VAVASOUR. ROYAL ENGINEERS. 1845 and after the boundary treaty of 1846. were discovered by British seamen who Within the stockade were about 2 2 American settlers visited the northwest coast and obtained valu­ Second fort becomes fur-trade capital major buildings and several lesser structures. As American missionaries and settlers be­ able furs in trade with the Indians about the Among the former were four large store­ gan to flow in ever-increasing numbers into time of the American Revolution. Soon trad­ In 1829, a new fort was built 1 mile west houses, an Indian trade shop, a granary, an the Oregon country, British-owned Fort Van­ ers from several European countries, Canada, and closer to the river. From that time impressive residence for the chief , couver was of necessity their immediate goal. and the infant United States were competing the post grew rapidly in size and importance. dwellings for other company officers and Here were the only adequate supplies of food, on land and water for the riches thus re­ Between 1824 and 1846 Fort Vancouver clerks, and a jail. seed, and farm implements in the North­ vealed. After years of bitter contest, the was commanded by Chief Factor John Mc- The lesser employees at Fort Vancouver— west. Dr. McLoughlin's kind treatment of Hudson's Bay Company, a British firm char­ Loughlin. Of towering height and impres­ the tradesmen, artisans, boatmen, and labor­ these pioneers helped to foster the growth tered in 1670, won a dominant position in sive appearance, he was known to the In­ ers—for the most part had their homes in of an American population in the region. the northwest fur trade. dians as the "Whiteheaded Eagle." Under what was known as "the village," on the Not without justice has he been called the plain west and southwest of the stockade. It "Father of Oregon." When Dr. McLoughlin retired from the The National Park System, of which this area is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, consisted of from 30 to 50 wooden dwellings, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people. some ranged regularly along lanes and others Hudson's Bay Company, he moved to Oregon City and later became a United States citizen. fame were President Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. His house still stands. It was made a Na­ George Armstrong Custer, Gen. Philip H. tional Historic Site in 1941. Sheridan, and General of the Army, George C. Marshall. A U.S. military reservation Though now much reduced in size, Van­ The treaty of 1846 between the United couver Barracks commemorates the role of Fort Vancouver States and Great Britain established the 49th the in the settlement and parallel as the southern boundary of Canada development of the American frontier. NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE as a compromise between British desire for everything north of the Columbia River and The historic site the American goal expressed by the slogan, The National Historic Site was author­ "54-40 or Fight." Fort Vancouver thus ized by an act of Congress in 1948. It is found itself in American territory. There­ within the city of Vancouver, Wash. The after the influence of the post and the Hud­ visitor center and some of the building loca­ son's Bay Company declined rapidly south tions marked out on the actual site of the old of the Canadian line. Settlers began to take fort are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. over the land near Fort Vancouver; and to to 4:30 p.m. protect itself, the company welcomed the es­ tablishment here of a United States Army Administration camp in 1849. A short time later a military reservation Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is was created around the old fur-trading post. administered by the , The last factor of Fort Vancouver handed U.S. Department of the Interior. A super­ over the keys to the Army quartermaster in intendent, whose address is Vancouver, I860. Six years later it was reported that Wash., is in immediate charge. all traces of the old stockade had been de­ stroyed by a fire of unknown origin. Mission 66

MISSION 66, a 10-year conservation, devel­ opment, and improvement program of the The Army post at Fort Vancouver con­ National Park System, is scheduled for com­ tinues active to this date. Known variously pletion in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the as Camp Vancouver, Columbia Barracks, Fort National Park Service. The MISSION 66 Vancouver, and Vancouver Barracks, it long program at Fort Vancouver has built a vis­ served as military headquarters and supply itor center and improved the roads, parking point for the Pacific Northwest. areas, and utilities. The program has also Among the many men who served at the increased the staff of interpretive and pro­ Vancouver army post and went on to greater tective personnel.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WASHINGTON Cover: Fort Vancouver, 1845—an artist's conception. Revised 1962 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1962-0-638341