Jax Stumpes: Lewis & Clark Trip Day 29: Mostly Washington (6/5/2021)

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Lewis & Clark Trip Day 29: Mostly Washington (6/5/2021)

Saturday, June 5, 2021

*On 11/4/1805, the Corps of Discovery arrived in an area they called Wapato Valley because of the wapato or arrowhead root crop of the First Peoples who lived there.*

The Wapato Valley is now Portland, OR, and Lewis & Clark
had missed seeing the confluence of the Willamette River
(seen coming from the left just under the tree line)

(We were in Portland, OR in 1998.)

Statue (1905, by Alice Cooper) of
Sakagawea and Jean Baptiste

"Homeless shelters" along I-405 in Portland, OR

What is left of the oldest apple tree in
Vancouver, WA, where the apple culture
of the Pacific Northwest began in 1826
at Fort Vancouver (KSS)

The Gateway to the Land Bridge (2008, designed by
Maya Lin and Johnpaul Jones, with works of art created
by Lillian Pitt), is another Confluence Project at a site
where the First Peoples of the area came to trade

The pedestrian bridge forms a near-circle
and plants of the forests and plains line
the meandering walkway (KSS)

The first of three overlooks is about the river, with
central seating representing a basket decorated
with designs from petroglyphs

The second overlook is about the land ... (KSS)

... and the third overlook is about the people (KSS)

The Land Bridge connects the waterfront to
full-scale replica of Fort Vancouver (1824)

Spiraea douglasii/Western Spirea

*On 11/4/1805, the Corps of Discovery camped between the river and a lake not far from the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.*

A gate marked 'Keep Out' stopped us from getting to
Knapp Landing, between the Columbia River and Postal Lake

*On 11/7/1805, the Corps of Discovery believed they had sighted the Pacific Ocean, from the shore near a pillar of rock that they called Pillar Rock.*

Pillar Rock: Lewis & Clark Historical Marker

Tree trunks are thickly covered in moss

Which of these rocks used to be Pillar Rock?
At some point, the rock named by Lewis and Clark
was cut down to be used as a navigational marker

This was the view toward "the ocean" they saw,
but it was still the estuary they were seeing

We passed Knappton Cove Heritage Center housed in
an 1899 Quarantine Station, where immigrants (entering
the country at Astoria, OR on the Columbia River) would
be quarantined depending on their condition

*From 11/10-14/1805, the Corps of Discovery was pinned into a small cove while a storm with high winds raged, creating tremendous waves.*

Dismal Nitch: Lewis & Clark Historical Marker

Dismal Nitch Memorial (2009, by Gareth Curtiss)

Dismal Nitch

Looks like St Johns Wort

*From 11/15-25/1805, the Corps of Discovery camped at a Chinook summer village that was uninhabited at the time. From here they had their first real sighting of the Pacific Ocean. During their stay at Middle Village, the expedition members (including Sakagawea and York) participated in the decision as to where to locate their winter quarters. They opted to go south of the Columbia River.*

Middle Village Station Camp:
A Chinook-style paddle is concave at the end

A Chinook canoe and a dugout canoe; the Chinook
canoes were designed to be used on the ocean

Chinook salmon-drying rack

The Corps of Discovery noted that many
tribes west of the Rocky Mountains
practiced head flattening on infants

Fort Columbia (1896-1904) is one of three forts
that once protected the mouth of the Columbia River

Battery 246 bunker at Fort Columbia Historical State Park

Coastal artillery 6-inch gun (KSS)

Cranberry bog near Long Beach, WA

One of the features of the Discovery Trail
from Long Beach to Iwaco, WA; a sculpture
(2003, by Stanley Wanlass) of the tree in
which William Clark carved his name