Fort Vancouver
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Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District (known to Americans as the Oregon Country). Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the Columbia River in present-day Vancouver, Washington, near Portland, Oregon.
[edit] History
The outpost was established in 1825, at a time when the Oregon Country was, at least nominally, jointly occupied by the United States and Britain, a situation to which the two nations had agreed in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. At this time, the Hudson's Bay Company controlled most of the land that is now Canada. Wanting to protect their interests north of the Columbia, they sent Dr. John McLoughlin to set up the headquarters somewhere along the northern bank that would secure the area and act as the hub for their fur trading in the Pacific Northwest.
McLoughlin, the fort's first Chief Factor (manager), who would later would be hailed by Americans as the Father of Oregon for his efforts to help Americans settle in the territory (against company wishes), was the fort's first administrator. He was responsible for finding a location and overseeing the construction. The site he selected, close to the mouth of the Willamette River, was considerably up the Columbia from the American outpost at Fort Astoria, near the Columbia's mouth, and on the opposing bank. The area was flat and had easy access to the Columbia, yet just outside the flood plain. The site was also picked because of the access to fertile farmland. The Hudson's Bay Company wanted the fort to be self-sufficient, as food was costly to ship. The area around the fort was commonly known as "La Jolie Prairie" (the pretty prairie) or Belle Vue Point.
The stockade that protected the fort was 750 feet long, 450 feet wide and about 20 feet high. Inside there were a total of 40 buildings, used for housing, warehouses, a school, a library, a pharmacy, a chapel, a blacksmith, plus a large manufacturing facility. Outside the ramparts there was additional housing as well as fields, gardens, fruit orchards, a shipyard, a distillery, a tannery, a sawmill, and a dairy. The residential village, comprised of employees' families, their native kin, and others, was known as Kanaka Village because of the many Hawaiians in company employ who lived there. Fort Vancouver was by far the largest settlement of non-natives west of the Great Plains at this time. The populace of the fort and the surrounding area were mostly French-Canadians and Metis; there were also English, Scots, Irish, Hawaiians and a large variety of Native Americans including Iroquoians and Cree from far east of the mountains. The common language spoken between staff within the fort was Canadian French; however, trading and relations with the surrounding community of hirelings and relations was done in Chinook Jargon, a pidgin of Chinook, Nootka, Chehalis, English, French, Hawaiian and other elements. Company records and official journals were kept in English, however, and at the head table.
The fort quickly became the center of activity in the Pacific Northwest. Every year ships would come from London (via the Pacific) to drop off supplies and trade goods in exchange for the furs. It was the nexus for the fur trade on the Pacific Coast; its influence reached from the Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands, and from Alaska into Mexican-controlled California via the Siskiyou Trail. At its pinnacle, Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Also, for many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail as they could get supplies before starting their homestead.
In 1845, McLoughlin left the Hudson's Bay Company for a homestead of his own, and founded Oregon City in the Willamette Valley. In 1846, when the Oregon Treaty set the US/Canadian border at the 49th parallel, the fort found itself within American territory. Although the treaty ensured that the Hudson's Bay Company could continue to operate and had free access to navigate the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the Columbia, company operations were effectively stifled by the treaty and became unprofitable and were soon closed down.
[edit] Fort Vancouver/Columbia
In 1849, the U.S. Army set up the Columbia Barracks (later renamed Vancouver Barracks) on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the trading post, fronting 1,200 yards (1100 m) on the river with buildings on a line 2,000 yards (1800 m) from the water. Political pressure from the new fort prompted the Hudson's Bay Company to move its headquarters to Fort Victoria (now Victoria, British Columbia) over a period of time.
While the company continued to operate out of Fort Vancouver, every year saw less and less fur trade and more and more settlers and U.S. Army movements. Through this time the fort saw the Indian Wars in the west and famous military men such as Ulysses S. Grant, Philip Henry Sheridan, George Crook, and George C. Marshall. Finally, on June 14, 1860, the Hudson's Bay Company abandoned Fort Vancouver and moved its operations north of the border. The U.S. Army immediately renamed the combined location Fort Columbia, changing the name again to Fort Vancouver. They used it for quarters and storage, with its local population fluctuating seasonally, finally hitting bottom with a strength of 50 people in 1861. In 1866 most of the fort burned down in a large fire.
Fort Vancouver was rebuilt, with a layout that included two double-story barracks on opposite sides of the parade ground, each with a kitchen and mess room to the rear. Seven log and four frame buildings served as Officer's Quarters. The post remained in active service, being expanded for World War I into Vancouver Barracks. Its final use was in World War II when Vancouver Barracks was used as a Staging Area for the Seattle Port Of Embarkation. At this time, the post included 3,019 acres (12.22 km²), and had billeting space for 250 officers, and 7,295 enlisted persons. It was finally closed in 1946. A plan was put together to preserve the location.
Because of the its significance in United States history, Fort Vancouver was declared a U.S. National Monument on June 19, 1948 and redesignated as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site on June 30, 1961. This was taken a step further in 1996 when a 366 acre (1.48 km²) area around the fort, including Kanaka Village, the Columbia Barracks and the bank of the river, was established as the Vancouver National Historic Reserve maintained by the National Park Service. It is possible to tour the fort; it is also the site of a large fireworks display, said to be the largest west of the Mississippi River, on the 4th of July.
To visit Fort Vancouver/Columbia, travel to Vancouver, Washington. The fort is located at the intersection of 5th Street and U.S. Route 99.
[edit] External links
 |
Pioneer History of Oregon (1806 - 1890) |
|---|---|
| Topics |
Oregon Country · Oregon Treaty · Oregon missionaries · Executive Committee · Oregon Trail · Oregon boundary dispute · Pacific Fur Company · Hudson's Bay Company |
| Events |
Champoeg Meetings · Treaty of 1818 · Russo-American Treaty · Donation Land Claim Act · Whitman massacre |
| Places |
Fort Astoria · Oregon Mission · Fort Vancouver · Champoeg, Oregon · Willamette Stone · Barlow Road |
| People |
George Abernethy · Sam Barlow · Tabitha Brown · Abigail Scott Duniway · Peter French · Joseph Gale · William Gilpin · David Hill · Jason Lee · John McLoughlin · Joseph Meek · Ezra Meeker · Joel Palmer · Marcus Whitman · Narcissa Whitman |
| Oregon History |
Native Peoples History · History to 1806 · Pioneer History · Modern History |
