Trading with Local Tribes

Trading with Local Tribes. . , "we offered to purchase some of their fish" , The Lewis and Clark Expedition stopped at a Cathlamet camp located on a large island (now Puget Island) on March 25, 1806. Here the explorers met some native people fishing for sturgeon. They wished to purchase some of this "very fine" fish but could not afford the price. One member of the party did manage to trade a sea otter skin for a dressed elk skin and handkerchief. , Thirty-eight years later in 1844, J.W. Nesmith and his party visited tribal villages in the vicinity. The Cathlamet people showed them some articles that had been presented to them by the Lewis and Clark Expedition including a faded cotton handkerchief and a small mirror. Nesmith said that the tribe "regarded these articles with great veneration, and would not dispose of them to us for any price we were able to offer.' , The Columbia River has always been an important route for trade and transportation. Historically, several ferry boats carried people between towns in Washington and Oregon. Bridges now provide connections across the river where most of the ferry routes once existed. The "Wahkiakum" (here on Puget Isand), is the only remaining active ferry on the lower Columbia River linking the states of Oregon and Washington. , March 25, 1806 , " here we found 3 men 2 women and a couple of boys ... they had ten or douzen very fine sturgeon which had not been long taken. we offered to purchase some of their fish by they asked us such an extravagant price that we declined purchase. one of the men purchased a sea Otterskin at this lodge, for which he gave a dressed Elkskin and a handkerchief." , Meriwether Lewis , . , Jefferson's Vision , In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore a potential cross-continental water route for trade and commerce. The Expedition followed a combination of rivers and overland trails to reach the Great Columbia River. In 1805-06, Lewis and Clark observed that the Columbia River was an important trade route for American Indian tribes, and between traders from ocean-going ships and costal tribes. Today, the river is still an essential commercial highway for international trade and shipping.