"nine feet from the points of the wings"
On November 18, 1805, William Clark led a party of eleven men on an excursion to Cape Disappointment and the Pacific Ocean. As they started out that morning, the explorers followed a route . . . — — Map (db m308815) HM
A Collision of Cultures
First they came by sea and then by land - the Euro-American presence swelled through the region. The newcomers brought strange illnesses, like smallpox and malaria, and unwittingly spread plagues of death to the . . . — — Map (db m177402) HM
Here the Columbia River, the mightiest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the American continents, ends its journey. Native people have lived along the banks of this river and fished its waters for thousands of years.
Euro-American . . . — — Map (db m177312) HM
Here was the home of the Chinook Indians and their great chief, Comcomly.
Capt. Robert Gray dropped anchor near here after his discovery of the Columbia River in 1792.
In the days of the fur trade this area was witness to many stirring . . . — — Map (db m125769) HM
The Chinook people remember the significance of Qiqayaqilxam and have handed this knowledge down through the generations. They continue to live along the lower Columbia River and cherish this place. Their old ways — from art and language to fishing . . . — — Map (db m177356) HM
After the U.S. government's failure to ratify the Tansy Point treaties signed by chiefs of five Chinookan tribes, the Chinook continued to hold tightly to their identity as a tribe and to their homeland. In 1855 on the Chehalis River, Washington . . . — — Map (db m177353) HM
In 1904, P.J. McGowan donated the land and paid for the construction of a Catholic church. Built of Port Orford cedar, the church sat 150 worshippers. In the town's heyday, many families lived and worked here. After the cannery moved and fish traps . . . — — Map (db m177352) HM
The Chinook commanded the mouth of the Columbia and lands up the coast to Willapa Bay in the north and down the coast to Tillamook head in the south going back centuries. They lived at the heart of a vast trade network, and served as middlemen, who . . . — — Map (db m177358) HM
The Search for the Northwest Passage
How did Euro-Americans lay claim to this place? For centuries, explorers sent by European nations with imperial ambitions sought the Northwest Passage — a navigable sea route connecting the Atlantic and . . . — — Map (db m177405) HM
This place — where river meets ocean – is one of many stories. The Chinook people lived here at Qiqayaqilxam, or Middle Village, for countless generations. Qiqayaqilxam is one of several villages that stretched from Cape Disappointment to Pillar . . . — — Map (db m177411) HM
The Chinook people have lived along the Pacific Coast for countless generations — in fact, the Chinook say their ancestors were here at the end of the last ice age, when the waters and forests were very different. The people of this place would have . . . — — Map (db m177409) HM
At Cape Disappointment the West Coast's largest river meets the world's largest ocean. From the vantage of this rocky headland, you can see the confluence of these two massive water systems.
This is a place where life flourishes. The mixing of . . . — — Map (db m308825) HM
Sailing a ship into the narrow channel at the mouth of the Columbia River was always dangerous and often deadly. Sailing ships would frequently be forced to wait for days and sometimes weeks for the weather to be right to "cross the bar."
Even . . . — — Map (db m116577) HM
In the past two centuries there have been many changes at Beard's Hollow. Historically, the Chinook Indians visited the tide pools near the water's edge to collect sea life for food and shells to use as tools and decorations.
When the Lewis and . . . — — Map (db m116578) HM
The lighthouse has watched over the entrance of the Columbia River since was first lit on October 15, 1856. It stands fifty-three feet tall, has a focal plane of 220 feet above the sea, and tapers from a diameter of fourteen feet four inches at . . . — — Map (db m116607) HM
"It is estimated that with two canneries, the lumbering, cranberry and railroad interests centering at Ilwaco annually put into circulation at this town about $600,000. This is a solid town and is entitled to the attention of all visitors to . . . — — Map (db m116580) HM
The U.S. Army constructed Fort Canby, along with Fort Columbia and Fort Stevens, to defend the entrance to the Columbia River from enemy warships. U.S. Army troops manned the forts from the mid-19th century until the end of World War II.
The . . . — — Map (db m116597) HM
John Edmund Pickernell
New Hampshire 1818
Washington Terr 1877
Wife Tonwah
Settled this site 1842
Signatory Champoeg Convention 1843 — — Map (db m288784) HM
The fort had barracks for the men, cottages for officers and their families, and a large residence for the commanding officer. Other buildings included the post exchange, which was much like a general store, and the guardhouse, which served as . . . — — Map (db m116595) HM
November 18, Monday 1805
William Clark recorded in his
journal that on this date:
"I set out with 10 men and my man York to the ocian by land.... (later in the day) … I found Capt. Lewis name on a tree. I also engraved my name.... I . . . — — Map (db m120771) HM
Working and Living on North Head
Lighthouse keepers maintained the North Head Lighthouse from 1898 until its automation in 1961. Keeping the light burning 365 days a year was arduous, repetitive work.
Keepers carried gallons of oil up . . . — — Map (db m116574) HM
{This trapezoidal marker has plaques on three sides and three-dimensional bronze model of local volcanos on the table]
Mt. Jefferson
Named for President Jefferson
By Lewis and Clark
Elevation: 10,493 feet
Age: 300,000 years . . . — — Map (db m308885) HM
[Two markers are in the kiosk.]
"his Hat...made with a double Cone"
Chief Sakamokawa, for whom this town was named, lived in a village of the Wahkiakum people near here. Lewis and Clark met the chief while wintering at Fort Clatsop on . . . — — Map (db m308891) HM
"Certain it is they are the best canoe navigators I ever saw." William Clark, November 11, 1805
For centuries, crossing the Columbia River was a major challenge. At the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Corps watched in . . . — — Map (db m308834) HM
Imagine being stuck outside in a driving rain for six days and nights. Corps of Discovery members spent six miserable days beached by a storm in this "dismal nitch" along the Columbia River. Wet, cold, and hungry, they were astonished when five . . . — — Map (db m308833) HM
Journal of William Clark
About 3 o’clock the Wind luled and the river became calm. I had the canoes loaded in great haste and set out from this dismal nitch. There We have been confined for 6 days past.
Three days earlier . . . — — Map (db m308888) HM
Millions of salmon once swam up the Columbia River to spawn every year. Salmon were the staple for the many tribes that lived along its banks. Traders carried fish up and down the river to trade for other goods. Later white settlers joined the . . . — — Map (db m308836) HM
On the hill behind is the grave of Willie Keil, nineteen year old son of Dr. William Keil, leader of the Bethel Colony that came west to settle here in November, 1855.
Willie was to have driven the leading team in the wagon train which was to . . . — — Map (db m129100) HM
Pacific County was the third county in Washington Territory, and Oysterville served as county seat from 1855 to 1893. In 1875, taxpayers built a courthouse and jail at this location and it served for all county business until "South Bend Raiders" . . . — — Map (db m302237) HM
Schools & Education in Oysterville
The Oysterville Schoolhouse was built in 1907 and was used by School
District No. 1 of Pacific County for fifty years until consolidation in 1957.
Since then, though owned by the Ocean Beach School . . . — — Map (db m302236) HM
Registered National
Historic Place
Washington State Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation
Raymond Public Library
Under the provisions of the
National Historic Preservation
Act of 1966, this property possesses
exceptional . . . — — Map (db m197148) HM
The deserted site of a famous pioneer village, once a county seat, is one mile northward on Willapa Bay, formerly called Shoalwater Bay. The crew of the oyster schooner "Robert Bruce" settled here in December 1851 after that craft had burned. . . . — — Map (db m305061) HM
Registered National Historic Place Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Pacific County Courthouse
Under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, this property possesses . . . — — Map (db m129143) HM
