US History/US History (Bureau Development Inc.)(1991).ISO/dp/0032/00328.txt

Text File | 1990-12-23 | 19KB | 327 lines

$Unique_ID{USH00328}
$Pretitle{36}
$Title{Fort Vancouver
Chapter 1  Welcome to Fort Vancouver}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{US Department of the Interior}
$Affiliation{National Park Service}
$Subject{fort
vancouver
mcloughlin
bay
hudson's
company
river
columbia
post
residence}
$Volume{Handbook 113}
$Date{1981}
$Log{}
Book:        Fort Vancouver
Author:      US Department of the Interior
Affiliation: National Park Service
Volume:      Handbook 113
Date:        1981

                          Overview of Fort Vancouver

Fort Vancouver was instrumental in the struggle for control of the Oregon
Territory between Great Britain and the United States.  This book recounts
the story of Fort Vancouver, along with a history of the surrounding area
and an account of the major personalities involved in colonizing Southwest
Washington.  This volume was produced by the United States Department of
Interior.

Chapter 1  Welcome to Fort Vancouver

A Monument to Determination

     It may be best to visit Fort Vancouver on a quiet, foggy weekend morning
when the sights and sounds of this century are muted and all you can see are
the tall fir timbers of the stockade and the outline of the buildings inside.
On a quiet morning like this it is easy to imagine a time not too long ago
when what you see in the fog is all that existed there; the stockade, the
orchard and gardens, the timber on the hills above the river plain, and the
Columbia River itself rushing westward toward the Pacific.

     At times like this the former Hudson's Bay outpost becomes locked into
our consciousness and historical dates and personalities recede into
insignificance.  The trading post and headquarters are simply there, as much a
part of the Columbia River as Beacon Rock upstream.

     Obviously we cannot visit Fort Vancouver only on foggy weekend mornings,
and fortunately little concentration is required to ignore the 20th Century
trappings that have grown up around this important area and turned the fort
into an island of history amid airplanes, automobiles, drawbridges, trains,
and ships.  Even though nothing remained of the original complex when
reconstruction began, the fort retains a timeless quality.  It is a visual
record of a plan, a dream that had an immeasurable impact on the course of
American history.  Even if the stockade and bastion and buildings were not
there, Fort Vancouver would still exist in the fabric of the Pacific Northwest
because of its contributions to the region.

     Geography and natural resources dictated the post's location; wise and
generous leadership over three decades made it live.  The Columbia River is
the greatest river of the American Northwest and drains what were some of the
richest trapping grounds in North America.  Another lesser, but nonetheless
important, river, the Willamette, comes into the Columbia nearby from the
south.  From here westward the Columbia flows flat and wide, deep enough for
sailing ships in the 18th and 19th centuries and the giant ships of today.
Although the wind sometimes sweeps through the Columbia Gorge at almost gale
force during stormy weather, the area generally has mild temperatures and
abundant rainfall.  The floodplain along the river, protected by dikes today,
and the shelves of dark, rich soil above the floodplain are perfect for
orchards and gardens.  The shelf on which the fort was built is also long and
broad enough to give protection against surprise attack from either land or
river.

     Attacks were little feared by the Hudson's Bay Company employees during
the post's 35 years of existence.  It does look like a military fort with its
tall stockade and the bastion on the northwest corner, plus the twin cannon in
front of the chief factor's residence.  But no shots were ever fired in anger.
The stockade was built for security purposes, primarily to prevent theft.  The
bastion was built in 1845 during a period of uneasiness between the British
and Americans, but it was used only to fire salutes to arriving ships with the
eight, three-pound cannon in the three story structure.

     No events of great drama occurred here.  No battles were fought, no armed
or diplomatic confrontations, no international treaties were signed in the
chief factor's residence.  Instead, Fort Vancouver represented, and still
represents, long-term stability in the relations between two peoples and two
governments.

     It is easy to slip into the spirit of the past as you stroll through the
interpretive center on the hill above the fort.  You hear unobtrusive
recordings of English and Scottish men discussing the daily affairs of the
post during its active years.  Sometimes the men complain about their bosses,
as men always have.  They discuss or gossip about their coworkers.  They work
on inventories.  As you half-listen to these voices, you see a beaver pelt
dressed and stretched on a willow drying frame exactly as the trappers treated
furs on the upper Columbia and its tributaries in preparation for the annual
spring trip downriver.

     Over there is a display case with a model of the Beaver, the first
steamboat to ply Pacific Northwest waters.  This small sidewheeler, owned by
the Hudson's Bay Company, traveled up and down the coast and rivers during the
last century.  Another case holds a grinding stone from a nearby gristmill.
The walls hold several paintings and sketches relating to the fort during its
heyday.

     Out in the lobby is a collection of items for sale today as they were
during the post's active years: yellow soap, twists of tobacco, voyageurs'
sashes, hats, and garters, Spodeware table settings, metal candleholders, and
even Hudson's Bay blankets identical to those traded for beaver skins.

     It is a pleasant walk from the interpretive center down the hill to the
post.  You undoubtedly will hear airplanes overhead and see the large bridge
that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Columbia River, but the past
holds its own against these intrusions of the present.

     Before entering the post through the tall gate, take a look at the
orchard and garden.  They are not original, but some of the apple trees
reportedly were grown from cuttings taken from one of the Hudson's Bay apple
trees that survived after the fort was abandoned and destroyed.  Here, in
season, you see trees bearing apples, cherries, pears, peaches, plums, and
nectarines.  The garden, in the summer, is crowded with melons, potatoes,
beans, cucumbers, and other vegetables.  The garden has been so successful
that many years its produce wins ribbons at local fairs.

     The stockade posts are Douglas-fir and stand five meters (15 feet) tall.
You enter through the north gate and immediately see a flagpole from which the
British Union Jack is flying, another reminder that Fort Vancouver was always
a British post.

     There has always been some confusion over Fort Vancouver and the nearby
U.S. Army post.  Fort Vancouver was built by the Hudson's Bay Company and
occupied only by Britishers.  When the United States took possession of the
land now called Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in 1849, Fort Vancouver slowly
decayed from lack of use.  Settlers scavenged it for building materials and
firewood, and it eventually disappeared entirely.  However, the Americans
concurred with the British opinion that the area was strategic and built an
Army post nearby.  At first it was called Columbia Barracks, then Vancouver
Barracks.  Some have mistakenly and often called it Fort Vancouver, hence the
confusion.

     Once you enter the stockade and walk across the grass, time seems to
reverse itself.  And in this enclosed area distance is difficult to judge;
walking from one end of the fort to the other becomes something like walking
across the plains toward the mountains, it takes longer than you think.  The
enclosure measures 224 by 97 meters (734 by 318 feet), which makes it a bit
smaller than five football fields lined up side by side.

     Spotted around the flat grounds are numerous asphalt pads that mark the
sites of ten of the nearly two dozen buildings that once stood here.  The
large painting in the interpretive center shows how many buildings the post
contained.  Hidden by replanting are the excavations made by archaeologists,
who over a period of years uncovered more than one million artifacts.  These
digs were necessary to establish the exact location of each building and to
fill in historical gaps left by written accounts of life at the post.

     To your left as you enter the stockade is the largest building that has
been reconstructed.  This beautiful white wooden structure, accented by an
iron trellis and a wide veranda along the southern length of the house with
two cannon in front, is where Dr. John McLoughlin lived.  The chief factor's
residence was one of the grandest of the time, and someone planted grape vines
on the veranda.  Another homey touch is the low white picket fence that runs
around the front and each side.

     Several early travelers to Fort Vancouver commented on how comfortable
and commodious the residence was.  McLoughlin and his half-Indian wife lived
here, and they shared it with McLoughlin's assistant, James Douglas, and his
family.  Just beyond the entry hall is the large room where the officers of
the company, and the occasional guest, dined.  By now you may have decided the
house isn't as grand as it first appeared because it held a lot of people all
the time, and many more came in and out throughout the day.  Still, it was
undoubtedly one of the biggest and nicest houses north of San Francisco or
west of St. Joseph, Missouri.

     Through a considerable amount of research into Hudson's Bay practices,
contemporary accounts, and even a scattering of photographs the residence has
been rebuilt as closely to its original appearance as possible.  Included are
the Carron stoves used for heating, which Hudson's Bay sent to the New World
from Scotland.  The flue pipes radiated heat to the rooms before sending the
smoke up the chimney.

     Along the walls are engravings from 19th-century England, and one shows
Princess Victoria in her youth before she became queen of England and lent her
name to a long era of Britain's history.

     The table is set with different patterns of Spodeware and cutlery used by
the company.  Many of the original furnishings from the factor's residence
were acquired by the late Simon Fraser Tolmie, scion of a Hudson's Bay factor
who later became premier of British Columbia.  These antiques were auctioned
off in an estate sale in 1937.  Unfortunately, Fort Vancouver was not a part
of the National Park System then, nor was it even planned to be, so the
original furnishings are either in private ownership or in Canadian museum
collections.  The National Park Service has replaced them with antiques
purchased over a period of years.

     The interior of the chief factor's residence seems dark.  Some older
visitors remember this darkness from their youth before electricity became
common.  After a few minutes inside the house, your eyes adjust to the dim
lighting, and you can see the rooms and furnishings in the same quality of
light the original inhabitants of the fort took for granted.  You see corners
barely lit, and some areas that are at the best, gloomy.

     The rooms and furnishings, however, look like those in many 19th-century
paintings.  The reflected light on polished silver and oiled mahogany tables
and chairs does not flash or glare; it gleams out of the darkness, giving
everything a richness, a depth of color not often found in modern buildings.

     Over by the east wall of the mess hall is a small table with room for one
place setting that brought accusations of arrogance during the post's
existence.  This is the table where Indian dignitaries sat when invited to eat
by McLoughlin.  A frequent visitor was the Multnomah Chief Casenove (variously
spelled Caseno and Casino).  In McLoughlin's defense, it must be said that he
was one of the few chief factors who even permitted Indians to dine with the
company officers.

     This brings up a fundamental difference between the Hudson's Bay
Company's and Americans' attitudes toward Indians.  There is no evidence that
the British cared more for Indians as a people or individuals than the
Americans, but it suited the purposes of the Hudson's Bay Company to have
pleasant relations with native Americans.  They were businessmen interested in
remaining in the Indians' good graces.  Even though they thought the Indians
were savages, and some undoubtedly believed they were subhuman, they were
dependent on Indians for beaver pelts and for menial labor.

     The Americans felt quite differently.  They wanted the Indians' land.
Instead of wanting to trap and hunt, they wanted to own land and farm it or
raise cattle on it.  And the Americans weren't nearly as organized as the
Hudson's Bay Company, or as easily ruled or controlled.  It was unusual if
Indians fit into their scheme of things.  Fort Vancouver's record of
nonviolence during its prime years speaks more eloquently of this attitude
than any company or government statement.  Again, part of the credit must go
to McLoughlin, who was married to a part-Indian woman, and who, unlike many of
his contemporaries, treated her as a full wife instead of a wilderness woman
to be used and discarded.  Think of these things as you go through the replica
of his residence, and you come to realize what an important role McLoughlin
played in the establishment of white rule in the Pacific Northwest.

     After walking through the residence that at first looks spacious, then
shrinks in your mind as you realize how many people used it, it is easier to
understand why it wasn't even more spacious.  The Hudson Bay
governor-in-chief, George Simpson, knew better than to let any of his chief
factors set up small kingdoms in North America.  He had to keep them equal
with their counterparts throughout the wilderness and knew that if one was
able to set up a kingdom, the others would follow suit.  That, of course, was
one reason he and McLoughlin clashed.  McLoughlin was going against both
company and governmental policy by being a good neighbor to the emigrants
arriving off the Oregon Trail.  And that is why McLoughlin was treated so
badly toward the end of his Hudson's Bay career.

     But none of this was apparent during the post's first two decades.
McLoughlin was a loyal employee and a shrewd businessman, as evidenced by the
size of the fort and how well it functioned.  As more and more buildings are
added to the restoration over the years, we will continue to marvel at what
McLoughlin was able to accomplish in the so-called wilderness amid the Indian
culture.

     Just outside the residence to the east, or upriver side, archaeologists
unearthed the well that McLoughlin's staff dug, and just beyond it is the
bakery that has been rebuilt to its original specifications.  Here rangers
give frequent demonstrations of how bread was baked in those days, and it
isn't a bread that you'll find in gourmet stores.  Made of flour and water, it
came out as hardtack that would keep for months without spoiling and was so
hard that only repeated dips in coffee or tea would soften it enough for any
employee who had his teeth pulled.  The ovens are made of brick, and to
prepare them for baking, fires are built in them and stoked until the bricks
become scorching hot.  Then the wood and ashes are raked out and the dough
placed directly on the bricks to be baked.  The bakers use a long, flat tool
like a king-sized spatula to turn the pancake-sized bread and to retrieve it
when done.

     Down in the corner toward the river is one of the stores.  Here are
samples of other goods available at the fort, such as clothing items, tools
and household items.  As with the interpretive center, some items are
reproductions while others are antiques dating back to the fur-trading era.

     After you have visited the interpretive center and toured the historic
site itself with one of the well versed rangers, you will have gained a
feeling of immediacy.  Such visits to historic sites give history, and
historical figures, more life, and help us understand that in many cases
history is created by ordinary people instead of heroic figures, although Dr.
John McLoughlin was certainly one of the giants in Pacific Northwest history.

     With the convenience of hindsight, it is easy for us to say today that
Fort Vancouver's location was the only obvious one in the Columbia River
drainage.  But it isn't that simple.  McLoughlin could have selected any
number of other sites at any number of other river junctions that oceangoing
ships could reach.  But he didn't, and his choice has been repeatedly endorsed
ever since.  Here Portland and the city of Vancouver grew, and the major
railroads and highways went through.  While other settlements were springing
up and just as quickly dying, Portland and Vancouver steadily grew and
prospered.

     As you read David Lavender's thorough and engaging history of the fort,
you will gain a deeper insight into the men and the events that opened the
western portion of North America to settlement.  You will see the ruthlessness
of the Hudson's Bay Company as personified by George Simpson juxtaposed with
the humanity of Dr. John McLoughlin.  Simpson cared very little for
individuals; he was a company man in the purest sense and all his loyalties
were directed to this employer.  McLoughlin, for all his flaming temper and
rule bending, was first and foremost a warm, generous human being with a
broader sense of justice and decency than his job was supposed to permit.
While Simpson sent his men out to completely "trap out" whole regions of the
West to keep out competition, McLoughlin was not only permitting settlers to
dribble into his corner of the wilderness, he was helping them do so.  It was
inevitable that the men would clash, and it is no surprise that McLoughlin
lost.  But he thought of people and the future besides power and profits.

     Lavender's work also sets the record straight about what happened after
the Hudson's Bay Company left.  He brings us up to date, clarifying the events
in the Vancouver area after the post was abandoned.

     Whatever conclusions you might draw from this story, there is no doubt
that Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of Fort Vancouver, deserves the title
of "Father of the Pacific Northwest." Had he been totally loyal to the British
policies, very few settlers would have been able to establish homes and towns
north of the Columbia River, and fewer still in present-day Oregon. Without
the spiritual presence of McLoughlin at the historic site, it would be simply
a collection of buildings.  But McLoughlin gives the stockade, the orchard and
garden, and the whole complex a personality.  In this sense, Fort Vancouver
National Historic Site is his monument, a much more impressive one than a
statue.