Since 2004 we've traveled on parts of the Lewis & Clark trail throughout the Dakotas and Montana. We've been curious to learn more about their history especially involving their destination in Oregon, so we visited the Lewis & Clark Historical National Park. It's located near Seaside, Oregon at the exact site of the original Fort Clatsop. A second replica of Fort Clatsop was built in 2005.
A little history......
On May 14, 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent an exploration party headed up by Lewis who then selected Clark to explore the Missouri River to its source then establish the most direct route to the Pacific, making observations along the way. They were to learn all they could of Indian tribes they would encounter. After five tedious months, they wintered at Fort Mandon, (which is now North Dakota) which they built near the abandoned Mandan Indian Villages 1600 miles up the Missouri River. They acquired the serves of Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trader, and his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, along with their infant son, Jean Baptiste.
When they reached the northwest tip of what is now Oregon in mid-November 1805, they found some 400 Clatsop living on the southern
side of the Columbia River. Their neighbors, the Chinook, lived on the northern banks of the Columbia and the Pacific Coast, while the
Nehalen and Tillamook lived on the coast to the south. They were wealthy traders and canoe builders and treated Lewis and Clark with
"extrodinary friendship." With much help from the area tribes they survived the winter of 1805-6 and started their journey back to St.
Louis, Missouri on March 23, 1806. They presented the Clatsop Indians with their fort as a gesture of gratitude.
Their expedition supplied many firsts...such as the sight of the Pacific Ocean, the Blue whale, "friendly" Indian tribes, and their journals identified fish and wildlife around the fort as well as new flora and fauna of the American West.
View of the Astoria Bridge from the top of Coxcomb Hill
