Friday, September 2, 2011

Fort Clatsop, Oregon

Fort Clapsop was where Lewis and Clark ended their expedition to the west many years ago.
It is about 6 miles from what is now Astoria, Oregon, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.
It is not far from the Pacific Ocean, so while Lewis and Clark spent the winter here they were
able to enjoy much seafood in their diet.  The Clatsop Indians lived in the area and were not quite sure
how to interact with these white men.  Always before when white men came it was for trading,
but Lewis and Clark were not there for trading.  They were there to explore new land for people to move west.  On the upper right picture you can see their fireplace in one of the rooms of the fort.
On the lower right was an example of the heavy woolen
Hudson Bay Company coats worn during that era and still
noticed and copied by designers today.  It was a small fort, as it was just built for temporary
cover for the winter Lewis and Clark remained in this location.

In the 36 years that I have lived in Oregon I had not visited here.
It was a real treat to finally make it to this beautiful part of Oregon
and experience time at Fort Clatsop.

Do you have historical sights near where you live?
Have you visited them?
The long weekend might just be the opportunity to do so.
Enjoy the weekend.

Now I am off to the Oregon State Fair.

10 comments:

Annie Jeffries said...

We love visiting old forts, Marilyn. When we are in Astoria four years ago, we missed this. When an excellent excuse to return to such a gorgeous area.

somepinkflowers said...

i live right in the middle of one
big
fat
juicy
hot
historical sight!

:-)


wellll
you know i do....


{{ have fun at the fair!
hope there are TONS
of black & white chickens!
they are my fav....}}

Adrienne said...

We used to live in Astoria and visited Fort Clatsop often. Think it's time to go back again!
~Adrienne~

Traveling Bells said...

Fabulous! Dick and I were there last summer:) We saw a lot of L&C stuff on our trip out west. Thanks for the memories...

Tracy said...

VERY exciting and interesting-- Lewis & Clark! Our town is a very old naval town, once upon-a-time an important military naval base for the government, as well as port and some ship building. The navy is long gone, but for a few buildings still occupied by the government, but there is no more ship building and the wharf is silent. It's a pretty place to walk around. And there's been a revitalization of the old buildings in recent years, being turned into galleries, etc. Have fun at the OR State Fair, Marilyn! :o) ((HUGS))

Cathy at Wives with Knives said...

There is so much interesting history in the Astoria area and I love the little old towns along the Long Beach peninsula. Nice pictures, Marilyn. We should have Gravenstein apples at the market for another 2 weeks. There is a nice selection there. Hope to see you.

Mary said...

As there's nary a fort left in the entire country that Bob hasn't had us visit over the years, I can happily tell you yes, we've been to lovely Fort Clatsop, and found it very interesting. Love the whole Lewis & Clark story, also anything relating to native Americans and history of the move west by the brave pioneers.

BUT - I don't recall anything about them serving tea there! Maybe this is something new - I believe it was the late 90's when we visited.

BTW - Jasmin tells her Granddad "no more forts OR battlegrounds", she's seen enough!

Hugs - Mary

GardenOfDaisies said...

How interesting! This small fort is probably similar in a lot of wayt to the homes that some of the early pioneers built once they reached the Willamette Valley.
I do enjoy visiting the historic sites near me. My son is a huge history buff so we would go. And I'm trying to revisit a lot of them now that i have this blog.

Jeanie said...

Don't you find it interesting that we'll travel great distances to visit places but often pass up something close to home? I'm glad you discovered and visited this one!

Angela McRae said...

What a great post! I recently read some information about the Hudson Bay Company so this was particularly enjoyable!