The Columbia River - Bunker Hill, Washington

Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Bunker Hill, Washington"

Includes ... Bunker Hill ...

Image, 2007, Stella, Washington, click to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Bunker Hill, as seen from Stella, Washington. Image taken October 13, 2007.

Bunker Hill ...

The Bunker Hill community is located high on a bluff on the Washington side of the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 55. Upstream is Germany Creek and the town of Stella. Downstream is Abernethy Creek and Mill Creek. The high cliffs of Bunker Hill area rise above Washington State Highway 4.

Early Bunker Hill ...

While the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not list "Bunker Hill" as the official name of the hill/ridge, it does list the community at the top (2016).

The Bunker Hill Cemetery is located near the top of the hill, and, according to the U.S. GenWeb website archives, the earliest buriel date with a headstone is July 16, 1877 and belongs to Engel Marie Krentler.

Bunker Hill is located in T2N R4W, Section 2. The 1885 cadastral survey (tax survey) shows the area of today's Bunker Hill being within the Donation Land Claim of C. Mayger. At the base of hill are located the claims of A.S. Abernethy and John Guizendorfer (Guisendorfer).

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office Records (GLO) database (2016) shows Charles Mayger and Minerva Mayger being granted title to 312.77 acres of T8N R4W, parts of Sections 2 and 11, on June 30, 1873 (1850 Oregon-Donation Act).

Views ...

Click image to enlarge	Bunker Hill, as seen from Stella, Washington. View is looking west. Image taken January 28, 2007.
Click image to enlarge	Bunker Hill, with the Stella Museum, Washington. Image taken October 13, 2007.
Click image to enlarge	Bunker Hill cliff, as seen from Washington State Highway 4. View is looking east. Image taken January 28, 2007.

From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, November 6, 1805, first draft ...

a cold wet morning. rain Contd. untill [blank] oClock we Set out early [from Prescott Beach, Oregon, area] & proceeded on the Corse of last night &c.

N. 50° W. 1 mile
on the Lard. Side under Some high land. bold rockey Shore

N. 60° W. 1 mile
under a bold rockey Shore on the Lard Side, opsd. the upper point of a Island [Cottonwood Island] close under the Stard Side the high lands closeing the river on that Side [Carrolls Bluff] above river wide

N. 75° W. 12 miles
to a point of high land on the Lard Side, passed two Lodges on the Lard Side at 2 miles in a bottom, The high land [Carrolls Bluff] leave The river on the Stard. Side. passd. a remarkable Knob of high land on the Stard. Side at 3 miles Close on the Waters edge [Mount Coffin, Lewis and Clark missed the Cowlitz River mouth] — ... passed a Island nearest the Lard. Side at 10 mile [Walker Island] the head of a Isd. on Std. [Fisher Island] opposit High Cliffs [Green Point, location of today's Mayger, Oregon], with Several Speces of Pine Cedars &c. arber vita & different Species of under groth.

N. 80° W. 2 miles
under a high clift on the Lard Side [Green Point, location of today's Mayger Island] the lower point of the Island on Stard. [Fisher Island] opposit those hills are Covered thickly ...

N. 88° W. 5 miles
to a high Clift a little below an old village in the Stard. bend [possibly Bunker Hill, the location of today's Stella, Washington] and opposit an old village on a Lard. point of a handsom & extensive bottom [Beaver Slough/Clatskanie River bottom]. passed a Island in the middle of the river 3 miles long and one wide [Crims Island], passed a Small Island Close on the Stard. Side [Gull Island] & a lower point of a former Isld. below which the lands high & with Clifts to the river Stard. Side

S. 45° W. 5 miles
under a Clift of verry high land on the Stard. side [possibly the Oak Point and Eagle Cliff area] wind high a head. ...

S. 50° W. 1 mile
under a high rockey Hill of pine. The Indians leave us, Steep assent, Som Clifts

S. 75° W. 1 mile
under a high hill with a bold rocky Shore, high assent river about 1 mile wide

West 1 mile
under a high Steep hill bold rockey Shore, Encampd under the hill on Stones [near Cape Horn of Wahkiakum County] Scercely land Sufficent between the hills and river Clear of the tide for us to lie. Cloudy & rain all wet and disagreeable. this evening made large fires on the Stones and dried our bedding. ...

Beaver Slough/Clatskanie Delta
Bunker Hill
Cape Horn, Wahkiakum County
Carrolls Bluff
Cottonwood Island
Cowlitz River
Crims Island
Eagle Cliff
Fisher Island
Green Point
Gull Island
Mayger, Oregon
Mount Coffin
Prescott Beach
Stella, Washington
Walker Island

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^*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, 2003

Sources: U.S. GenWeb Archives, 2016, U.S. GenWeb website;

All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.