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Point Vancouver and Steigerwald Lake NWR, Washington (background) and Rooster Rock, Oregon (foreground).
View from Vista House at Crown Point, Oregon.
Image taken October 10, 2004.
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Point Vancouver ...
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Point Vancouver, Washington.
Point Vancouver, Washington (treed area at river bank), as seen from Interstate-84, Tunnel Pullout, Oregon.
Image taken June 27, 2004.
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"Most beautiful scene" ...
From Washington Irving's "Astoria" [Washington Irving, 1836, Astoria, or Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains]:
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"About eight miles above the mouth of the Wallamot the little squadron arrived at Vancouver's Point, so called in honor of that celebrated voyager by his lieutenant when he explored the river. This point is said to present one of the most beautiful scenes on the Columbia; a lovely meadow, with a silver sheet of limpid water in the center, enlivened by wild-fowl, a range of hills crowned by forests, while the prospect is closed by
Mount Hood, a magnificent mountain rising into a lofty peak, and covered with snow; the ultimate landmark of the first explorers of the river.
Point Vancouver is about one hundred miles from Astoria. Here the reflux of the tide ceases to be perceptible. To this place vessels of two and three hundred tons burden may ascend."
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Steigerwald Lake and Point Vancouver, as seen from
Vista House, Crown Point, Oregon.
The Historic Columbia River Highway is in the foreground.
Image taken June 27, 2004.
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Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, looking towards Point Vancouver.
View from Washington State Highway 14, with Mount Hood and Crown Point, Oregon, in the distance.
Image taken, June 29, 2005.
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Early History ...
In 1792, Lieutenant Broughton, with the Captain George Vancouver expedition, was the first European to travel at any length up the Columbia River. On October 20, 1792, his crew arrived at Point Vancouver and named it after their Captain.
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"Having now passed the sand bank," says Mr. Broughton, "I landed for the purpose of taking our last bearings; a sandy point on the opposite shore bore S.80E., distant about 2 miles; this point terminating our view of the river, I named it after Captain Vancouver; it is situated in latitude 45 degrees 27 minutes, longitude 237 degrees 50 minutes."
In 1841
Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition surveyed this area, and while Point Vancouver is depicted on his 1841 map, Captain Wilkes did not give the point a name. He did however label today's
Cottonwood Point (downstream approximately 3 miles) "Point Broughton".
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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