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Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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"Vancouver Barracks" ...
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Vancouver Barracks is an American Military Post which currently (2004) is home to the 104th and 396th divisions of the U.S. Army Reserve. It is located just north of the Fort Vancouver and south and west of Vancouver's historic Officer's Row.
This first American military post in the Pacific Northwest was established in May 1849 in response to killings of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in 1847.
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After Indians killed Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and fourteen others at the Whitman Waiilatpu station in November of 1847, the federal government promised to send troops to Oregon for the protection of settlers. It was not until 1849, however, that federal troops arrived in Oregon: two companies of artillery, the L and M First Artillery, arrived at Astoria on May 9, under the command of Brevet Major J.S. Hathaway via the U.S.S. Massachusetts, under orders to establish a post at the mouth of the Willamette River. In September and October, a rifle regiment dispatched overland from Fort Leavenworth under the command of Brevet-Colonel W.W. Loring straggled into Camp Vancouver, where Hathaway had established camp on the hill behind the Fort Vancouver stockade. The U.S. Army and the Hudson's Bay Company were to exist side by side in amity for a few years. However, the rapid increase in population, due principally to immigration from the states, the establishment of American government and laws, and the establishment of American social institutions greatly altered the political, economic and social climate by the end of this period: by 1860 the Hudson's Bay Company was considered an interloper with no practical claim to the vast holdings it had controlled for decades. At the end of this period, under increasing strained relations between the U.S. Army and the Company's employees at Fort Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company vacated the post.
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[U.S. National Park Service, Fort Vancouver Website, Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report, 2005]
Vancouver Barracks was first known as "Camp Vancouver".
In 1850 "Camp Vancouver" became "Columbia Barracks" and in 1853 it became "Fort Vancouver". On April 17, 1879 the Post was renamed "Vancouver Barracks", the name it retains today.
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Views of Vancouver Barracks ...
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Penny Postcard: Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington, ca.1920.
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "The Vancouver Barracks, Vancovuer, Washington.". Published by Wesley Andrews Co., Portland, Oregon. Card #552.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Vancouver Barracks, Washington.
Image taken July 3, 2005.
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Vancouver Barracks, Washington.
Image taken July 3, 2005.
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Building, Vancouver Barracks, Washington.
Image taken July 3, 2005.
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East end, Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington.
View from the Vancouver Barracks Parade Ground.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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Vancouver Barracks History ...
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In 1846 the Great Britain/United States boundary was agreed to at the 49th parallel, but left the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the Columbia River as freely accessible to both nations. As a result, in 1849. the Hudson Bay Company moved its headquarters from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria, now the location of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In 1860 the British abandoned Fort Vancouver for good, leaving the area to the American "Vancouver Barracks".
Vancouver Barracks became the headquarters of the
"Department of the Columbia", which covered present-day Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Today (2004) portions of Vancouver Barracks are home to the 104th and 396th divisions of the U.S. Army Reserve.
According to the information sign on the north side of the Vancouver Barracks Parade Ground:
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"On May 13, 1849, from the deck of the USS Massachusetts, the first U.S. Army troups in the Pacific Northwest spotted the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver. 'Mr. Douglas, the resident Governor received us very politely and Major Hatheway [U.S. Army] determined to encamp near Vancouver ...' wrote an arriving soldier. The troups soon established themselves on high ground above the fort, beginning their assignment of keeping peace and providing support to Oregon Trail emigrants.
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For over 150 years, the U.S. Army trained, drilled, marched off to war, and recuperated at Vancouver Barracks. From the 1850s to the 1870s, troops were dispatched to fight the Indian Wars. In the following decades, they saw action in the Philippines, curbed labor riots in Tacoma, and attempted to keep order during the Alaska Gold Rush and strikes at Idaho mines.
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Beginning in the 1800s, this parade ground became a gathering place for members of budding communities as well. 'The regular dress parades at the barracks continue to attract large crowds ever evening. Every [street] car and steamer in the afternoon is croweded with visitors from Portland' wrote a reporter in The Oregonian newspaper in 1899.
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By World War I, as troops, spruce lumber for aircraft, mules, and supplies were shipped out to support the war effort, Fort Lewis, near Olympia, WA, was under construction. Although Fort Lewis soon overshadowed Vancouver Barracks in military importance, this post remains home to the U.S. Army Reserve 104th and 396th Divisions, and the Washington National Guard, continuing the rich tradition of military service."
In 1974 Officers Row and the Fort Vancouver Barracks
were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (District - #74001948).
In 1996 Vancouver Barracks became part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, encompassing acreage from many historical areas around the fort.
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Sign, Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds ...
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The Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds are located on the north and east side of the post. Officer's Row borders the north side of the Parade Grounds.
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Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds.
Looking across the Parade Grounds from Officer's Row.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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Gazebo, Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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View of Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds from the Gazebo.
Looking south towards Jolie Prairie and the Columbia River.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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View of Vancouver Barracks and Parade Grounds from the Gazebo.
Image taken August 27, 2006.
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Vancouver Barracks from across Parade Grounds.
Image taken December 29, 2007.
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October 2006 ...
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Fall colors, Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds.
Looking across the Parade Grounds from Pearson Field.
Image taken October 23, 2006.
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Fall colors, Vancouver Barracks Parade Grounds.
Looking across the Parade Grounds from Pearson Field.
Image taken October 23, 2006.
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Vancouver National Historic Reserve ...
The 366-acre Vancouver National Historic Reserve is located in Vancouver, Washington, and was established in October 1996. It includes not only
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, but also adjacent historical areas, as Vancouver Barracks, Officer's Row, and
Pearson Field.
Lewis and Clark passed through this area on November 4, 1805, on their journey to the Pacific Ocean. Captain Clark walked upon the "Small Prarie", later known as "Jolie Prairie". On their return, their
campsite of March 30, 1806 was on the "beautifull prarie".
[More]
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Fort Vancouver, Washington.
Looking towards Vancouver Barracks.
Image taken March 7, 2004.
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards". The "Penny Postcard" became a popular way to send greetings to friends and family. Today the "Penny Postcard" has become an image of history.
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Penny Postcard: Mount Hood, Oregon, from Vancouver Barracks, Washington, ca.1909.
Penny Postcard, Postmarked 1909.
Caption on top reads: "Mount Hood from Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Wash.".
Published by Portland Post Card Company, Portland, Oregon. Card #1010. Divided back, card is postmarked July 1, 1909. This area was known as "Jolie Prairie", today the location of Fort Vancouver, Vancouver Barracks, Pearson Airfield, and Vancouver industry and condominiums.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington, ca.1920.
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "The Vancouver Barracks, Vancovuer, Washington.". Published by Wesley Andrews Co., Portland, Oregon. Card #552.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, November 4, 1805 ...
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A cloudy cool morning wind from the West we Set out at ½ past 8 oClock [from their camp on the north side of Government Island],
one man Shannon Set out early to walk on the Island [Government Island] to kill Something, he joined us at the lower point with a Buck. This island is 6 miles long and near 3 miles wide thinly timbered (Tide rose last night 18 inches perpndicular at Camp) near the lower point of this diamond Island [Government Island] is The head of a large Island Seperated from a Small one by a narrow chanel [Lewis and Clark show two large islands on their maps, both in today's Government Island area], and both Situated nearest the Lard Side, those Islands [even today the Government Island reach is a complex of many islands] as also the bottoms are thickly Covered with Pine &c. river wide, Country low on both Sides;
[since 1983 the Interstate 205 bridge crosses Government Island connecting Oregon to Washington]
on the Main Lard Shore a Short distance below the last Island we landed at a village of 25 Houses: [near Portland International Airport];
...
This village contains about 200 men of the Skil-loot nation
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at 7 miles below this village passed the upper point of a large Island [Hayden Island] nearest the Lard Side, a Small Prarie [Jolie Prairie, today the location of Fort Vancouver and Pearson Airpark. Lewis and Clark camp on this prairie on their return] in which there is a pond [one of the many ponds which use to dot this area] opposit on the Stard. here I landed and walked on Shore, about 3 miles a fine open Prarie for about 1 mile, back of which the countrey rises gradually and wood land comencies Such as white oake, pine of different kinds, wild crabs with the taste and flavour of the common crab and Several Species of undergroth of which I am not acquainted, a few Cottonwood trees & the Ash of this countrey grow Scattered on the river bank, ...
joined Capt. Lewis at a place he had landed with the party for Diner. ...
dureing the time we were at dinner those fellows Stold my pipe Tomahawk which They were Smoking with [Tomahawk pipe, thus giving rise to the name Tomahawk Island] ...
we proceeded on
[The men have passed through the area which, 20 years later, Dr. John McLoughlin would choose for a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, later to become Fort Vancouver and eventually the city of Vancouver, Washington.]
met a large & a Small Canoe from below, with 12 men the large Canoe was ornimented with Images carved in wood the figures of <man &> a Bear in front & a man in Stern, Painted & fixed verry netely on the <bow & Stern> of the Canoe, rising to near the hight of a man [Lewis and Clark then named Hayden Island "Image Canoe Island"]
two Indians verry finely Dressed & with hats on was in this canoe
passed the lower point of the Island [Hayden Island] which is nine miles in length haveing passed 2 Islands on the Stard Side of this large Island [the location of Vancouver Landing and since 1917 the Interstate 5 Bridge connecting Oregon to Washington State], three Small Islands at its lower point [The downstream end of Hayden Island was at one time composed of small islands. One of these, Pearcy Island, would become today's Kelley Point.]. the Indians make Signs that a village is Situated back of those Islands on the Lard. Side and I believe that a Chanel is Still on the Lrd. Side [it wasn't until Lewis and Clark's return trip they would discover the mouth of the Willamette River] as a Canoe passed in between the Small Islands, and made Signs that way, probably to traffick with Some of the nativs liveing on another Chanel, at 3 miles lower [Sauvie Island is located at this stretch, but it is not until the return that Lewis and Clark recognize it as a separate island], and 12 Leagues below quick Sand river [Sandy River] passed a village of four large houses on The Lard. Side [on Sauvie Island], near which we had a full view of Mt. Helien [Mount St. Helens, Washington] which is perhaps the highest pinical in America from their base it bears N. 25° E about 90 miles- This is the mountain I Saw from the Muscle Shell rapid [Umatilla Rapids, Captain Clark actually saw Mount Adams] on the 19th of October last Covered with Snow, it rises Something in the form of a Sugar lofe- about a mile lower passed a Single house on the Lard. Side, and one on the Stard. Side, passed a village on each Side and Camped near a house on the Stard. Side [Post Office Lake vicinity, today within the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge] we proceeded on untill one hour after dark with a view to get clear of the nativs who was constantly about us, and troublesom, finding that we could not get Shut of those people for one night, we landed and Encamped on the Stard. Side ...
This evening we Saw vines much resembling the raspberry which is verry thick in the bottoms. A range of high hills at about 5 miles on the Lard Side [Portland's West Hills'] which runs S. E. & N W. Covered with tall timber the bottoms below in this range of hills and the river is rich and leavel, Saw White geese with a part of their wings black. The river here is 1½ miles wide, and current jentle. opposite to our camp on a Small Sandy Island [one of the small sandy islands prevelent in this stretch of the Columbia. Today the Willow Bar Islands on the east side of Sauvie Island lie across from Post Office Lake.] the brant & geese make Such a noise that it will be impossible for me to Sleap. we made 29 miles to day
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