Click image to enlarge
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Columbia River and "Jolie Prairie", from Officers Row, Vancouver National Historic Reserve.
Green grass in the foreground is today's Vancouver Barracks Parade Ground.
Image taken August 26, 2006.
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Vancouver Plains and Prairies ...
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In the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver community cleared areas around the settlement were refered to as "Prairies" or "Plains".
At its furthest extent, Fort Vancouver was located in three large prairies or meadows called "Fort Plain" (also known as "Jolie Prairie"), "Lower Plain", and "Mill Plain", with six smaller meadows being located to the north and east. These were refered to as the "Back Plains", and were known as "First Plain", "Second Plain", "Third Plain", "Fourth Plain", "Fifth Plain", and "Camas Plain". The three lower "prairies" corresponded to natural river terraces that stepped down toward the Columbia River and created a series of open spaces surrounded by a fairly dense fir forest. The six "plains" were small open pasture areas created by the Indians and located on the flats above the Columbia River terraces.
Today the names "Mill Plain" and "Fourth Plain" still exist as east-west road names, and there is a small creek north of Fourth Plain Road which is called "Fifth Plain Creek".
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From: U.S. National Park Service Website, 2005, Fort Vancouver ...
- "In 1829, with no significant threat materializing from the Chinook, the initial palisade was abandoned and a new site for the palisade was selected on the river plain known as Jolie Prairie and later as Fort Plain."
- "The Fort Plain site provided open land with rich soils suitable for cultivated fields and pasture, close to the river for access to fresh water and transportation, but above the flood zone. The dense conifer forest to the west and north provided a ready supply of timber, while the freshwater pond near the shore became the nexus for building and other industrial activities."
- "The site of Fort Vancouver, called Jolie Prairie, was located near a Chinook Indian village named Ske-chew-twa that was located on the site of the W.W.I. Kaiser Shipyards."
- "Jolie Prairie was later named Fort Plain by the Hudson's Bay Company, and became the core of Fort Vancouver."
- "The naturally occurring plain provided open land for agriculture, and grass for livestock pasture. The coniferous forests surrounding the plains provided a ready supply of timber for fuel and building materials."
- "Six miles to the east, streams provided a power source for the first grist and saw mills in the Pacific Northwest."
- "The streams on Mill Plain, six miles east of Fort Plain, provided a power source for both a grist mill and a saw mill."
- "At its height, development at Fort Vancouver was located in three large prairies called Fort Plain, Lower Plain and Mill Plain, and five smaller prairies to the northeast called the Back Plains (First Plain, Second Plain, Third Plain, Fourth Plain, Fifth Plain and Camas Plain)."
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From: U.S. National Park Service Website, 2006, Management Plan of 2005 ...
- "Fort Vancouver developed to its greatest extent by the 1840s. Hudson's Bay Company farmland comprised three large meadows, named Fort Plain, Lower Plain, and Mill Plain, nestled in a forest along the Columbia River. Fort Plain (alaëi´k-aë or turtle place) and
Mill Plain (tij—no translation) were located on original prairies
most likely maintained by lower Columbia tribes prior to HBC
establishment. Additionally, there were five plains north and east of
the three primary fort plains, typically called the “back plains,” which
intermittently supported crops. Dense coniferous forests defined
the boundaries of the Fort Plain, and on the plain’s northwest edge,
a band of forest extended nearly to the river’s edge (Plate 3. HBC
Period: 1824–1846)."
- "Early maps illustrate conflicting information with respect to the
road system development. An 1846 map by Richard Covington is
fairly consistent with an 1844 map by Henry Peers, which shows the
east-west Upper Mill Plain Road and the Lower Mill Plain Road, and
a southeasterly road connecting the two mill plain roads. But these
two maps differ from the 1845–46 Vavasour map in depicting the
location of the southeasterly road in relation to the lower lakes. None
of the 1840s maps indicate the connection between the Lower Mill
Plain Road and the river."
- "Fort Vancouver was laid out in a series of clustered structures and
features organized around the floodplain hydrology, topography,
and vegetation patterns. Major clusters were arranged along the
Columbia River and on naturally occurring open meadows; these
principal clusters consisted of Fort Plain, Lower Plain, Mill Plain, the
sawmill, the gristmill, as well as the Back Plains prairie series located
north and east of the fort. Agriculture fields were initially tilled into
existing open prairies on alluvial soils, and barns and utility sheds
were adjacent to fields. Mills operated on streams emptying into
the Columbia River, while sheds and workers’ housing were located
nearby. The upland forests provided crucial building materials."
- "The Fort Plain contained several clusters: the stockade; the employee
village; surrounding gardens, fields, and orchards; and the river front
complex. The 1829 fort stockade was the center of the outfit with
roads radiating out from the fort. The stockade cluster contained
stores, warehouses, offices, and officer residences. Other structures
and agricultural operations built up around the HBC fort: schools,
stables, a cemetery, a church, garden, orchard, and cultivated fields."
- "By 1860 the principal routes that led from the military reserve were
still primary arterial roads. Upper Mill Road, while maintaining an
east-west alignment, shifted southward to the old Quartermaster’s
Depot and aligned with 5th Street in Vancouver. The back roads
extended beyond the military reserve to the Back Plains and Mill
Plains. On the west side of the Parade
Ground, a loop road was put in place
behind the quarters and offices. With
the expansion of the Parade Ground,
the old road that bounded the east
perimeter bisected the Parade Ground
in two sections. On the west end of
Upper Mill road, the informal paths
became roads. A new road originating
from the intersection between Upper
Mill Road and the army road, what
later would become part of McLoughlin
Road, traveled north on the east edge of
St. James Mission."
- "Vancouver consisted of a series of clustered structures and features
organized in response to the topography, bluffs, and native vegetation
patterns that existed on the site. The major clusters were arranged
along the Columbia River and on naturally-occurring open meadows;
these principal clusters were Fort Plain, Lower Plain, Mill Plain,
the sawmill, the gristmill, as well as the Back Plains prairies located
north and east of the fort. The prairies corresponded to natural river
terraces that stepped down toward the Columbia River and created
a series of open spaces that were surrounded by a fairly dense fir
forest. The HBC stockade served as a hub, with roads extending from
the fort to the village, farm fields, upper river terraces, and upper
plains. Although the fir forest was largely eliminated and the open
spaces were developed and built upon, the basic spatial organization
of the site remained intact for several years until the U.S. Army reorganized
the site to meet the needs of an active military post."
- "Circulation—The new roads that were constructed within the military
reserve during this time loosely followed key historic routes, but they
were laid out in a more orthogonal pattern than before. The Upper
Mill Road maintained an east-west alignment, but shifted southward
to align with Fifth Street in Vancouver, and the back roads extended
outward to the Back Plains and Mill Plains. On the west end of
Upper Mill Road, informal paths were developed into a new road
that would later become part of McLoughlin Road. The interior road
system reflected the spatial organization of the military reserve and
defined many of the key areas, such as the perimeter of the Parade
Ground and adjacent fields and orchards. By 1874 a road was added
within the Parade Ground, dividing it roughly in half. ---- MORE
- "The lower Klickitat Trail prairies mapped by McClellan and
Cooper were called Alaek-ae (“turtle place”), Wahwaikee (“acorn”),
Pahpoopahpoo (“burrowing owls”), Heowheow, Kolsas, and Simsik
by the Indians according to J. F. Minter’s records. Hudson’s Bay
Company settlers re-named these prairies “Fort Plain,” “First Plain,”
“Second Plain,” “Third Plain,” “Fourth Plain,” and “Fifth Plain,”
respectively.10 Cooper noted that First Plain through Fifth Plain
were covered with good grass for horses, and eight edible berry
species; he asserted that “berries form the chief food of the natives at
this season (late summer).” Most of the plant species that Cooper
identified in these prairies were early succession species favored by
browsing animals such as deer and elk. Cooper and others observed
that the prairies were circular or oval in shape, with “sharply defined
borders,” suggesting a controlled burn pattern of lighting vegetation
from field periphery to center to avoid setting fire to adjacent
woodlands."
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From: The Columbian, Wednesday, August 9, 2006 ...
"When the Hudson's Bay Comapny set up shop at Fort Vancovuer, the plains were fields that American Indians burned to keep them free of trees. Providing a greassy break from the thick forests that covered the area, the plains attracted grazing deer and elk, which then became easy prey for hunters. The Clark County Historical Museum paints our picture with writings by historian Pat Jollota and maps from the 19th century."
- "... the fort grounds (called the Fort Plain) ..."
- "A large cultivated area well east of Fort Vancovuer was known as the Mill Plain, after a grist mill built there and a lumber mill nearby."
- "Beyond the Mill Plain and the fort grounds (called the Fort Plain), the Hudson's Bay Company seems to have switched to numbers. First Plain sat north of Bridge Creek (renamed Burnt Bridge Creek after the nearby bridge burned), near the present intersection of East 18th Street and Stapleton Road."
- "Second Plain was farther east along the creek, stretching toward present-day 86th Avenue."
- "Just across the creek, Third Plain encompassed the area now split by Burton Road."
- "A huge clearing in what is now Orchards and Sifton was called the Fourth Plain, with the Fifth Plain near present-day Ward Road."
- "The road to the Fourth Plain took its name, as did the creek near the Fifth Plain."
- "Beyond that, these clearing took the French name, "Prairies," given by voyageurs working for Hudson's Bay."
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From: "Columbian.com" Website, August 2006 ...
- "Fourth Plain: In 1846, Dugald McTavish of the Hudson's Bay Co. explored the land in back of the Vancouver fur trading post. He reported finding four "plains," each separated from the next by a band of timber, with the fourth one being the only one of "any size." The fourth plain is where Orchards now stands. McTavish apparently meant natural clearings in the thick woods when he talked of "plains"; others have suggested the name was also taken for steps of land up from the river, or from flatland separated by east-west ridges.">
- "Mill Plain: Northeast 164th Avenue is born at the edge of the Columbia River in the Fisher area and climbs to a gentle plateau as it heads north. This is Mill Plain, the first of a series of plains that rise terrace-like from the Columbia. The Hudson's Bay Co., which founded Fort Vancouver in 1825, was the first to recognize the potential of Mill Plain. Old records indicate the company had a thousand acres under cultivation early in the 1800's raising wheat that was ground into flour at the grist mill in the Ellsworth area.
While Fort Vancouver was still a trading post, the Hudson's Bay co. operated a store and had stables and barns about where the Mill Plain Elementary School now is located." --- MORE ONLINE ------ "... The "ridge road" (now Mill Plain road) east from Vancouver cut through a forest of thick firs, then suddenly burst out into a fertile plain ..."
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At the corner of Covington Road and NE Fourth Plain Boulevard, there is a mural depicting circa 1920 rural living.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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