Lewis and Clark's Columbia River
Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Five Volcanoes"
Includes ... Mount Jefferson ... Mount Hood ... Mount St. Helens ... Mount Adams ... Mount Rainier ...
Image, 2004, Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens, Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount Rainier (left) and Mount St. Helens (right), Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken February 11, 2004.


Five Volcanoes ...
On April 2, 1806, as Captain Clark began his journey to explore the Willamette River he wrote:

"... from the enterance of this river, I can plainly See Mt. Jefferson which is high and Covered with snow S.E. Mt. Hood East, Mt St. Helians a high humped Mountain to the East of Mt St. Helians. I also Saw the Mt. Raneer Nearly North ..." [Clark, April 2, 1806]

From Lewis's Journal:

"... from the Columbia at the entrance of the Multnomah river Mount Jefferson bears S. E. this is a noble mountain. I think equally as high as Mount St. Helines but it's distance being much greater than that of the latter, so great a portion of it dose not appear above the range of mountains which lie betwen boath those stupendious mountains and this point of view. like mount St. Heleans it's figure is a regular cone and is covered with eternal snow. M. St. Heleans from the same point boar N [blank], Mount Hood due East, and Mount Ranier nearly North. there is also a very high humped mountain a little to the East of Mount St. Heleans which appears to lie in the same chain with those conic pointed mountains before mentioned ..." [Lewis, April 6, 1806]

Visible were two peaks in Oregon -- Mount Jefferson, which Lewis and Clark had only seen and named three days earlier, and Mount Hood. Visible in Washington State were three peaks -- Mount St. Helens, the "high humped Mountain to the East of Mt St. Helians" which is Mount Adams, and further north is Mount Rainier.


From Blurock Landing ...
The mouth of the Willamette River, where Lewis and Clark saw all five volcanoes, is located across from Blurock Landing, Washington. At Blurock Landing, all five volcanoes can be seen from the parking lot. Nearby is Vancouver Lake, a spot where all five volcanoes can be seen from the beach.

Image, 2010, Mount Jefferson, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount Jefferson, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken March 19, 2010.


"... from the enterance of this river, I can plainly See Mt. Jefferson which is high and Covered with snow S.E. ..."
[Clark, April 2, 1806]
Image, 2010, Mount Hood, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount Hood, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken March 19, 2010.


"... Mt. Hood East ..."
[Clark, April 2, 1806]
Image, 2010, Mount St. Helens, Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount St. Helens, Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken March 19, 2010.


"... Mt St. Helians ..."
[Clark, April 2, 1806]
Image, 2010, Mount Adams, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount Adams, Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken March 19, 2010.


"... a high humped Mountain to the East of Mt St. Helians ..."
[Clark, April 2, 1806]
Image, 2010, Mount Jefferson, Oregon, from Blurock Landing, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Mount Rainier, Washington, from Blurock Landing, Washington. Image taken March 19, 2010.


"... I also Saw the Mt. Raneer Nearly North ..."
[Clark, April 2, 1806]


From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, March 30, 1806 ...




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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:   

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.
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September 2008