"... the Indians left us this morning. all hands wen[t] at clearing away the ground for the huts. ..." [Ordway, December 10, 1805]

"... Captain Clark and the party that went with him to the Ocean did not return this morning and the Indians that staid with us during the last night, left us this morning. The party that was at Camp all turned out & were employed in cutting of Pickets & carrying them to the place where our Officers intend erecting a fort. ..." [Whitehouse, December 10, 1805]

"... I proceeded on through a heavy rain to the Camp at our intended fort, Saw a bears track & the tracks of 2 Elk in the thick woods— found Capt Lewis with all the men out Cutting down trees for our huts &c. ..." [Clark, December 10, 1805]

The 33-member expedition moved in on Christmas day, where they would remain until March 23, 1806. They named their seven-cabin 50 x 50 foot home "Fort Clatsop" to honor the friendly Indian tribe that occupied the southern bank of the Columbia River at its mouth.

"Wednesday 25th Decr. 1805. rainy & wet. disagreeable weather. we all moved in to our new Fort, which our officers name Fort Clotsop after the name of the Clotsop nation of Indians who live nearest to us. the party Saluted our officers by each man firing a gun at their quarters at day break this morning. they divided out the last of their tobacco among the men that used and the rest they gave each a Silk hankerchief, as a Christmast gift, to keep us in remembrence of it as we have no ardent Spirits, but are all in good health which we esteem more than all the ardent Spirits in the world. we have nothing to eat but poore Elk meat and no Salt to Season that with but Still keep in good Spirits as we expect this to be the last winter that we will have to pass in this way." [Ordway, December 25, 1805]

On March 23, 1806, the men left Fort Clatsop to begin their journey back home. That first day they journeyed as far as Mill Creek, on the upstream side of Tongue Point.

"... This morning proved So raney and uncertain that we were undeturmined for Some time whether we had best Set out & risque the     which appeared to be riseing or not. Jo. Colter returned haveing killed an Elk about 3 miles towards Point Adams. the rained Seased and it became fair about Meridean, at which time we loaded our Canoes & at 1 P. M. left Fort Clatsop on our homeward bound journey. at this place we had wintered and remained from the 7th of Decr. 1805 to this day and have lived as well as we had any right to expect, and we can Say that we were never one day without 3 meals of Some kind a day either pore Elk meat or roots, not withstanding the repeeted fall of rain which has fallen almost Constantly Since we passed the long narrows on the [blank] of Novr. last indeed w[e] have had only [blank] days fair weather since that time. Soon after we had Set out from Fort Clatsop we were met by De lash el wilt & 8 men of the Chinnooks, and Delashelwilts wife the old boud and his Six Girls, they had, a Canoe, a Sea otter Skin, Dried fish and hats for Sale, we purchased a Sea otter Skin, and proceeded on, thro' Meriwethers Bay, there was a Stiff breese from the S. W. which raised Considerable Swells around Meriwethers point which was as much as our Canoes Could ride. above point William we came too at the Camp of Drewyer & the 2 Field's. they had killed 2 Elk which was about 1˝ miles distant. here we Encampd. for the night having made 16 miles. ..." [Clark, March 23, 1806]

• Canoe Landing (Netul Landing) ...
• Lewis and Clark River ...
• Oregon History Sign ...
• Trails ...
• Visitor Center ...
• Fort Clatsop after Lewis and Clark ...
• Fort Clatsop in 1940 ...
• Fort Clatsop Fire and Archaeology Dig, 2005 ...
• "Welcome to Winter 1805" ...

• From the Journals ...

• 1811, Gabriel Franchere ...
• 1812, Ross Cox ...
• 1813, Alexander Henry ...
• 1821 ...
• 1836, John Kirk Townsend ...
• 1841, Charles Wilkes ...
• 1842, Lee and Frost ...
• 1848, James Harrell ...
• 1851 ...
• 1850 and 1853, Shane and Gillette ...
• 1853, George Gibbs ...
• 1901, Purchase of the property ...

"... The schooner, the construction of which had necessarily languished for want of an adequate force at the ship-yard, was finally luanched on the 2d of October, and named the Dolly, with the formalities usual on such occasions. I was on that day at Young's Bay, where I saw the ruins of the quarters erected by Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1805-'06: they were but piles of rough, unhewn logs, overgrown with parasite creepers. ..." [Gabriel Franchere, October 2, 1811]

"... We remained upwards of six weeks at the fort [Fort George/Astoria], preparing for our grand expedition into the interior. During this period I went on several short excursions to the villages of various tribes up the river and about the bay. ... We also visited Fort Clatsop, the place where Captains Lewis and Clarke spent the winter of 1805-6; an accurate description of which is given in the journal of those enterprising travellers. The logs of the house were still standing, and marked with the names of several of their party. ... On the 29th of June, 1812, all the necessary arrangements having been perfected, we took our departure from Astoria for the interior. ..." [Ross Cox, 1812]

"... Walked to Point George [today's Smith Point, Astoria], which took half an hour; there is a good view of the sea, Cape Disappointment, Young's bay and river, and even up toward Captain Lewis' winter quarters, 1805-06. ..." [Alexander Henry, November 25, 1813]

"... At 11 a.m. I embarked in a canoe with Captain Black and Mr. McDonald for Young's river. Saw great numbers of ducks, swans, and geese. At noon we entered the river and continued up to Fort Clatsop. There we found two houses of Clatsops, busily emplyed making mats and straw hats; they had an extraordinary number of children. ... We walked up to see the old American winter quarters of Captains Lewis and Clark in 1805-06, which are in total ruins, the wood having been cut down and destroyed by the Indians; but the remains are still visible. In the fort are already grown up shoots of willows 25 feet high. Thie situation is the most pleasant I have seen hereabouts, and by far the most eligible, both as to security from the natives and for hunting. The place is deeply shaded with spruce, pine, sapin, etc.; the woods seemed gloomy and dark, the beams of the sun being prevented from reaching the ground through so thick a foliage. Having examined this spot, we returned to our horses, which are left in care of the Indians; there being no grass near the fort, we allow them to graze on the salt marsh along the bay and river. ..." [Alexander Henry, December 14, 1813]

"... A Congressional committee, reporting on the occupation of the Oregon Country in 1821, noted that according to information then available in Washington, the remains of Fort Clatsop were "yet to be seen". ..."

"October 14th. --   I walked to-day around the beach to the foot of Young's bay, a distance of about ten miles, to see the remains of the house in which Lewis and Clark's party resided during the winter which they spent here. The logs of which it is composed, are still perfect, but the roof of bark has disappeared, and the whole vicinity is overgrown with thorn and wild currant bushes.

One of Mr. Birnie's children found, a few days since, a large silver medal, which had been brought here by Lewis and Clark, and had probably been presented to some chief, who lost it. On one side was a head, with the name "Th. Jefferson, President of the United States, 1801". On the other, two hands interlocked, surmounted by a pipe and tomahawk; and above the words, "Peace and Friendship". ..."

[John Kirk Townsend, October 14, 1836]

"... The Columbia, opposite to Astoria, is four miles wide, but in the middle of the river is an extensive sand-bar, with only a few feet water on it, and at extreme low tides it is bare: the channel is very narrow on each side and difficult to navigate. At Astoria there is only space for a dozen vessels to lie at anchor, and it would therefore be difficult to accommodate any extensive trade. The point of land extends about half a mile below its site, where Young's river joins the Columbia, and forms a bay, on the banks of which Lewis and Clarke wintered. The position of their hut is still pointed out, but the building has long since gone to decay. ..."

"... An American missionary who saw the site in 1842 reported that Lewis and Clark's "hut had entirely disappeared," but Indians pointed out to him the trail used by the explorers during their journeys from the fort to the seacoast. ..."

"... Another settler, James Harrell, who visited the scene of the encampment in 1848 later recalled that he saw the foundations of a single building, about 16 feet by 16 feet and 4 logs high. ..."

"A newly discovered map may help solve one of the great mysteries associated with the Lewis and Clark expedition--the exact location of their west-coast encampment, Fort Clatsop. The map was drawn by an unknown member of the 1851 U.S. Coast Survey that mapped the lower Columbia River near Astoria, Ore. ... "Yet within the boundaries of the memorial park, the exact location of the fort is not known," Byram explains. Why? No maps of the fort exist that were drawn by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, before Byram's map, historic records reported the location of the encampment somewhere between one-and-one-half and four miles from the mouth of the Lewis and Clark River. Homesteader recollections of the fort ruins recorded at the turn of the century by the Oregon Historical Society point to a general location, but provide conflicting information about the specific site. Compounding the problem is uncertainty about river changes in the past 200 years. Archaeological excavations in 1948, 1956, 1957 and 1961, as well as the present Fort Clatsop Project, failed to find a definitive location. Byram's map, which remains well preserved after nearly 150 years in the U.S. Coast Survey archives, will provide researchers with valuable new information. For example, the fort (or "hut" as it is labeled on the map) is shown at the very edge of a slope, which descends toward the river's flood plain. The fort's shape and orientation are also suggested by the small square used to mark the structure. ..."

The map shows the "Lewis and Clark River" entering "Young's Bay" (both named). A small long island is in the center of the river, approximately half way between the mouth of the Lewis and Clark River and the "Log Hut Lewis and Clark wintered in 1805". The island is across and downstream of a tributary entering the Lewis and Clark River. Words on the left of the map are: "Breadth of River at its mouth from 4 to 500 yards - Distance from mouth of River to Hut, where Lewis & Clark wintered, about 2 miles." Words at the bottom of the map are "Tidewater, 7 miles from mouth".

"... Late in 1899 the Oregon Historical Society resolved to identify the site of Fort Clatsop for the purpose of erecting a monument thereon. As a result, two members of the Society's Committee on Memorials, L. B. Cox and William Galloway, visited the traditional locations on June 8, 1900. With them was a small group of early settlers who knew the vicinity well. They were Silas B. Smith of Warrenton, who had assisted Wheeler the previous year; Preston W. Gillette, a "well-known pioneer," formerly of Clatsop County; and Carlos W. Shane of Vancouver, who once had lived on the fort site. Reaching the old Seaside landing by boat, the party, guided by Shane and Gillette, climbed up to the benchland above--where Wheeler had marked out his conjectural fort outline--and began to look for familiar landmarks. Although Gillette later claimed the larger the credit for identifying the site, Carlos W. Shane probably gave the most telling evidence. In a deposition made a week later, Shane recounted the facts he must have presented on the ground: ..."

Carlos W. Shane account, given in June 1900:

"... I came to Oregon in 1846, and in 1850 I located a donation land claim on a tract of land which included the site of Fort Clatsop; I built a house on the land in 1851 and occupied it until 1853. A few feet from where I built my house there were at that time the remains of two of the Lewis and Clark cabins . They lay east and west, parallel with each other; and ten or fifteen feet apart. Each cabin was sixteen by thirty feet; Three rounds of the south cabin and two rounds of the north cabin were then standing. In the south cabin stood the remains of a large stump. The location of the old stockade was indicated by second growth timber, while all around it was the original growth, or the stumps of trees which had been cut. In clearing away for my house I set fire to the remains of the old cabins and endeavored to burn them. ..."

Preston W. Gillette account presented June 16, 1900:

"... In October, 1853, . . . I visited the site of Fort Clatsop and saw a section of two logs, each eight or ten feet long, crossed at right angles, which had manifestly been the foundation logs of one of the Lewis and Clark cabins. The ends of the logs were charred, showing that they had been burned. The extent of the stockade was shown by the fact that its site was covered with second growth timber, while all around it stood the trees of the original growth, or the stumps of such as had been cut. Carlos W. Shane sold his place to his brother, Frankland Shane, in 1853, and the latter was occupying it at the time of my visit. I sold Frank Shane some fruit trees, which he planted in the rear of his house. Three of those trees are now standing. Richard M. Moore had in the year 1852 located a donation land claim just south of Carlos W. Shane's and built a house a few feet south of the division line, almost on a line with and but a short distance from the Shane house. This house has since disappeared, but it stood immediately at the head of a little draw in the hill leading down to the river, which draw is now plainly to be seen . . . . When I first knew this spot the trail cut by Lewis and Clark through the timber to the ocean was plainly visible, it having been kept open by the Indians and elk, and it continued as a traveled passage for some fifteen years after my arrival in the county. ..."

"... The prevailing attitude of visitors toward the site is well reflected by a letter written by George Gibbs, a temporary resident of Astoria, to his mother on April 13, 1853. Speaking of Fort Clatsop, Gibbs wrote: "I took a run the other day up the Lewis & Clark's river as it is called to the place of the w[inter] encampment, which long as I have been here I never visited before. The site of their log hut is still visible, the foundation logs rotting where they lay. Their old trail to the coast is just visible being much overgrown with brush . . . Indians are still living who knew them." ..."

"... Several years later Gibbs again described his visit to Fort Clatsop. He wrote that the remains were "about" 2 miles from the mouth of the Lewis and Clark River. This remark by a trained and accurate observer tends to confirm the conclusion that the site was at or very near the present historic monument property. ..."

"... After much negotiation, which involved the determination and then one or more re-determinations of the most desirable boundaries, the Oregon Historical Society on September 24, 1901 purchased for $250 a 3-acre tract which contained the site of the Lewis and Clark cabins as pointed out by the pioneer settlers, ..."

Hussey's report continues:

"... An analysis of such clues to the location of Fort Clatsop as are given in the original records of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a study of the long local tradition as to the location of the fort site, and an examination of the available reminiscences and testimony of pioneer settlers who saw the traditional ruins of the fort and pointed out their location--all these lead to the conclusion that in all probability Fort Clatsop stood somewhere within the 3-acre tract purchased by the Oregon Historical Society in 1901. ..."

"... However, since 1901 knowledge of the exact location pointed out by Shane and Gillette seems to have been lost. As far as anyone can prove today, the 50-foot square of the fort could have been located almost anywhere on the approximately 1-1/4 acres of benchland within the tract boundaries.

Apparently the only way that the exact site of Fort Clatsop will be determined is by finding some physical remains of the structure. Although the ground on the top of the bluff has been much disturbed by long years of land clearing, agriculture, and domestic habitation, experience at many other frontier post sites has proved that the buried ends of stockade pickets will nearly always survive such treatment. There is hope, therefore, that the actual remains of Fort Clatsop may yet be discovered. ..."