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McKenzie Head from North Jetty.
View from road following North Jetty, Cape Disappointment State Park.
Image taken April 19, 2005.
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McKenzie Head ...
Clark's Campsite of November 18, 1805 ...
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While Captain Lewis was on his way to the Pacific, Captain Clark and the rest of the men packed up their gear and left their
Megler camp on November 15, 1805, and setup camp at what would be known as "Station Camp". Captain Lewis arrived at Station Camp on November 17th. On November 18, 1805, Captain Clark and eleven men left Station Camp for their turn to view the
Pacific Ocean.
They reached the Pacific at McKenzie Head, where they setup their camp. According to Moulton [vol.6], their camp was near McKenzie Head in the vicinity of the Fishing Rocks archaeological site, where archaeological work encountered evidence that Chinook Indians used the site as a hunting and fishing camp beginning around 1,000 years ago and continuing into early historic time. The campsite appears on the route map [Moulton, vol.1, map#91], to the right of McKenzie Head.
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"... passed from last nitch across to the ocean ˝ a mile low land the Cape is a high Partly bald hill, founded on rock, I assended a high Seperate bald hill Covered with long corse grass & Seperated from the hight of Country by a Slashey bottom 2 miles S. 60 W of the Cape— thence to a 2d Grassey pt is N. 50° W. 2 miles, Those hills are founded on rocks & the waves brake with great fury against them, the Coast is Sholey for Several miles of this Cape & for Some distance off to the N W a Sand bar in the mouth. Sholey Some distance out from the mouth The Coast from the Cape N W is open for a Short distance back then it becomes thick piney Countrey intersperced with ponds.
Point addams is <S. W> S 20° W about 20 miles the Course on that Side bears S 45 W. I cannot assertain the prosise Course of the Deep water in the mouth of the river, the Channel is but narrow. I proceeded on up above the 2d point and Encamped on the Shore above the high tide ..."
[Clark, November 18, 1805, first draft]
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"... I crossed the neck of Land low and 1/2 of a mile wide to the main Ocian, at the foot of a high open hill projecting into the ocian, and about one mile in Sicumfrance. I assended this hill which is covered with high corse grass, decended to the N. of it and camped. ... "
[Clark, November 18, 1805]
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"... went over a bald hill where we had a handsom view of the ocean. we went on a Short distance on the coast and Camped for the night.
[Ordway, November 18, 1805]
The next day, November 19, 1805, Captain Clark journeyed ten miles up the Long Beach Peninsula, carved his name in a tree in the vicinity of today's Long Beach, and returned. His campsite of November 19, 1805 was at Wallacut River.
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McKenzie Head from North Head.
Captain Clark and eleven of the men camped on McKenzie Head on November 18, 1805.
Image taken April 19, 2005.
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Early McKenzie Head ...
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The U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "McKenzie Head" official in 1891. Variant names were "McKensie Head" and "McKenzies Head".
McKenzie Head was named in the fur trading days for Donald McKenzie, one of the many partners of the Pacific Fur Company who established Astoria, Oregon. McKenzie, along with William Price Hunt, were part of an overland party which left St. Louis in March 1811 and reached Astoria a year later.
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1889 "Coast Pilot" ...
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From the 1889 United State Coast and Geodetic Survey, Pacific Coast. Coast Pilot of
California, Oregon, and Washington. by George Davidson, Assistant U.S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey. Fourth Edition:
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"...
McKenzie's Head is the first knob to the northwest, three-quarters
of a mile from the Light-house. It is an almost round knob, three hundred
and fifty yards in extent and one hundred and ninety feet above the sea,
covered with grass and fern on top and has no trees. It is almost
surrounded by the sea except for a short distance on the northeast where
it is connected with the Cape by a low, sandy neck covered with bushes.
Towards the Light-house and towards the northwest are two low, broad sand
beaches, upon which we have landed through the surf in a canoe.
..."
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McKenzie Head as seen from park road, Cape Disappointment, Washington.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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McKenzie Head as seen from campground road, Cape Disappointment, Washington.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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Battery 247 ...
Battery 247 at Fort Canby, located on the top of McKenzie Head, was one of three Batteries surrounding the mouth of the Columbia River. Battery 245 was located at Fort Stevens, Oregon, and Battery 246 was located at Fort Columbia, located at Chinook Point, Washington.
[More]
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Captain Clark Monument ...
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On March 12, 2004, a bronze monument was dedicated to the Lewis and Clark expedition near the location of Captain Clark's campsite of November 18, 1805.
The bas-relief sculpture was commissioned by the Pacific County Friends of Lewis and Clark, and done by Olympia sculptor Gareth Curtiss.
The artwork depicts Captain Clark and a group of the men who, along with Captain Clark, explored the shores of the Pacific Ocean on November 18 and 19, 1805. They camped on the north side of McKenzie Head and then journeyed as far north as Long Beach, Washington.
The location of the monument is at the base of the 1/2-mile summit trail to McKenzie Head. Also at the site, the Pacific County Friends of Lewis and Clark commissioned eight interpretive panels which are located at the summit of McKenzie Head, throughout the campsite and near North Head. Content includes the shifting shoreline, natural history, trail guides and events from the journals of the exploration dates in 1805.
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Captain Clark Monument, McKenzie Head, Cape Disappointment, Washington.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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Captain Clark Monument, McKenzie Head, Cape Disappointment, Washington.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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McKenzie Head Summit Trail ...
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The trail to the top of McKenzie Head is 1/2 mile long and begins at a Lewis and Clark Trail marker.
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Lewis and Clark Trail Marker, McKenzie Head.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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Base of Summit Trail, McKenzie Head.
Image taken November 9, 2005.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, November 18, 1805, first draft ...
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passed from last nitch across to the ocean ˝ a mile low land the Cape [Cape Disappointment] is a high Partly bald hill, founded on rock, I assended a high Seperate bald hill [McKenzie Head] Covered with long corse grass & Seperated from the hight of Country by a Slashey bottom 2 miles S. 60 W of the Cape- thence to a 2d Grassey pt is N. 50° W. 2 miles, Those hills are founded on rocks & the waves brake with great fury against them, the Coast is Sholey for Several miles of this Cape & for Some distance off to the N W a Sand bar in the mouth. Sholey Some distance out from the mouth The Coast from the Cape N W is open for a Short distance back then it becomes thick piney Countrey intersperced with ponds
Point addams [Point Adams, Oregon] is <S. W> S 20° W about 20 miles the Course on that Side bears S 45 W. I cannot assertain the prosise Course of the Deep water in the mouth of the river, the Channel is but narrow. I proceeded on up above the 2d point and Encamped on the Shore above the high tide [near McKenzie Head], evening Clear, for a Short time. Supd. on Brant and pounded fish men all Chearfull, express a Desire to winter near the falls [Celilo Falls near The Dalles] this winter
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Clark, November 18, 1805 ...
Ordway, November 18, 1805 ...
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Cloudy. Capt. Clark myself and 10 more of the party Set out [from their camp at Station Camp] in order to go down and see the passiffic ocean [Pacific Ocean]. we proceeded on round Hailys bay [Bakers Bay] crossed two Rivers [Chinook River and Wallacut River] in Sd. bay [Bakers Bay] .
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we proceeded on round high clifts of rocks where we had much trouble to pass.- towards evening we arived at the Cape disapointment [Cape Disappointment] on the Sea Shore. went over a bald hill [McKenzie Head] where we had a handsom view of the ocean. we went on a Short distance on the coast and Camped for the night.
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