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Lewis and Clark Observation Platform, Tansy Point, Oregon.
The "point" of Tansy Point is on the right, with the Oregon community of Astoria in the background.
Tongue Point is visible just left of center.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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Tansy Point ...
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Tansy Point is located on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, just downstream from Warrenton and the Skipanon River, and upstream from Point Adams and the Oregon community of Hammond. The Oregon community of Astoria is located approximately three miles upstream.
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Tansy Ragwort ...
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Tansy Point received its name from the Tansy Ragwort weed which grew in abundance on the point. The name has been in use since the middle 1800s.
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Tansy Ragwort.
Image from Ridgefield NWR, Washington.
Image taken July 8, 2008.
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Early Tansy Point ...
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According to McArthur and McArthur in Oregon Geographic Names (2003), in 1839 Sir Edward Belcher plotted Tansy Point on his charts and called it "Raccoon Point", presumably in reference to the HMS Raccoon which visited the area in 1813.
"Tansey Point" is mentioned in the 1862 U.S. Coast Pilot. The Clatsop Beach of the mid 1860s was the sandy beach around Point Adams.
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Young's bay lies between the eastern part of the Clatsop beach (called Tansey Point) and Point George. Into it empty Young's river, discovered, examined, and named by Broughton; Lewis and Clarke's river, examined by them in 1805; and one or two small streams or sloughs.
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The 1869 U.S. Coast Pilot mentions "Tansey Point" as the location of "Buoy No.4" of the Columbia River.
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"... No.4. -- Iron buoy, black, marking north side of Tansey Point, in fifteen feet of water. Last buoy bears west by north half north, one and three-fourths miles; Scarborough Hill, north-northwest, three-fourths mile; Tansey Point, south by west, three-fourths mile.
From the 1889 U.S. Coast Pilot:
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Tansy Point. -- This is the low point on the south side of the river a little over two miles east by south half south (E. by S. 1/2 S.) from Fort Stevens. It is low, marked by small sand dunes with low marshy ground behind it, through which drain Tansy and Alder Creeks. There is a broad low-water sand beach in front of the point, and the three-fathom curve lies three hundred and forty yards outside the shore-line. A black buoy marks the north side of the channel abreast of Tansy Point, and there is deep water and a strong current in the channel-way between the buoy and the point.
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At the mouth of Tansy Creek, southeastward of the point, there is a large cannery and quite a settlement along the shore.
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Tansy Point was mentioned in the "Spokesman-Review", November 22, 1895.
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"... In the early part of 1843, A. Trask, W.T. Perry and W.W. Raymond came to Clatsop plains ... . W.W. Raymond settled at "Tansy point", now the embryo city of Flavel. Raymond was Indian agent there, and in 1852 claimed to have over 600 Indians under his care. ..."
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Views ...
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The "point" at Tansy Point, from Eben H. Carruthers Park, Oregon.
View is looking upstream from viewpoint overlook at Eben H. Carruthers Park.
Astoria is in the background.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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- Columbia River from Tansy Point ...
- Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park ...
- First Vote in the Pacific Northwest ...
- Warrenton Waterfront Trail ...
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Columbia River from Tansy Point ...
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Columbia River from Tansy Point, Oregon.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park ...
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The Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park is located at Tansy Point. The park is located on the Warrenton Waterfront Trail, a path which runs from Lighthouse Park in Warrenton, to the Hammond Boat Basin in Hammond.
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Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park, Tansy Point, Oregon.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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First Vote in the Pacific Northwest ...
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On November 24, while on the Washington side of the Columbia at Station Camp, the Corps of Discovery took a vote on where to spend the winter.
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"Sunday 24th Nov. 1805. a clear pleasant morning. a white frost Several men went out a hunting we put out our baggage to air. The Calumbian River at this place is three miles 660 yards wide. Some of two nations of Indians came to our Encampment the Clatsop and Chinuck nations they behave very well as yet. our officers conclude with the oppinion of the party to cross the River and look out a place for winters quarter Some where as near the ocean as possable on the account of makeing Salt."
[Ordway, November 24, 1805]
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The First Vote in the Pacific Northwest
"The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean after 18 months of arduous travel. With winter rapidly approaching, the party faced a major decision: where to spend the winter. They could remain near the ocean to camp on either side of the Columbia River, or they could travel upstream seeking other sites.
On November 24, 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark mustered the group and put the question to a vote. The majority decided to cross to the south side of the Columbia. In this first recorded election in the Pacific Northwest, Clark's slave, York, was allowed to vote -- nearly sixty years before American slaves were emancipated. Sacagawea, the Shoshoni wife of Toussaint Charbonneau, also voted -- more than a century before women or Indians were granted the full rights of citizenship."
Source:
Information sign, Tansy Point, Oregon, visited September 2009.
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"The First Vote in the Pacific Northwest", Tansy Point, Oregon.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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Warrenton Waterfront Trail ...
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The Warrenton Waterfront Trail is a 4.5 mile-long trail, with two miles paved, along the Columbia River. It stretches from the Skipanon River Park in Warrenton, past Tansy Point, to the Hammond Mooring Basin in Hammond.
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Map detail, Warrenton Waterfront Trail, information map at Eban H. Carruthers Park, Oregon.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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Warrenton Waterfront Trail and the Columbia River, looking downstream, from Tansy Point, Warrenton, Oregon.
Cape Disappointment is in the background.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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