Fort Clatsop

Refuge On The Pacific Coast
Fort Clatsop provided shelter to Lewis and Clark Expedition

Today a journey across the country is routine and comfortable inside our modern automobiles or recreational vehicles. In a matter of a few days we can travel from coast to coast in comfort and safety, but things weren’t always so easy.

Imagine setting out overland when the nation was still young and the country was a wild, uncharted wilderness. Imagine crossing thousands of miles of prairies, with no shelter from the harsh elements. Imagine crossing wild rivers in crudely fashioned dugouts, climbing high mountains afoot, with no maps to guide you, no warm shelter at the end of a long day, and no idea how long or how far your journey would take you. Such was the adventure Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark undertook in the Spring of 1804, setting out with a handful of men from the Missouri River near St. Louis, under orders from President Thomas Jefferson to explore the vast new lands to the west and find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition of 47 men left the mouth of the Missouri River on May 14, 1804 in three boats, finally arriving on the Northwest coast in November, 1805. Their journey would take over two years and was the first step toward the great westward expansion that would take up most of the century.

The adventures Lewis and Clark experienced fill volumes; discovering new plant and animal life, becoming the first Anglos to contact some Indian tribes, and viewing new lands for the first time through White eyes. Along the way, they met up with Tous-saint Charbonneau, a half-breed interpreter and his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, who would become instrumental in the success of the expedition.

By the time the explorers reached the Pacific Ocean they were into their second winter of the journey. They built a fort just south of present-day Astoria, Oregon to spend the winter in, and named it Fort Clatsop, after a nearby tribe of friendly Indians. For the next three months, Fort Clatsop would shelter the expedition from the harsh Northwest winter.

Food was plentiful in the area, and between hunting and trading with the Indians, the men were well fed. They reported killing 131 elk and 20 deer, as well as small game, the meat and hides being put to use as food and clothing. Salt was obtained by boiling sea water. Though food was in good supply, conditions at the fort were far from pleasant. Rain was constant, and clothes rotted off the explorers’ backs. The furs and hides they used for warmth were flea infested. The constant dampness accounted for colds, rheumatism and other diseases. The expedition spent the winter preparing for their return journey to the east, over an easier route, and updating their journals of the trip and making maps of the country they had covered.

Today Fort Clatsop is a National Memorial and is open daily. A museum at the visitor center has a good display of artifacts from the expedition, and a short film gives more information about the Corps of Discovery. The reconstructed fort was built from floor plans sketched by Captain William Clark, and includes a barracks building, Captain’s quarters, and other structures. Nearby are the canoe landing the explorers used and the spring they depended on for fresh water.

The grounds also include a picnic area. During the summer, park workers in period costume give lectures on life at Fort Clatsop and demonstrate such skills as candle making and firing the muzzle loading rifles the explorers carried. When we visited, we were treated to an impromptu jews’-harp concert by one of the park workers.

Fort Clatsop is located off Highway 101 near Astoria, Oregon. There is an admission fee, and National Park Services passes are honored. A visit to Fort Clatsop can help you appreciate all that these brave men endured and accomplished to open the country for those who would follow.