I was clever to check the internet to see when Dr. McLoughlin's house was open in Oregon City. He headed up the Hudson's Bay Co in Oregon territory but got in trouble with them because he kept welcoming American settlers (coming on the Oregon Trail) to an area claimed by the British. Earlier, in 1825, he established Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. When we arrived at the house, I realized it was only open Friday & Saturday, not Tuesday. I hadn't bothered to check on days, only the hours.
Nevertheless we had a nice look around town & talked to a coup,e of interesting people. I
Earned that the highway running through town, 99E, was the original highway that I must have been on dozens of times as we traveled from Stockton to Portland and Seattle to visit family each summer. Early on, gas stations were built at least every hundred miles & had to be located on several acres so airplanes (think biplanes) could land & refuel as needed.
murals painted on walls all over town that depict early life in Oregon
Territory. This is also the general location where the Oregon Trail ended for settlers coming west.
Fort Vancouver is located about 25 miles north of Oregon City on the Washington side of the Columbia River. It looks like what you might expect a fort to look like. Actually it wasn't built for protection as much as to keep people from stealing things. It's now a living museum with a working blacksmith and other people in period costume.
No comments:
Post a Comment