Fort Clatsop Administrative History

Collections Management

In connection with the visitor center exhibits, Fort Clatsop National Memorial has developed a small collection of European frontier goods, ethnographic materials, and natural specimens. This collection was started during the search for exhibit materials from 1960 to 1963. Charles Peterson and Burnby Bell contacted several Lewis and Clark historic sites and repositories in a search for items relevant to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial purchased some nineteenth century woodworking tools and some Northwest Coast ethnographic materials. The memorial also received donations from the local community, including the exhibit canoe, two strands of blue trade beads, and a flintlock pistol. The memorial's collection management statements include the library collection.

For most of the last thirty-five years, the collection pieces not used in the visitor center exhibit cases were stored in two locked museum cabinets in a small storage room. Over the years, the memorial's collection has grown from various donations and purchases. Several items were deaccessioned to Fort Vancouver, including Chinookan burial items. [12] The memorial maintained a Scope of Collections statement as required by NPS policy. According to the 1987 revised Scope of Collections, the memorial shall collect items that "relate directly to events, people, fort construction and occupation associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition's history and way of life during the 1805-06 winter occupation". [13] The report established guidelines for collecting artifacts, including any available original objects, ethnographic objects, and natural flora and fauna specimens, and for proper storage, care, and access to the collection following NPS policy. The report also established guidelines for continued acquisitions for the park library and archiving of files relevant to the memorial's history. One cultural resource project identified in the new Resource Management Plan is completion of a revised and updated scope of collections statement.

Items in the memorial's collection include: ethnographic materials such as bags, baskets, beads, a canoe, paddles, awls, pestle, metate, and projectile points; Euro-American items such as tools, traps, rifles, an air rifle, the air rifle pump, candle molds, powder horns, and a violin with case; an animal and herb collection includes many species of local plants and beaver and otter pelts.

Under the memorial's 1986 Resources Management Plan, a new environmentally controlled collections facility was listed for cultural resource collection needs. Beginning in 1985, a management assessment was carried out for the memorial collection, which required reviewing and updating the records for the collection. During this process, the collection accessions were entered into a computer cataloging system and all items properly documented. The memorial inventory of collections currently shows approximately 450 items, with approximate values of $150,000 and the library collection worth $50,000. [14]

Part of the design and planning for the new visitor center included an environmentally controlled library and secure collections storage room. During the transition period of the visitor center expansion and the creation of new exhibits, the memorial also achieved necessary treatment and curatorial upgrading through the use of regional curatorial assistance funds. Regional Curator Kent Bush coordinated with memorial staff, primarily seasonal ranger Barbe Minard, on addressing the necessary treatment and storage for the collection. During the visitor center expansion project, artifacts identified for inclusion in the new exhibit cases were sent to Harpers Ferry Center for conservation treatment, along with other items in the collection requiring treatment. The remainder of the collection was stored at the Columbia River Maritime Museum and returned to the memorial in 1991.