Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report

Site
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Fort Plain (continued)

River Front

In this report, the river front complex includes the area bounded by the extension of Lower Mill Road on the north, the "river road" on the east, the forest on the west, and the Columbia to the south. The land in this vicinity generally sloped gently down to the river bank. A pond extended north from a narrow mouth at the river. From various maps, beginning with Covington in 1846, it appears its size and configuration changed somewhat with the rise and fall of the Columbia. It is not shown on the 1844 Peers map, nor on the 1845 Vavasour map, even though Vavasour was careful to point out areas of inundation on the rest of Fort Plain. By 1846, the mouth of the pond was bridged, according to Covington's map.

The best description of the river bank is from William Tolmie, who arrived at the fort in the spring of 1833. It is not clear that he ever, in his several rambles along the river with his friend and colleague, Dr. David Gairdner, was in the vicinity of the river front complex: he never mentions the pond, if he was. But the general description for other areas east and west of this site must have been true for the developed area as well, at least in the early years. On May 5, Tolmie noted that he and Gairdner walked "...along river's bank for a short distance upwards, there is a nice pebbly beach, well suited for bathing & edged with verdant trees & brushwood & elegant wild flowers of various species." On another walk, he noted that "feathered songsters were warbling" in the "grove bordering the river." [677] Tolmie also mentioned walking for an hour "...up and down the ravine from river to fort gate."

By 1846 the river front area was the scene of considerable industrial activity, including tanning, shipping, shipbuilding and repair, warehousing, coopering, and, for a time at least, distilling. In addition, some horses--probably cart and wagon horses, working oxen, and pigs were housed in sheds and stables within the complex. There were also some employee dwellings, for the most part, by 1846 within enclosures, and the Company's hospital. Generally speaking, by 1846, the industrial activities were nearest the river; the stables were located along the west or northwest edge of the pond, and the dwellings along the east edge of the pond. The evolution of the site, at present is known only in general terms.

The earliest mention of a structure possibly located in the complex is by John Warren Dease, who noted that on November 18, 1829, "A house building for the sailors at the water side." [678] If within the complex and still standing in 1846, it could have been one of several buildings shown on the 1846 map, possibly the structure identified as "McLean's," "Smith's", "servants" or perhaps even the hospital.

As has been noted earlier, shipbuilding began early at Fort Vancouver. According to historian John Hussey, the Company's shipyard at Fort Vancouver was used to build barges, "York boats," and other vessels for transport on the Columbia, and there were several attempts to build ocean craft. [679] Dugald Mactavish later said a "good sized schooner [was] built and equipped there, Prince of Wales." [680] A report submitted to the U.S. Senate in 1838 noted that there was a large boat house on the shore. [681] George Emmons noted a boat house near the river bank in 1841, and that same year Eugene Duflot de Mofrás, visiting the fort, said, "On the shore are situated the sheds and dockyards used by barges and small boats. [682]

The small scale of the 1845 Vavasour map makes assessment of the riverside area difficult It appears that there were some small structures at the river side, just above an area labeled "landing; they would have been east of the pond and the salmon store. The 1846 Covington stockade area map shows two sheds near the river bank, one quite large structure, perpendicular to the shore, and one smaller structure, parallel to the shore and just east of the larger building. The 1846-47 building inventory lists a 100 by 24 boat shed and a second 90 by 30 foot building shed; presumably these are the structures shown on the map, although it should be noted that in October of 1846 Thomas Lowe recorded that a boat shed "at the water side" was blown down in a heavy wind storm. Perhaps, as de Mofrás implied, there was more than one boat shed in the area. If the inventory and map were prepared prior to the windstorm referred to by Lowe, then it seems safe to assume that the two sheds on the map were the boat shed and building shed listed in the inventory. If the inventory was compiled after the map, and after the windstorm, then one of the sheds may have been a new building erected in 1846. By 1854, the configuration and relative positions of two long buildings in this vicinity are quite different from that of the two sheds shown on the 1846 Covington stockade area map.

It is assumed that the jetty or wharf, which projected into the water, according to the Covington map, probably dated from the time of the construction of the new stockade, in 1828-29. [683] Dugald MacTavish, at the post off and on, beginning in the late 1830s, later stated that "There were two or three landings on the river as connecting with the fort, at the lower one of which there was a jetty or wharf, with a large warehouse known as the salmon store," [684] Dr. Henry Tuzo, a Company employee at the post in the 1850s, later referred to the wharf as a "landing jetty." [685]

The date of construction of the salmon store or "fish house" is not known; it was listed in the 1846-47 inventory as measuring 100 by 40 feet, and was located west of the pond, at the edge of the river. The building was used to store cured salmon. The Company exported salted or pickled salmon from Fort Vancouver, as well as for home consumption, although, according to Thomas Lowe, the nearest fishery to the post was six miles below the fort, near the mouth of the Willamette. [686] By 1830 some salmon was being salted at Fort Vancouver. [687] The building was later considered by the U.S. Army to have some value, as opposed to most of the Hudson's Bay Company buildings near the river, and, at one point, it was proposed that the structure be moved, rather than demolished, to make way for army structures. [688]

A salt house, which is shown on the 1846 Covington stockade area map just west of the end of the "river road," was used for storing salt imported from Hawaii and England for all the company's pickling and curing--salmon, beef, and pork. In the late '20s and early '30s, obtaining sufficient salt to put up these items was a problem; hundreds of bushels were required to properly store the fish and meat. By 1828 the farm was putting up about six thousand pounds of salted pork, according to a letter from George Simpson to London. [689] The following year, McLoughlin reported he would salt more than forty barrels of pork [690] As noted earlier, cattle were not slaughtered until 1836. The salt house was probably an early building, dating to the late '20s. It was listed on the 1846-47 building inventory as a seventeen by twelve foot structure, and valued at £50.

There are two structures on the 1846 Covington stockade area map, just east of the pond, labeled "tan pits." Apparently used for processing hides, presumably principally of cattle, it seems unlikely they were in use prior to the summer of 1836, when McLoughlin had the first cattle killed for meat at Fort Vancouver. [691] South of the tan pits is a structure labeled "saw pit" It is not known when this was erected; it would have been a useful feature on the farm during any period of its development. Neither the tanning pits nor the saw pit were listed on the 1846-47 building inventory.

A structure which was listed on the 1846-47 inventory, for which there is not accompanying structure on the 1846 Covington stockade area map, is a distillery, 132 feet by 18 feet. However, a later U.S. Army map, dated 1854, does show two long, thin buildings in the complex just east of the pond, whose dimensions seem to approximate the distillery listed in the inventory: one, at least, was probably a boat shed, as discussed previously. From the available evidence, one of several possible conditions applied in 1846. It is possible the distillery was located in one of the sheds shown on the 1846 Covington map, and the boat shed blown down by the windstorm in the fall of 1846 had not been replaced by the time the map was made, but was by the time the inventory was prepared. It is also possible the distillery was located in one of the two structures labeled pig sheds," since the inventory listed only one structure as a piggery. It is also possible the distillery was not located in the riverside complex until after 1846, since all we know of its location is that it was in the complex by the 1850s: if it were moved to the complex after 1846, it may have been located in one of the two long structures shown on the 1854 maps-one of which may have been a boat shed, but both of which seem to post-date 1846. Its location prior to 1846, is then, a question which can not be answered at this time, since structures known to exist by 1846 on Fort Plain have mostly been identified. As noted earlier, McLoughlin had used half of the barley harvest of 1826 in a beer making experiment, and in 1829 missionary Henry Bingham reported he had heard that the Company was soon going to export beer from Fort Vancouver. It was still operating in 1834, according to John Work, but George Roberts said distilling was later given up. [692] Its location was pinpointed by Henry Tuzo, at the fort between 1853 and '58, who later testified that it was located near the boat houses and bridge, and that the U.S. Army quartermaster's men had taken it over.

The Vavasour map of 1845 labels a building in an east-west line of structures near the river as "Hosp." Its position roughly conforms to the position of the hospital as indicated on the 1846 Covington map. On the Covington map, it appears as if an irregularly shaped enclosure extends north from the hospital, and encompasses the edge of a structure labeled cooper's shop. The need for some sort of cooperage near the river seems probable, since the Company had to make hundreds of barrels for shipment of salted pork, beef and salmon, which were stored in the salmon house, and cured with salt stored in the salt house. As noted earlier, a structure just southeast of the stockade was used as a coopers shed or shop by 1846, and possibly earlier, and it is so labeled in the Covington map. It seems possible that the cooper's shop near in the river complex was an earlier building, possibly dating back to the early 1830s, and that many of its functions were moved to the structure near the stockade around 1841: the river front cooper's shop was still being used as such in the summer of 1841, as noted by Lieutenant George Emmons. [693] By 1846 the river front cooper's shop was, according to Joel Palmer, a shed through which the wind and rain blew. [694]

The hospital may have been built during the tenure of Dr. Meredith Gairdner, who arrived at Fort Vancouver with William Tolmie in 1833. [695] Thomas Farnham, at the fort in 1839, noted that the hospital, "in which those of them [the company's servants] who become diseased are humanely treated...," was located in the village, "below the fort, and on the bank of the river." [696] The 1838 report submitted to the U.S. Senate also mentioned a hospital "...on the shore." [697] George Emmons, in July of 1841, said, "...there is a Hospital near the river bank, also stockaded, a cooper's shop, Boat House and several other outbuildings about the premises, besides a small village..." [698] Also in 1841, Eugene Duflot de Mofrás said there was a "...flimsy structure used as a hospital" near the employes houses. [699]

In 1975 and 1977 archaeologists discovered portions of a stockade trench in the vicinity of the hospital and cooper's shed; a northwest and north east corner, and portions of a north wall, west and east wall were discovered, with some posts approximately six to seven inches in diameter. [700] There was some indication that a gate was located forty seven feet from the north east corner, along the east wall, which would have faced the "river road." In so far as can be determined, the northwest corner of this stockade appears to have been close to the northwest corner of the small triangular fenced area shown on the 1846 Covington stockade area map, west of the building labeled "J," and extending in a southerly direction towards the building labeled "Smith's." To the east it extended slightly south of a beyond the corner of the enclosure in which building "J" was located, and then extended south towards the east edge of the enclosure shown on the Covington map, east of the hospital. In an overlay of the archaeological discoveries and a survey done in 1860 by Lewis VanVleet--considered fairly accurate by contemporary archaeologists--it appears that the stockade or fence in this area could have been attached to the north wall of the hospital, and extended well beyond the cooper's shed. There has been some speculation on the reason for a stockaded enclosure, including defence from Indians seeking medical help when supplies were limited. This author believes that there is ample precedence to indicate that relatively low, small picket works or fences of vertically-set poles enclosed several structures in the vicinity of the fort; as has been noted, such fences can be seen in the the 1855 illustrations of the buildings west of the Catholic church north of Upper Mill Road, and in the 1860 boundary photographs looking west towards the quartermaster's house. It appears these fences were used to keep livestock away from buildings and garden areas, and to discourage theft.

The 1845 Vavasour map shows several structures in an approximate line with the hospital. The 1846 Covington stockade area map shows five dwellings, two of which are located near the hospital, labeled "Smith's" and "McClean's." To the north, a building labeled "G" and one labeled "J" are located within an enclosure. The building labeled "G," was occupied some time prior to 1849 by someone named Scarth. The one labeled "J" was occupied by a Robert Johnson. All apparently were Company employees. Another small dwelling is indicated just east of the salmon house, labeled "servant's." To date, no name is identified with that building. The Scarth, Johnson and Smith house were later rented to the U.S. Army. It is not, at present known when they were built: the small scale of the 1844 Peers map makes it difficult to tell if they were extant in that year. There was at least one house in the vicinity by July of 1841, when George Emmons noted "Dr. McL. furnished me a house on the bank of the river for my men to mess in..." [701]

West of the pond was a line of livestock barns, which apparently lined the south or southwest edge of the extension of Lower Mill Road. They can be seen in the 1845 Vavasour map, and are identified in the Covington map as a horse stable, an ox stable and two pig sheds. A stable, 105 by 20 feet, an ox byre, 40 by 25 feet, and one piggery, 40 by 20 feet, are listed in the 1846-47 building inventory, but a second piggery or pig shed is not listed for Fort Plain. This horse stable's presence on the inventory is questionable: a second stable, as noted earlier, was built by the crew of the Modeste on Fort Plain, and, as shown on Covington's map, seems to conform more to the dimensions listed in the inventory than the horse stable shown near the salmon store. Why a second stable is not listed is unclear. The scale of both pig sheds is also questionable, since as shown on the Covington map, they appear to be almost as long as the salmon store, 100 feet Archibald McKinlay, in later testimony, noted that the list did not include "stables and other outbuildings" which he said existed at the fort, and testimony by John Work indicates the stables stood until 1860. [702] Dr. Tuzo, at the fort in 1853, said that to the south of the fort were the "landing jetty, salmon store, long range of stables, and a neat and commodious dwelling..."

It is not known when the livestock buildings were erected. A stable was also in existence at the Mill Plain farm, and one employee noted later that men were sent to Government Island--he referred to it as Goose Grass Island--to gather grass for the working oxen. This seems to indicate that oxen, and possibly working horses broken to harness--necessary for hauling supplies and goods to and from the river--may have been housed in enclosed structures to keep them accessible and in condition for regular work, at least during the winter months. Pigs, oxen and horses were at the post from its establishment on Old Fort Hill. Eugene Duflot de Mofrás, at the post in the fall and winter of 1841, noted that near the village and the hospital were "...a few sheds, two sheep pens, a milkhouse, stables, granaries, and a machine for threshing wheat." [703] The pens, milkhouse, granaries and threshing machine are not shown on the 1846 Covington stockade area map. It is not known if there were such structures near the river in 1841, that were gone by 1846, if de Mofrás was inaccurate in his report, or Covington incomplete. After all, there was a dairy further west on Lower Plain, and sheds for storing grain north of the stockade, as well as the wheat sheds to the east on Fort Plain, near which Douglas' movable threshing machine may have been located while de Mofrás was at the post He is the only witness known to date to place such structures in the river front area.