HMS Modeste and USS Shark
The HMS Modeste and the USS Shark both spent time in the Columbia River, anchored off the HBC headquarters of Fort Vancouver. In reading articles about these two historic warships,…
Read moreOtter skins
This story has on odd beginning: you would not think that a story about Otter Skins would have anything to do with the construction of a fur trade fort, would…
Read moreThe Missionaries
The HBC men had been settled at Fort Vancouver, on the banks of the Columbia River, for decades before the first of the Missionaries came west to establish permanent settlements…
Read moreThe Mountain
Why is the Mountain called “the Mountain?” I’ve driven over the Mountain a few times, and have never understood why it was called “the Mountain.” Mountains are usually quite noticeable,…
Read moreMcLoughlin and the Willamette
For me, at least, I have a lot of difficulty in sorting out the story of Chief Factor John McLoughlin’s time at the Willamette Falls, a set of falls on…
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