Fort Clatsop near Astoria

Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805-1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approximately 5 mi (8 km) southwest of Astoria, the fort was the last encampment of the Corps of Discovery before embarking on their return trip east to St. Louis

Fort Clatsop was named after the local Clatsop tribe of Native Americans. Construction of the fort began on December 9 and the captains moved into their quarters (still unroofed) two days before Christmas 1805.^[2]The original stockade was a small cramped wooden structure, more of a barracks than a defensible structure. By their own accounts, the Corps members were largely miserable during the damp cold winter on the Pacific Coast

A reconstruction of a canoe used by the Clatsop natives.

A Catsop hat

Accounts of head boarding.

A reconstruction of the fort.

Then off to the beach.

Fort Stevens Military Batteries.

Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for slain Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, Isaac Stevens. The fort was an active military reservation from 1863–1947.

The early earthen fortification.

Then the slightly later disappearing guns with lots of cement reinforcement.

And lot of WW2 improvements.

And a small but great museum

They mined the entrance to the Columbia River.

On the nights of June 21 and 22, 1942, a Japanese submarine fired 17 shells at Fort Stevens, making it the only military installation in the continental United States to receive hostile fire during World War II (the oil fields in Santa Barbara, California that were also shelled by the Japanese, was not considered a military installation).^[1] The attack caused no damage to the fort itself. The backstop for the post's baseball field was the only casualty. Fort Stevens and its gun batteries protected the river until shortly after World War II, and was decommissioned in 1947. All armament was scrapped and buildings went into auction.

South Jetty of the Columbia River

This afternoon we drove to the South Jetty. Competed in 1917 this jetty was made to make to entrance to the Columbia River easier for ships to navigate. The jetty is 6.5 miles long ( about 10 Km) added anouther mile or two of beach and land. This narrowing of the river makes the sand bars shifting less frequent and the shipping channel deeper.

There is something scary in these rocks!!!

 

Washington State is on the other side of this river.

First stop the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. Exploring Fort Stevens State Park

The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel barque sailing vessel that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to theColumbia River. It was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about four miles (6 km) south of the Columbia River channel. Wreckage is still visible, making it a popular tourist attraction as one of the most accessible shipwrecksof the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Blue, Teri and I went off for a walk this morning on the beach with the Wreck of the Peter Iredale on the beach.

Our campsite in Fort Stevens State Park.

Blue gets some off leach time.

Blue meet his first live sea creature, a crab.

Road Trip to Fort Stevens State Park Oregon.

Today we start with a walk around Friends Landing RV on the 1.8 mile paved trail

We started about 11 am for Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon. There is a 2 mile bridge across the Columbia River we had to cross.

We arrived at the State Park about 3 PM. Blue and I went for a walk down to the beach and this it the first view.

Road Trip to Montesano Wa and Friends Landing RV Park.

We crossed the Columbia River on I 90 this morning.

Then off to Montesano Washington to a small RV park called Friends Landing.

Last minutes at Blu-Shastin RV Resort