Mouth of the Columbia, Astoria, and Cape Disappointment
“Ocian in View! O! The Joy!” -William Clark
The major purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as conceived by President Thomas Jefferson, was to discover an all-water route across the continent to enhance the commercial interests of the United States. Although the Expedition could not find such a route because it did not exist, they did reach the Pacific Ocean and felt great elation when they arrived at that major milepost in the Expedition. Today, we felt the same emotion after traveling about 900 miles on the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
This morning, the Sea Lion docked at the town of Astoria, once a home of whaling ships and salmon canneries. We boarded a bus that took us across the Columbia on the 3.5 mile-long Astoria-Meglar Bridge. Our first stop was a beach near the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, where huge waves crashed into the rocky shore. Our visit to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center provided additional glimpses into the significance of the Expedition and what the members experienced here at the end of their westward journey. The Interpretive Center displays, arranged in chronological sequence, depicted all major events in the nearly four years of travel by Lewis and Clark. Like the Corps of Discovery, we explored the lush temperate rain forest, marveling at the giant Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western hemlocks and the shipping channel just offshore where ocean-going tankers and cargo ships risked the hazards of the Columbia Bar.
In the afternoon, we visited the Maritime Museum in Astoria and learned about the remarkable navigational hazards where the force of the Columbia meets the might of the Pacific Ocean and the history of travel by boats and ships on the river and into the ocean. We ended the afternoon with a walk along the waterfront in Astoria and a presentation by Bob Gatten on his discovery of William Clark’s birthplace in Carolina County, Virginia.
“Ocian in View! O! The Joy!” -William Clark
The major purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as conceived by President Thomas Jefferson, was to discover an all-water route across the continent to enhance the commercial interests of the United States. Although the Expedition could not find such a route because it did not exist, they did reach the Pacific Ocean and felt great elation when they arrived at that major milepost in the Expedition. Today, we felt the same emotion after traveling about 900 miles on the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
This morning, the Sea Lion docked at the town of Astoria, once a home of whaling ships and salmon canneries. We boarded a bus that took us across the Columbia on the 3.5 mile-long Astoria-Meglar Bridge. Our first stop was a beach near the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, where huge waves crashed into the rocky shore. Our visit to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center provided additional glimpses into the significance of the Expedition and what the members experienced here at the end of their westward journey. The Interpretive Center displays, arranged in chronological sequence, depicted all major events in the nearly four years of travel by Lewis and Clark. Like the Corps of Discovery, we explored the lush temperate rain forest, marveling at the giant Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western hemlocks and the shipping channel just offshore where ocean-going tankers and cargo ships risked the hazards of the Columbia Bar.
In the afternoon, we visited the Maritime Museum in Astoria and learned about the remarkable navigational hazards where the force of the Columbia meets the might of the Pacific Ocean and the history of travel by boats and ships on the river and into the ocean. We ended the afternoon with a walk along the waterfront in Astoria and a presentation by Bob Gatten on his discovery of William Clark’s birthplace in Carolina County, Virginia.
