Lewis and Clark Trail History
"Clark's Campsite" at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
On November 7, 1805, Captain William Clark wrote his most famous journal entry: "Ocian in view! O! the joy." After having paddled the entire length of the Missouri River upstream, portaging the Rocky Mountains, then paddling down the Columbia River and its tributaries, one can understand the intense desire to finally attain the ultimate goal, and the joy felt on seeing it for the first time. However, it turns out that on that day the Corps of Discovery had only seen the estuary of the Columbia River.
The expedition spent nearly three weeks pinned down by terrible storms in the vicinity of Point Ellice, at what is now the northern side of the Astoria Bridge. For six days the group was trapped by fierce wind and high waves at the rocky shoreline near present-day Megler. One of their campsites is referred to in Clark's journal as “that dismal little nitch”, and the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park has established a nature preserve at was is believed to be that historic site, called "Clark's Dismal Nitch".
If you follow the Corp of Discovery's path westward you can stop in at Fort Columbia State Park (near the town of McGowan), which is a military site that constituted the harbor defense of the Columbia River from 1896 to 1947.
While still trapped at Point Ellice, the captains sent a few men ahead to the Pacific shoreline. An immediate objective was to search for a better campsite. They were also looking to see if any white men were living there, as the local Indians had told them that a trading post for passing ships had been established there. If such a settlement could be found, Lewis would use a letter of credit from President Jefferson to trade for goods needed for the return trip.
They reached the shoreline on the northern side of the Columbia, turned northwards and continued their search up Long Beach, but found neither trading post nor a place to camp for the winter. The spot where Long Beach meets the Columbia had already been named "Camp Disappointment" by the English explorer John Meares in 1788, and is now the site of Cape Disappointment State Park.
