The Volcanoes of
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
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November 8 - 9, 1805 Nearing the Pacific - Pillar Rock to Grays Point |
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The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark Map of the Journey Volcanoes, Basalt Plateaus, Major Rivers, etc. The Volcanoes Mount Adams, Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens CALENDAR of the Journey October 1805 to June 1806 Along the Journey Pacific Northwest Maps - Columbia River, Volcanoes, Flood Basalts, Missoula Floods, Geology, etc. The Corps of Discovery The Journey of Lewis and Clark About the Reference Materials The Journals, Biddle/Allen, DeVoto, Gass, Moulton, Topo Maps, and others USGS Lewis and Clark Links Links to USGS Websites highlighting the Lewis and Clark Journey Resources Publications Referenced and Websites Visited |
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November 7 Nearing the Pacific, Wallace Island to Pillar Rock |
November 8-9
Nearing the Pacific, Pillar Rock to Grays Point Pillar Rock, Coast Range, Saddle Mountain, Lewis and Clark NWR, Grays Bay, Deep River and Grays River, Miller Point, and Gray's Point |
CONTINUE
November 10-11 Nearing the Pacific, Grays Point to Hungry Harbor |
On October 7, 1805, Lewis and Clark and the
"Corps of Discovery" began their journey
down the Clearwater River and into the volcanics
of the Pacific Northwest. The Corps travelled from the
Clearwater to the Snake and down the
"Great Columbia", finally reaching the
Pacific Ocean on November 15, 1805.
Along the journey they encountered the
lava flows of the Columbia Plateau,
river channels carved by the great "Missoula Floods",
and the awesome beauty of five Cascade Range volcanoes.
[Click map for brief summary about the area] |
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To the Pacific - November 1805
Nearing the Pacific - Pillar Rock to Grays Point |
| Lewis and Clark's camp of of November 7, 1805 was opposite Pillar Rock, between Brookfield and Dahlia, Washington, west of Jim Crow Point. |
| Friday, November 8, 1805 |
| It rained this morning; and having changed the clothing which had been wet during yesterday's rain, we did not set out till nine o'clock. Immediately opposite our camp is a rock [Pillar Rock] at the distance of a mile in the river, about twenty feet in diameter and fifty in height, |
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Pillar Rock: Pillar Rock is a 70-foot high basaltic column sitting in water approximately 50 feet deep near the northern shore of the Columbia River. Simply marked "Rock" on Clark's route map, the basalt rock rose 75 to 100 feet above water level, depending on the tide. The landmark was given its present place name by Wilkes in 1841. Currently there is a navigation beacon located on top of Pillar Rock. -- U.S. National Park Service, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Website, 2002, Pacific County Friends of Lewis and Clark Website, 2002, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2002 
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| and towards the southwest some high mountains [Coast Range]., |
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Coast Range:
The Coast Ranges, which border the entire west coast of the United States from the Olympic Peninsula south to Mexico, vary greatly in both rock type and climate. Upper Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary rocks predominate, although intrusive and metamorphic rocks are also present. Most rocks have been folded, faulted, and in places intensely sheared; many of the Tertiary rocks are poorly consolidated. Topography is mountainous, with steep slopes and intervening flat valleys. Precipitation in the Coast Ranges is seasonal, ranging from very wet in parts of the northern ranges to semiarid in the south, with periodic storms accompanied by intense rainfall. The combination of steep slopes, soft, sheared rocks, and periods of heavy precipitation makes this subdivision, particularly in California, one of the most landslide prone areas of the United States. Tectonic melange, especially that of the Franciscan assemblage, is especially slide prone; landslides on natural slopes are common in all three categories of slide, fall, and flow. Debris flows during rainstorms are a particular hazard in southern California, where much of the area is heavily developed, so that many landslides have been artificially activated. The Coast Ranges are seismically active, and earthquakes have triggered many landslides. -- Radbruch-Hall, et.al., 1982, USGS Professional Paper 1183 |
| one of which is covered with snow at the top [Saddle Mountain]. |
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Saddle Mountain: Saddle Mountain, at 3,283 feet elevation, is one of the highest peaks in the Coast Range, and affords a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and the coast to the west. It is located 10 miles east of Seaside, Oregon, and is reached from the Sunset Highway (U.S. 26) a mile east of Necanicum Junction. A narrow paved road runs eight miles to the north from the highway to a large parking lot at the base of the mountain. A gentle, four-mile trail climbs nearly 1,500 feet from the parking lot to the forest fire lookout on the summit. The Saddle Mountain breccia (a rock consisting of broken angular fragments cemented together in a fine-grained matrix) is volcanic. It was produced about 15 million years ago by thermal shock, when a great lava flow of Columbia River basalt came down an ancestral valley of the Columbia River (south of its present course) and entered the Astoria Sea. The still-hot rock, meeting cold water, caused steam explosions which broke it up into a great pile of basalt fragments. Saddle Mountain appeared as "Mont de la Selle" on explorer John Meares' 1788 map of the Western coast of North America. -- Allen, 1987, and Deja View Antique Maps and Prints Website, 2004. 
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| We proceeded past several low islands in the bay or bend of the river to the left [today's Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge], which is here five or six miles wide. |
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Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge: The Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1972 to preserve the estuary land and water as vital fish and wildlife habitat. The refuge includes 35,000 acres of islands, bars, mud flats and tidal marshes. The refuge is the largest marsh in western Oregon and provides habitat for peak populations of 3,000 tundra swans, 2,000 Canada geese and 5,000 ducks in February and March each year as they gather here before the northward migration. Woody, Horseshoe, Karlson, and Marsh islands are the main islands in the wildlife refuge on Oregon's side of the Columbia. In 1805, on their trip to the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Clark referred to these islands simply as "marshy islands". On their return in 1806, they called this area "Seal Islands". -- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website, 2003, Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon Website, 2002, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2002
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| We were here overtaken by three Indians in a canoe who had salmon to sell. On the right side we passed an old village, and then, at the distance of three miles, entered an inlet or niche about six miles across [Grays Bay], |
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Grays Bay: Grays Bay is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River, and extends from Grays Point to Harrington Point, north of the main shipping channel of the Columbia River. The northeastern section of the bay are extensive mud flats. This bay was given a descriptive name, "Shallow Bay," by Lewis and Clark as they coasted the shore on their way to the Pacific Ocean. The bay was named "Grays Bay" in 1792, when Captain Vancouver named the bay to honor Robert Gray, the American who first explored the mouth of the Columbia River. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2003, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2002 
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| and making a deep bend of nearly five miles into the hills on the right shore, where it receives the waters of several creeks [Deep River (west) and Grays River (east) being the two largest]. |
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Deep River and Grays River: Deep River flows into the northern part of Grays Bay. This river is used only by small pleasure craft and sport fishermen and for logging operations. Depths of about 6 feet are available for about 2 miles above it's mouth, above which it is shoal and probably good for no more than 2 feet. Grays River enters Grays Bay just east of Deep River, and is another small stream used only by pleasure craft. Depths are not more than 2 feet, and much of the stream is blocked by snags and sunken logs. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2003
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| We coasted along this inlet [Grays Bay], which, from its little depth, we called Shallow bay, and at the bottom of it halted to dine near the remains of an old village [Miller Point], from which, however, we kept at a cautious distance, as it was occupied by great numbers of fleas. ...... |
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Miller Point:
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| After dinner the three Indians left us, and we then took advantage of the returning tide, to go on about three miles to a point on the right [Grays Point], eight miles distant from our camp; but here the waves ran so high, and dashed about our canoes so much, that several of the men became seasick. It was therefore judged imprudent to go on in the present state of weather, and we landed at the point [Grays Point]. |
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Grays Point: Grays Point was charted by Charles Wilkes in 1841 and named to honor the American explorer who first explored the Columbia River in 1792. Grays Point is the western point of Grays Bay. -- Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy"
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| The situation was extremely uncomfortable; the high hills jutted in so closely that there was not room for us to lie level, nor to secure our baggage free from the tide; and the water of the river is to salt to be used; but the waves increasing every moment so much, that we could not move from the spot with safety: we therefore fixed ourselves on the beach left by the ebb-tide, and having raised the baggage on poles, passed a disagreeable night, the rain during the day having wet us completely, as indeed we have been for some days past. |
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The Camp - November 8 and November 9, 1805:
Washington side of the Columbia River, west side of Grays Bay, at a place now called "Grays Point". |
Saturday, November 9, 1805
| Fortunately for us, the tide did not rise as high as our camp during the night; but being accompanied by high winds from the south, the canoes, which we could not place beyond its reach, were filled with water, and were saved with much difficulty: our position was very uncomfortable, but as it was impossible to move from it, we waited for a change of weather. It rained, however, during the whole day, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, the flood tide set in, accompanied by a high wind from the south, which, about four o'clock, shifted to the southwest, and blew almost a gale directly from the sea. The immense waves now broke over the place where we were encamped, and the large trees, some of them five or six feet thick, which had lodged at the point, were drifted over our camp, and the utmost vigilance of every man could scarcely save our canoes from being crushed to pieces. We remained in the water and drenched with rain during the rest of the day; our only food being some dried fish, and some rain-water which we caught. Yet, though wet and cold, and some of them sick from using the salt-water, the men are cheerful, and full of anxiety to see more of the ocean. The rain continued all night ...... |
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The Camp - November 8 and November 9, 1805:
Washington side of the Columbia River, west side of Grays Bay, at a place now called "Grays Point". |
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June/July 2004, Lyn Topinka
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