The Volcanoes of
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
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March 25 - 28, 1806 Heading Home - Puget Island to Deer Island |
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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 |
PREVIOUS
March 23-24 Heading Home, Fort Clatsop to Tenasillahe Island |
March 25-28
Heading Home, Puget Island to Deer Island Puget Island, Clatskanie River and Beaver Slough, Crims Island, Island above Crims, Longview (Washington) and Rainier (Oregon), Lewis and Clark Bridge, Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens, Mount Coffin, Cowlitz River, Goble Volcanics, Deer Island |
CONTINUE
March 29 Heading Home, Deer Island to Ridgefield NWR |
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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Heading for Home - March 1806
Back on the Columbia - Puget Island to Deer Island |
| Lewis and Clark's camp of March 24, 1806, was on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, northeast of Brownsmead, at Aldrich Point, across from Tenasillahe Island. |
| Tuesday, March 25, 1806 |
| This morning proved so disagreeably cold that we did not set out before seven o'clock, when having breakfasted, we continued along the southern side of the river. The wind, however, as well as a strong current was against us, so that we proceeded slowly. On landing for dinner at noon, we were joined by some Clatsops ...... After dinner we crossed the river to a large island [Puget Island], along the side of which we continued ...... |
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Puget Island: Lieutenant Broughton, in 1792, named the island for one of Captain Vancouver's lieutenants, Peter Puget. The present place name retains the British identification for the island, named for the same person honored by the naming of Puget Sound. -- Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy" 
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| We proceeded on to the head of the island [Puget Island], and then crossed to the north side of the river [some of the men, see below]. Here the coast formed a continued swamp for several miles back, so that it was late in the evening before we were able to reach a spot fit for our camp. |
| The Biddle/Allen publication is mis-leading -- according to the Journals as printed in Moulton, 1991, Vol.7, only three of the expedition traveled on the north side of the Columbia. The rest of the men were on the south side. The main camp for March 25, 1806, was near the Clastskanie River on the Oregon side. |
| "... Last night and this morning are cool wend hard a head and tide going out, after an early brackfast we proceeded on about 4 miles and came too on the South Side to worm and dry our Selves a little. ... as the wind was hard a head and tide against us we Concluded to delay untill the return of the tide which we expected at 1 oClock, at which hour we Set out ... we crossed over to an Island on which was a Cath lahmah fishing Camp of one Lodge; ... we remained at this place about half an hour and then Continued our rout. the winds in the evening was verry hard, it was with Some dificuelty that we Could find a Spot proper for an encampment, the Shore being a Swamp for Several miles back; at length late in the evening opposit to the place we had encamped on the 6th of Novr. last; we found the enterance of a Small Creek which offered us a Safe harbour from the Winds and Encamped. the Ground was low and moist tho' we obtained a tolerable encampment. ... here we found Drewyer and the 2 Fields' who had been Seperated from us Since Morning; they had passed on the North Side of the large Island which was much nearest. ... made 15 Miles ..." [Clark, March 25, 1806] |
| At length we discovered the entrance of a small creek [Clatskanie River/Beaver Slough], opposite to the place where we were encamped on the sixth of November [On the Washington side between Eagle Cliff and Cape Horn, across from Wallace Island], |
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Clatskanie River and Beaver Slough: The Clatskanie River is a tributary of the Beaver Slough, which enters Wallace Slough near the southeast end of Wallace Island. The town of Clatskanie, Oregon, is four miles inland and was named after the Tlatskanai tribe who lived in the hills south of the Clatskanie River. The Tlatskanai, linguistically an Athapascan tribe, originally lived in the flat lands bordering the Chehalis River in Washington State. As game became scarce and their food supply diminished, they left the area, heading south, and crossed the Columbia River to occupy the hills traditionally occupied by the Chinook Indians, who were a large Indian tribe living along the Oregon Coast. After driving away the more peaceful Chinook Indians, the Tlatskanai established themselves within the Clatskanie-Westport area, and extended their numbers into the head of the Nehalem. The word "Tlatskanai" was used by these Indians to denote the route they took to get to a particular meeting place, applying to particular steams and not to others. White men carelessly applied this work to the name of the stream. One source lists "Tlatskanai" as meaning "swift running water." The Clatskanie is indeed a swift beautiful stream. Other names that existed for the Tlatskanai were the Clackstar, Klatskanai and Klaatshan, among others. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2003, and Clatskanie Chamber of Commerce Website, 2003
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| and though the ground was low and moist, yet as the spot was sheltered from the wind, we resolved to pass the night there [near the Clatskanie River and the today's town of Clatskanie, Oregon]: we had now made fifteen miles. ...... The wind was very high towards evening. ...... |
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The Camp - March 25, 1806:
Near the Clatskanie River and today's town of Clatskanie, Oregon. |
| Wednesday, March 26, 1806 |
| The wind ...... continued to blow so violent in the morning, that we could not set out before eight o'clock. ...... The wind having abated, we proceeded to an old village, where we halted for dinner [on the southern bank, opposite the west end of Crims Island], having met on the way Sahawacap the principal chief of all the Cathlamahs, who was on his return from a trading voyage up the river, with wappatoo and fish, some of which he gave us, and we purchased a little more. ...... After dinner we passed along the north shore opposite to a high fine bottom and dry prairie [today an area upstream of Clatskanie, Oregon, containing Beaver and McLean Sloughs], at the upper end of which, near a grove of white-oak trees, is an island which we called Fanny's island [Crims Island]. |
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The wind blew So hard untill 8 A M. that we detained, ...
we Continued our rout up the river to an old Village on the South Side where we halted for dinner ...
halted for dinner at an Old Village on the South point opposit the lower pt. of Fannys Island.
..."
[Clark, March 26, 1806] |
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after dinner we proceeded on and passed an Elegant and extensive
bottom on the South side and an island
near it's upper point which we call Fanny's Island and bottom.
the great part of the bottom is a high dry prarie.
..."
[Lewis, March 26, 1806] |
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Crims Island: Lewis and Clark named this island "Fanny's Island", after Captain Clark's younger sister Frances, on their journey home in 1806. In 1792 William Broughton called the island "Baker's Island" for a Second Lieutenant in Captain Vancouver's command. Charles Wilkes, in 1841, named the island "Gull", which now is the name of the small island north of the west end of Crims Island. Today it retains the surname of a pioneer homesteader on the island. -- Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy"
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| There were some deer and elk at a distance in the prairie, but as we could not stay to hunt, we continued till late in the evening, when we encamped on the next island [possibly Walker Island or Dibblee (formerly Lord) islands] above Fanny's [Crims Island]. According to the estimate we made in descending the river, which we begin, however, to think was short, our journey of to-day was eighteen miles. ...... |
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after dinner I walked on Shore through an eligant bottom on the South Side opposit to Fannys Island. This bottom we also Call fannys bottom it is extensive and an open leavel plain except near the river bank which is high dry rich oak land. I saw Some deer & Elk at a distance in the Prarie. we continued untill late in the evening and encamped on a Small Island near the Middle of the river haveing made 18 Miles.
..."
[Clark, March 26, 1806] |
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Campsite of March 26, 1806:
"Next island above Crims Island".
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The Camp - March 26, 1806:
On an island in the middle of the Columbia River, in the vicinity of today's Walker Island. |
| Thursday, March 27, 1806 |
| We set out early, and were soon joined by some Skilloots, with fish and roots for sale. At ten o'clock we stopped to breakfast at two houses of the same nation, where we found our hunters, who had not returned to camp last night, but had killed nothing. The inhabitants seemed very kind and hospitable. ...... |
| Today, Longview, Washington, and Rainier, Oregon, are along this stretch of the Columbia. The Lewis and Clark Bridge connects the two cities. |
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Longview, Washington: Longview, Washington, is located at the confluence of the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers at River Mile 57. Less than seventy-five years ago, the area of Longview was a sparsely populated wilderness and rural homesteads. The first written account of the area can be found in the journals of Lewis and Clark which camped beside the "Cow-elis-kee" River in 1805. In 1849, pioneeers began to arrive in this area to settle along the river. Harry Huntington named the settlement "Monticello" in honor of Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia. In 1852, people from all over what was to become Washington state gathered in Monticello to draft a memorial to Congress. The memorial expressed their desire to be granted statehood under the name of Columbia. This meeting came to be known as the Monticello Convention. The desires of the Convention were met favorably in Congress, but it was decided that a state named Columbia might be confused with the preexisting District of Columbia. The state was instead named Washington in honor of our first president. Today, a monument to the Monticello Convention stands not far from the Longview Civic Center. Longview city was the dream of Robert Alexander Long, a midwestern businessman whose holdings included the Long-Bell Lumber Company. This firm in 1918 claimed to be the largest lumber retailer and manufacturer in the United States. With southern timber stands vanishing quickly, Long redirected his effort to tapping the Pacific Northwest's abundant old-growth forest. Part of Long's vision was the planned city of Longview. NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2003, City of Longview Website, 2003, and U.S. Library of Congress, American Memories Website, 2003 Rainier, Oregon: Rainier, Oregon, was named for Mount Rainier, which is often visible to the northeast [see below]. Rainier was an important stop in the days of river commerce. The town was founded by Charles E. Fox in 1851, was first called Eminence, later changed to Fox's Landing, and finally to Rainier. In 1854 F.M. Warren erected a large steam sawmill and began producing lumber for the homes and other buildings of the settlers. Rainier, Oregon, was incorporated in 1885. Oregon State Archives Website, 2002 
Lewis and Clark Bridge: Completed in 1930, the Lewis and Clark Bridge (Longview-Rainier Bridge) spans the Columbia River between Longview, Washington and Rainier, Oregon. At the time of construction this bridge was the longest cantilever span in North America with its 1,200-feet central section. -- U.S. Library of Congress, American Memories Website, 2003 |
| If the day had been clear, Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens would have been visible from the Oregon side of the Columbia River. |
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Mount Rainier as seen from near Rainier, Oregon: Mount Rainier, Washington, is the highest (14,410 feet) and third-most voluminous volcano in the Cascades after Mount Shasta, California, and Mount Adams, Washington. Mount Rainier is, however, the most dangerous volcano in the range, owing to the large population and to the huge area and volume of ice and snow on its flanks that could theoretically melt to generate debris flows during cataclysmic eruptions. 
Mount St. Helens as seen from near Rainier, Oregon: Mount St. Helens (8,364 feet, 9,677 feet before May 18, 1980) is located in southwestern Washington about 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, and is one of several lofty volcanic peaks that dominate the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest. On May 18, 1980, the volcano was transformed. The catastrophic eruption, was preceded by 2 months of intense activity that included more than 10,000 earthquakes, hundreds of small phreatic (steam-blast) explosions, and the outward growth of the volcano's entire north flank by more than 260 feet. A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck beneath the volcano at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, setting in motion the devastating eruption.
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| At the distance of two miles we passed the entrance of Coweliskee river [Cowlitz River]. This stream discharges itself on the north side of the Columbia, about three miles above a remarkably high rocky knoll [Mount Coffin], the south side of which it washes in passing, and which is separated from the northern hills by a wide bottom of several miles in extent. |
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Mount Coffin:
Marked as "Knob," a descriptive notation, on the route map, the large rock was observed by the corps as they hurried toward the Pacific Ocean. The "remarkable knob" was used by the natives for interment of their dead and was noted by other earlier travelers on the river. The 240-foot basalt landmark was leveled for its gravel during port construction at Longview, Washington. Mount Coffin was the name given by Broughton in 1792 because of several Indians being buried in canoes in the vicinity. Captain Clark's wording gives the impression that the rock was on an island, but its historic location is on the mainland in the area of Longview, just downstream from the mouth of the Cowlitz River. Clark's estimate of 80 feet was considerably short of it's height when it existed. Beginning in the early 1900's Mount Coffin was extensively quarried and leveled. It was composed of the volcanic unit of the Eocene-age Cowlitz Formation. -- Washington State Historical Society Website, 2002, and Moulton, 1990, v.6 
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| The Coweliskee [Cowlitz River] is one hundred and fifty yards wide, deep and navigable, as the Indians assert, for a considerable distance, and most probably waters the country west and north of the range of mountains [Cascade Mountains] which cross the Columbia between the great falls and rapids. On the lower side of this river, a few miles from its entrance into the Columbia, is the principal village of the Skilloots, a numerous people ...... |
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Cowlitz River: The "Cow-e-lis-kee River" was noted on Lewis and Clark's westbound exploration but actually named on the homeward journey. The Cowlitz River originates on the west slope of of the Cascade Range in southwest Washington State. The river flows west and then then south to where it empties into the Columbia River at Kelso, Washington, at River Mile (RM) 68. The Cowlitz River drains approximately 2,480 square miles over a distance of 151 miles. Principle tributaries to the Cowlitz River include the Coweman, Toutle, Tilton, Cispus, Ohanapecosh and the Clear Fork. The Toutle River is the largest, draining 512 square miles and enters the Cowlitz River at RM 20.0. The Cispus River (RM 89.8) is the most significant tributary in the upper Basin and drains 433 square miles. The mainstem above the confluence of the Cispus-Cowlitz River drains 609 square acres. The runoff from portions of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens drains into the Cowlitz River. These normally inactive volcanoes have helped shape the geography of the area. For example, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980 sent a tidal wave of melted ice and pulverized rock down the Toutle Valley into the Cowlitz River, and carried so much of this coarse sandy material and debris all the way to the Columbia River that dredging was required to clear the channel before river shipping could be resumed. Large scale removal of this volcanic material in the Cowlitz River began at the lower end of the Toutle River by July, 1980 and continued on down the Cowlitz River until engineers were reasonably confident that the cleared channel could handle expected winter flows without topping dikes and flooding Castle Rock, Longview and Kelso. A dam to control sediment was then constructed further up the Toutle River by the Corp of Engineers to prevent the re-silting of the dredged sections. -- Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority Website, 2004, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy".
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| Late in the evening we halted at the beginning of the bottom land, below Deer island [near Goble, Oregon, across from today's Sandy Island and Kalama, Washington], after having made twenty miles. |
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Goble Volcanics:
The thick sequence of basaltic flows and pyroclastic rocks (late Eocene-early Oligocene) that crop out on both sides of the Columbia River in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon are mapped as Goble Volcanics in Oregon, and informal or lithologic names are applied to the rocks on the Washington side. The type area is the vicinity of Goble, Oregon, where a thickness of more than 5,000 feet was mapped by Wilkingson and others (1946). The volcanics form cliffs along the Columbia River (and today's Interstate-5) for several miles. Subaerial lava flows, agglomerates, and oxidized soil horizons are typical features of the cliff exposures. The basalt is generally fresh, fine grained, and has masses of iddingsite scattered throughout along with microphenocrysts of plagioclase and pyroxene. Rock types include pillow, columnar or hackly jointed, massive or vesicular basalt flows and dikes. -- Armentrout, etc., 1980, and Evarts, 2002 
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| Along the low grounds on the river were the cottonwood, sweet-willow, the oak, ash, the broad-leafed ash, and the growth resembling the beech; while the hills are occupied almost exclusively by different species of fir, and the black alder is common to the hills as well as the low ground. ...... |
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The Camp - March 27, 1806:
On the Oregon side of the Columbia River in the vicinity of Goble, across from today's Sandy Island and Kalama, Washington. |
| Friday, March 28, 1806 |
| We left our camp at an early hour, and by nine o'clock reached an old Indian village on the left side of Deer island [Deer Island]. Here we found a party of our men whom we had sent on yesterday to hunt ...... This island, which has received from the Indians the appropriate name of Elalah, or Deer island, is surrounded on the water side by an abundant growth of cotton-wood, ash, and willow, while the interior consists chiefly of prairies interspersed with ponds. ...... |
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Deer Island: Deer Island is Holocene and Pleistocene alluvium, unconsolidated, poorly sorted to well-sorted, massive to laminated, commonly cross-stratified sand, silt, and minor gravel of the Columbia River floodplain. Locally includes fine-grained lacustrine, aeolian, and organic-rich marsh deposits. -- Evarts, 2002
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| We had advanced only five miles to-day. |
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The Camp - March 28, 1806:
On the eastern shore of Deer Island, towards the northern tip. There is a Highway marker on U.S. Highway 30. |
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June/July 2004, Lyn Topinka
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