Page 43 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

THE HIST OR Y OF THE P A CIFIC NOR THWEST  41

Lewis and Clark
US president Thomas Jefferson called on
his former secretary, Meriwether Lewis,
and Lewis’s friend, William Clark, to find
an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. The
pair and an entourage of 33 set out from
St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1804 and walked,
Simon Fraser and companions on the Fraser River rode horseback, and canoed to the Oregon
coast, which they reached a year and a half
who named the river after his ship, the later, in November 1805. The only female
Columbia Rediviva. Other American vessels member of the expedition was Sacagawea,
soon arrived in search of animal pelts and a young Shoshone woman who proved
other bounty. The Spanish, who had been to be an invaluable guide and translator.
attempting to establish strongholds along The famed expedition set the stage for the
the Pacific coast for centuries, retreated rapid settlement of the Pacific Northwest.
to their claims in California. The expedition members not only plotted
In 1793, Scotsman and Montreal fur trader the first overland route across the US,
Alexan der Mackenzie crossed Canada to mapping unexplored territory and collecting
British Columbia, proving that an overland data on First Nations peoples and wildlife,
trade route was feasible. Mackenzie was but they also published journals that
also the first European to navigate the sparked a wave of migration from the east.
Peace River, the only river in British
Columbia that drains into the Arctic Ocean. A Battle for the Spoils
From 1805 to 1808, Simon Fraser The battle to control the Pacific Northwest
(1776–1862), a partner in the fur-trading was waged by the British and the
North West Company, was charged with Americans not with gunfire but through
extending the company’s trading activities trade. The expedition of Lewis and Clark
west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific opened up the region to US fur traders.
Ocean, and exploring a river thought to They could now compete with the British,
be the Columbia. In this capacity, Fraser who dominated the lucrative pelt trade.
established Fort McCleod, Fort St.
James, Fort Fraser, and Fort George,
all in British Columbia. Fraser’s major
accomplishment, though, was to be
the first to navigate the longest river
in British Columbia, now known
as the Fraser River, which courses
through the rugged BC interior
to the Pacific Ocean. Pioneer log cabin, Champoeg State Heritage Area, Oregon

1765 Robert Rogers maps the vast 1778 Captain 1804–1806
1663 France territory he refers to as “Ouragon” James Cook Expedition of
proclaims Canada explores the Meriwether Lewis
a French colony 1763 Canada becomes a Pacific coast and William Clark
British Crown colony
1600 1650 1700 1750 1800
1793 Alexander Mackenzie
1791 Captain George
1670 Hudson’s Bay Vancouver and Peter forges an overland route
Company founded Puget circumnavigate across Canada
Vancouver Island 1792 Captain Robert Gray
The Willamette Valley is the first non-Native to
before the arrival of settlers navigate the Columbia River

US_PNW_038-045_History.indd 41 04/07/16 12:33 pm