Cape Disappointment earned its name when Captain John Meares failed to cross the river bar in 1788. The feat was accomplished in 1792 by American Captain Robert Gray. The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at Cape Disappointment in 1805.[4]
In 1862, during the American Civil War, a camp called Post at Cape Disappointment was established and fortifications existed here from that date to protect the northern approaches to the mouth of the Columbia River from possible attacks by Confederate raiders or foreign fleets. It was garrisoned by Company A, U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment and Company A, 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry in the District of Oregon. In 1863, its mate Fort Stevens was established on the south bank of the Columbia River. In 1864, the post was renamed Fort Cape Disappointment. Some Civil War-era fortifications still exist: the Tower (or Right) Battery, Left Battery, and Center Battery.
Fort Cape Disappointment was expanded and renamed Fort Canby in 1875. By 1906, when construction finished under the Endicott program, Fort Canby became part of the three-fort Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River as a subpost of Fort Stevens along with Fort Columbia.[6] The fort was further expanded during World War II. After being decommissioned in the years following World War II, the fort was turned over to the state for use as a state park in the early 1950s.[7] Workers with the Civilian Conservation Corps helped restore the fort and improved roads and trails during the 1930s.[4]
Activities and amenities
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center sits on a cliff that overlooks the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. There are exhibits about the 1803–1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific coast, the park's later history, including the lighthouses, U.S. Coast Guard and military activities, and the area's maritime and natural history.[8]
The park offers camping and other overnight accommodations, eight miles (13km) of hiking trails, stands of old-growthSitka spruce,[9] watercraft launch sites, picnicking facilities, and tours of the North Head Lighthouse.[4] Many of the WWII-era military facilities still exist in a ruined state throughout the park and are accessible to the public.
North Head LighthouseRecently-restored North Head LighthouseCoast Guard training near North Head Lighthouse
↑ "Fort Canby". Coast Defense Study Group. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
↑ Tate, Cassandra (January 9, 2006). "Cape Disappointment State Park". The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
