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Fort Vancouver's Bicentennial

Two hundred years ago this week, the British Hudson's Bay Company opened Fort Vancouver along the Columbia River as a trading outpost and a base for botanical research and inland exploration. For some 20 years, the fort remained the major non-Native presence in the future Washington. Gradually, however, more and more American settlers poured into the region, with many of them obtaining supplies and advice at Fort Vancouver.

In 1841 the U.S. Navy began surveying the river, and although the British were cordial, the appearance of two U.S. warships so near to the fort probably influenced Hudson's Bay Company officials to remove accumulated stores at Fort Vancouver to a new post at Victoria, which they established in 1843. On June 15, 1846, Britain struck the Union Jack below the 49th parallel and abandoned its claims to "Oregon Country," which became an official U.S. territory two years later.

In 1849 the U.S. Army took over the abandoned fort and established Camp Columbia there. One of the camp's earliest quartermasters was Ulysses S. Grant, then a captain. In 1879 the camp was renamed Vancouver Barracks, and over the years it provided troops for the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.

After the end of World War II, the army declared most of Vancouver Barracks to be surplus. Two years later, Fort Vancouver became a national monument, and in 1966 Congress expanded the protected area and re-designated it as a National Historic Site. Around this time, the original fort structures (which had burned down in 1866) were carefully reconstructed, and today the site is operated by the National Park Service.

St. Patrick's Day

This week we mark St. Patrick's Day with a look at some of the Irish-Americans who played major roles in Washington history, beginning in 1805 with Sgt. Patrick Gass, who kept his own journal as a member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. When the Hudson’s Bay Company opened Fort Vancouver, they dispatched Dr. John McLoughlin to take charge of the Columbia District, and more Irish came with him.

Irish Americans were among the many immigrants who traveled the Oregon Trail. Among those who settled in Washington were Michael Simmons and George W. Bush, who both settled near Tumwater in 1845. By 1856, one in 12 land claims in Washington Territory was made by Irish-born settlers, many of whom had left their native land following the famine years of 1847-1850. Michael Cowley came to this country with no money at the age of 15 and was influential in the development of Spokane. James Purcell Comeford came to America in 1849 and later became the "father of Marysville." Jimmie Durkin and his family (including 13 siblings) arrived in America in 1868, and he grew up to become Spokane's legendary liquor tycoon.

Seattle, from its first days, has produced such notables of Irish descent as Judge Thomas Burke; first King County Executive and former Governor John Spellman; public-affairs consultants Wally Toner, Patrick Gogerty, and Bob Gogerty; history professor and peace activist Giovanni Costigan; and flamboyant couturier John Doyle Bishop, who organized the city’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1972. The Irish in Seattle have also celebrated their heritage with dancing, Gaelic football, and through participation in various clubs and organizations, such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians.