On July 4, 1853, the first U.S. flag made in Washington Territory is raised near Cowlitz Landing. Washington Territory had been created by U.S. President Millard Fillmore on March 2, 1853, and when news reached the fledgling territory weeks later, residents planned a celebration. John R. Jackson, who lived several miles north of Cowlitz Landing (near present-day Toledo), sent to San Francisco for material from which to make a large U.S. flag. Neighbors gathered to hand-sew the flag. They raise it for the first time on Independence Day.
Jackson’s Background
John R. Jackson was born in England in 1800. At age 23 or 33 (sources vary), he immigrated to the U.S., living in the East for several years before following the Oregon Trail to northern Oregon (as Washington was known then) in 1844. In 1845, he established a homestead several miles north of Cowlitz Landing (near present-day Toledo). He called his claim Highlands on what became known as Jackson Prairie.
In his travels, Jackson occasionally visited Oregon City. While there in 1848, he met a widow, Matilda Koontz, whose husband had drowned while crossing a river along the Oregon Trail. Jackson and Matilda soon married, and they brought her four sons home to Highlands. The Jackson homestead was a well-known stopping point along the Cowlitz Trail, the thoroughfare between the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Over the years, Jackson himself served as sheriff, tax collector, probate judge, court clerk, and justice of the peace. Matilda was well-known as an accomplished cook and hostess.
Making the Flag and Celebrating the Fourth of July
The material for Jackson's U.S. flag arrived from San Francisco, and neighbors gathered to construct the flag. The design was based on the first U.S. flag, with 13 stars and 13 stripes. However, the red-and-white material proved insufficient for an exact replica, so only eight stripes were incorporated. According to a 1958 article in The Tacoma News:
"A tall flag pole was constructed near the Jackson house. Freedom-conscious settlers gathered. Early Independence Day the 6- by 15-foot banner was raised. It unfurled in the breeze high above the peeled log house ...
"Later that day, the flag was flown at a similar celebration at Cowlitz Landing a few miles to the south. Fireworks, music, dinner and toasts marked the Cowlitz event. A settler wrote: 'Having no guns, we put powder into 13 of the large fir logs and touched them off.' Jackson and others gave numerous toasts at the banquet table 'canopied with boughs and spread with an abundance of good cheer.' The Declaration of Independence was read and called 'a production of mighty intellect'" ("Patriotism Woven Deep ...").
The venerable Jackson flag still exists. It resides in the collection of the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma.
The Jackson cabin still exists, also. The much-refurbished building and just over an acre of land now comprise a Washington State Parks Heritage Site along what has been appropriately named the Jackson Highway. Just to the north lies the Matilda Jackson State Park Heritage Site. To the south lies Lewis and Clark State Park, containing one of the last surviving lowland old-growth forests in Western Washington.
