Fort Vancouver and the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company Establishes Fort Vancouver in 1825.

Fort Vancouver was established in 1825 as a British Fur Trade post founded by the Hudson's Bay Company. There were actually two Fort Vancouvers; the first operated from 1825-1829 and the second from 1829-1860. The second fort was documented extensively and was the basis for the accurate reconstruction of the Fort Vancouver National Site that currently stands on the second Fort's footprint.
The Hudson's Bay Company was established at Fort George, Astoria, but HBC Governor George Simpson dictated a move to the South Side of the Columbia River to stake a boundary claim between Great Britain and the United States.
Camas flowers - the edible roots were being cultivated by local Indigenous people.
Simpson sent Chief Factors Dr. John McLoughlin (a French-Canadian) and Alexander Kennedy to scout the spot for the new Fort. McLoughlin and Kennedy traveled along the Columbia River until they found the beautiful three-mile plain they called Jolie Prairie, about 1.25 miles from the river, where the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located.
A smaller reconstruction of Dr. McLoughlin's garden at Fort Vancouver.
For more information on this amazing garden, which was started in 1828, visit HERE.
This is still a working garden, maintained by volunteers and now open to the public for visits.
Edible camas root bulbs are around 1-2 inches long and made up part of the diet of the local Indigenous people in the Vancouver area.
Jolie Prairie was a camas field maintained and used by area Indigenous people to grow and harvest a staple of their diet, the starchy camas root. There is an interesting history story about Lewis and Clark becoming ill from the roots, which are reported to taste like pumpkin. Serves the colonizers right! John McLoughlin originally received a license to practice medicine in 1803 in Quebec, Canada but was later reported to stop practicing medicine due to his temper. McLoughlin is called the "Father of Oregon" due to his contributions to the area. He also had heavy ties to Oregon City, another town with strange history and connections to our Hidden brick story.
Part of the interpretive orchard, planted in 1962.
The main entrance gate at Fort Vancouver.
Crows doing crow things at the bastion.
The capable and experienced McLoughlin served as Chief Factor of the new Fort. Under McLoughlin’s supervision, construction of the Fort began sometime between November 1824. By March of 1825 the structures inside the picketed stockade included a dwelling house, two store houses, an "Indian Hall," and temporary quarters which were likely tents for a diverse set of employees, including many Native Americans and Native Hawaiians. This diversity led to a variety of ways building materials were created and used to build the Fort, including bricks installed with mortar made from coral traced to Oahu!
This Vancouver settlement was supposed to be temporary as Simpson eventually intended to move the Fort to a permanent location in New Caledonia (now British Columbia) along the Fraser River. Even though the location was meant to be temporary, McLoughlin got to work planting potato fields and other crops almost immediately in the rich soil, and arranged for livestock to be brought in from Fort George, Astoria.
By 1829 Simpson recognized the advantages of remaining in the current location: the soil and climate were ideal for growing, it was a prime trade location, and the Columbia was easily navigable compared to the Fraser. Due to the distance from the river, the HBC built this second Fort in 1829 at a location closer to the Columbia River.

Hidden Bricks in Camas, Washington.

Grass Valley Park, home of the Hidden circle.
The circle of reused Hidden bricks in Camas.
A short distance down the river east from Vancouver is the small city of Camas, a community first called only "La Camas" due to the presence of edible Camas flowers and bulbs. This city's history is also tied back to Hidden bricks. For an awesome walking tour of downtown Camas, check out this site.
La Camas was intended to function as a center of industry and was founded without plans for a residential settlement. A Portland newspaper owner named Henry L. Pittock (1835-1919) decided to build a new paper mill, and a new town grew up to support it. Pittock already owned a paper mill in Oregon City and had built a second on the Clackamas River, but these were insufficient to satisfy the market. In 1883 Pittock and partners formed the La Camas Colony Company, and they put Don Stearns in charge of the project. Stearns left Camas in 1884 but came back and settled permanently later in July 1886. "The Oregonian," the paper Pittock eventually owned after working his way up starting as a typesetter, discussed the industrial plans in a January 4, 1884 article, where it noted that "Conservative businessmen of Portland ... are developing the idea of an industrial colony on a purely business basis." A fun side note is that Pittock's palatial home in Portland Oregon is notoriously haunted. Until the recent years when the majority of newer paper mill recently closed, locals knew that the "rotten egg" smell that would make its way in towards Vancouver was from the paper mill. "Augh, Camas!" was a typical refrain when the winds changed.
The haunted Pittock Mansion in Portland, OR.
Crows at the La Camas Paper Mill today, downtown Camas.
The first wood La Camas paper mill was built in 1884, when steamboats took the finished paper product down the Columbia towards town. This mill led to the establishment of stores in town and the "accidental town" of La Camas, which is now just known as "Camas". This first mill burned in November 1886.
On May 3, 1888 the new mill opened for business and the town revived around it. This new La Camas paper mill was constructed from Hidden bricks, as was the future mill's Boise Cascade expansion.
Today, a residential neighborhood in Camas called Grass Valley Park has repurposed some of the Hidden bricks from the Camas Paper Mill as a tribute to the history of the area. The brick circle is near the covered picnic area by the playground equipment.
La Camas Paper Mill, circa 1900, Hidden bricks.

The Many Bricks of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

Most bricks found at Fort Vancouver are categorized as being either English or American, and it is fairly easy to distinguish them from each other due to their color. American bricks are the "red brick" family that we are used to seeing with Hiddens and others, while English bricks range in color from yellow-grey to dark purple. The wide variance in 19th century English bricks has to do with how things like streetsweeping debris and coal bits were mixed in the clay as part of the tempering process. Materials used for tempering also greatly affected the quality of the finished brick product. Most English bricks arrived to the Fort Vancouver area from ships where they were used as ballast, weight to help balance the ship.
John McLoughlin mentioned in official documents receiving English bricks that had been originally intended for use at Fort George in Astoria, bemoaning their “very inferior quality,” but approved of their use in constructing chimneys at the first Fort. A smaller reconstruction of McLoughlin's (formerly private) garden is now maintained at the Fort by a dedicated crew of volunteers. Here's a peek:
Some of the most important bricks at Fort Vancouver belong to the Bake House, which was enlarged twice due to the growing needs of the Fort. Each oven rebuild required thousands of bricks shipped over to the Fort from London. Bricks could take up to two years to arrive, which is why there were so many early brickmakers in the immediate area. The Hidden Brick Company outlasted them all!
American bricks were also brought in from the Willamette Valley area (near Oregon City) or California. Beginning around 1840 the Hudson's Bay Company also began making bricks at the Fort Vancouver site, adding to the diversity of the building materials used in construction. L.M. Hidden was one of these early brickmakers as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. Beginning in 1871 the Hidden Brick Company also contributed bricks to Fort Vancouver, and many are visible in the old haunted Post Hospital building.

The Famous Fort Vancouver "Kitty Brick."

One of the most intriguing things we learned about Fort Vancouver was the discovery of ancient Roman bricks found in pits at the site, including an ancient brick with a pair of 2,000 year old cat prints imprinted in it! Possibly SJ's favorite brick of all time, the famous Roman "Kitty Brick" is famed worldwide! Anyone that has ever shared their life with a cat can tell you, cats do what they want... maybe that's why we love the adorable little jerks so much. Even 2,000 years ago they walked wherever they damn well pleased, including a clay brick drying in the sun.
In 1982 an archaeologist and brick identification expert (BIG GOALS!) named Karl Gurcke was working at Fort Vancouver and took another look at some red bricks found in the 1950s that looked suspiciously like ancient Roman bricks. Tests have now proven that he was correct!
It wasn't uncommon in the 19th century for the English to deconstruct Roman ruins or cobblestone roads to "recycle" the bricks for newer building projects. Many of these bricks were packed into ships, made it over to Fort George in Astoria and then down the Columbia River to Fort Vancouver.
Visitors can see the world famous "Kitty Brick" in person, but because it’s being stored in a special climate-controlled room, you must make a viewing appointment ahead of time with the Fort's Curator, Meagan Huff. When I met with Ms. Huff (another John & Marguerite McLoughlin fan, turns out!) to meet the Kitty Brick, I was initially surprised how large it was - roughly 10 inches square! Meagan told me that this is pretty standard size for Roman bricks.

Fort Vancouver's Post Hospital - The Infamous Building 614.

Built in 1884, the Post Hospital was initially two separate buildings that were joined together in the 1970s. The construction of Interstate 5 led to moving the southern building 614, attaching it to the first building that was at the present site.
The Hospital was built with bricks in part to help with sanitation and has open verandas to provide light and fresh air to convalescing soldiers. There are several types of bricks used in the building, including Hidden bricks, that were used when 614 was moved to the current site and the different bricks used are clearly visible.
Until the end of World War I, the Post Hospital was considered one of the most modern military hospitals in the nation. At the time the hospital was built, hand washing with soap was a fairly new surgical practice, and open fractures were still being treated by amputations. This building has seen a lot of suffering. The first and second floors were used as offices, wards, and operating rooms. The third floor was the psychological ward and storage. During 1918's flu epidemic there were only 400 beds in the Post Hospital, but somehow over 2,550 patients were treated on site in tents and other temporary facilities.
After 1940 when the new Barnes Hospital was built in town to serve the soldiers the entire hospital became Army offices. Employees have complained about locking the building at night and returning the next morning to discover the front door unlocked. They experimented with putting tape over the door and lock to see if it was opened or disturbed overnight. Each morning the door was somehow unlocked and the tape was unbroken - who ever was unlocking the door was doing it from the inside.
Local ghost tours tell stories of shaking tables, footsteps, yelling, thrown items, and phantom flushing toilets that have supposedly sent investigators packing in the middle of the night. There are lots of wonderful giant trees (including walnut) nearby to ground yourself on after you get sick of trying to creep yourself out listening to ghost stories that may or may not be true. After talking with volunteers here, their main complaint is now kids continually breaking into the place because of the wild ghost stories being spread around in the community. The Historic Trust has had to hire full time security to keep "ghost hunters" from breaking into the facility due to its infamous reputation. As a result, none of the employees here will discuss the activity in the building publicly any longer - and there is still authentic activity happening. KNOCK IT OFF, GHOST BROS!
From the north steps of the hospital you have a bird's eye view of the Academy, their continued association throughtout time makes sense once you realize their close proximity to each other. There's current plans to make the Fort Hospital building into a mixed use community center of offices and studios - similar to the plan at the Providence Academy. Don't see how that's a good idea, but that's just me.

A Walk Down Haunted Officer's Row.

Pretty much every building on Officer's Row is known for having some sort of mild haunted activity (including my dentist's office). These beautiful historic homes on Evergreen Boulevard are surrounded by trees that were planted by the Army when the Barracks were still part of the active military base. The Boulevard is dominated by the Pacific Northwest native big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). Other species include American elm, black walnut, sugar maple, Eastern cottonwood, Douglas fir (Mother Joseph's favorite local wood to build with), and Austrian pine. The tree-lined boulevard also boasts 21 preserved Victorian homes that are on the National Historic Register. Built in the mid-to-late 1800s, these beautifully restored homes were built to house U.S. Army officers stationed at Vancouver Barracks. As expected, the higher the command, the larger the house.
The oldest of these homes, built by Captain and Brevet Major John S. Hathaway and his company of 76 soldiers, is the Grant House. Made from hand-hewn logs and sided with wood lap, the house served as both headquarters for the army and as the commanding officer’s residence. The building last served the Vancouver community as The Grant House Restaurant, which sadly closed in 2021. SJ had an interesting experience being tapped on the shoulder in the bathroom there once that seems to back up the stories of the haunting here. The Grant House was built in 1886 and named for former president Ulysses S. Grant who visited in 1878. Grant was posted at the site for a year in 1852 with the 4th infantry, before the home was constructed. Grant was General during the Civil War and later President of the United States (1869-1877). The home was then renamed in his honor for his service to his country.
The Grant House on Officer's Row.
Fort Vancouver's Howard House.
The Marshall House, another Vancouver Washington beauty built in 1886, offers tours and an exhibit on General George C. Marshall, it’s most famous resident. This home's Queen Anne architecture has ornate Victorian features including stained glass windows, decorative woodwork and a round turret.
The house was named in honor of General George C. Marshall (1880-1959), who lived here from 1936-1938, serving as commander of the barracks and the regional Civilian Conservation Corps. It was here that General and Mrs. Marshall welcomed the Russian crew of the first nonstop transpolar flight from Europe to America in 1937. General Marshall is perhaps best remembered for the post-World War II Marshall Plan for European economic recovery that he authored and for which he was awarded the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize.
This “crown jewel” of Officers Row continued to house the barracks commander through the end of World War II. It was acquired by the City in 1984 and renovated along with the other houses on Officers Row in the late 1980s.
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