The Cowlitz Landing
By Curt Cunningham

The Cowlitz Landing was at the end of the long and grueling canoe ride up the Cowlitz River, which could take 2 to 4 days to complete. The landing was located about a mile downstream from Toledo. From the landing, the Cowlitz Trail was then used as the overland route to the Chehalis River and further north to Tenino where the trail forked. The left fork was the Cowlitz Trail continuing north to the Puget Sound and the right fork was the trail that led to the Nisqually River, the Puyallup River and the Naches Trail.

The Hudson's Bay Company

The first Europeans to record a trip up the Cowlitz River was in 1811, when trappers Tom McKay, and Ovide de Montigny hired some Cowlitz canoemen to take them up the river to see what was out there. Gabriel Franchere described their journey in his journal that was published in 1851. The following is a paragraph is from his journal;

“We arrived at a large village that we had passed the evening before and we landed to obtain information respecting a considerable stream, which here discharges into the Columbia. The river comes from the north, and is called Coweliske by the natives. McKay, along with de Montigny and two Indians, in a small canoe, traveled up the river to examine its course, a certain distance up."

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) established a permanent settlement in the State of Washington when Fort Vancouver was completed in 1821, but after 8 years, the fort moved west to be closer to the Columbia River. Before that time, there was no company presence north of the great river. The first known record of the Cowlitz Trail, which was known to the HBC people as the Cowlitz Portage, was in 1824, when HBC employee James McMillan traveled north to the Puget Sound from Fort Vancouver.

In 1827, Fort Langley was constructed near the mouth of the Fraser River about 300 miles north of Fort Vancouver. To supply this new post, the HBC wanted an inland route between them. This was because ships were very expensive to operate and they were not always available, and they couldn’t be used during the winter season when the Fraser River was frozen over.

Sir George Simpson, the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, wrote in 1841; "When I descended the Cowlitz in 1828, there was a large population along its banks; but since then the intermittent fever, which commenced its ravages in the following year, had left but few to mourn for those that fell. During the whole of our day's course, till we came upon a small camp in the evening, the shores were silent and solitary, the deserted villages forming melancholy monuments of the generation that had passed away." (Simpson was describing the after effects of the ague fever that swept through the region in the 1820's and decimated about 90% of the native population. (Some theorize that the sickness was caused by Malaria)

The first leg of the journey from Fort Vancouver was by canoe down the Columbia to the mouth of the Cowlitz River. Here the travelers would camp for the night. The next day it was again by canoe up the Cowlitz to the mouth of the Toutle River. The confluence of the Cowlitz and Toutle rivers was known back then as the "forks of the Cowlitz" or "Clark's Landing," and usually took a couple of days to reach. In the mid to late 1850's a crude log cabin was established there for the weary travelers that became known as Hard Bread's Hotel.

It would take another day or two to reach the landing depending on the weather, river current and obstacles that they would encounter. The Cowlitz Landing was the head of navigation on the river. After reaching the shore, the supplies were then taken from the canoes and re-loaded onto pack horses for the 60 mile trip on the Cowlitz Trail to Puget Sound. The Cowlitz Landing became an important staging area and resting place for the HBC's employees as they were traveling between these forts. This trail would evolve into a section of the Pacific Highway 100 years later.

In 1833, Fort Nisqually was established on the bluffs overlooking Puget Sound about 2.5 miles northeast of the Nisqually River. Not long after, traffic increased on the portage route. At Tenino, instead of following the Cowlitz Trail to Budd's Inlet, the HBC employees took the trail that ran due east to the Deschutes River. After fording the river, the trail forked again and the employees took the left fork that ran northwest through Eaton's Prairie, which is now called Western Junction. From Eaton's prairie, the trail turned northward over the hill to Spurgeon Creek. After fording the creek the trail continued NW to the crossing of the Nisqually River. The crossing of the Nisqually was near the Red Wind Casino. After crossing the river the trail continued NW toward the fort.

In 1837, Simon Plamondon retired from the HBC after 16 years of service. Plamondon first arrived at Washougal in 1813 and was hired by the HBC in 1816. HBC Governor Dr. John McLoughlin had requested that Plamondon settle a few miles north of the Cowlitz Landing to farm for himself. Plamondon accepted the offer.

In 1838, the HBC established the Cowlitz Farms east of Plamondon's property and large scale farming began. At it's peak, the farm encompassed 4,000 acres. Plamondon was made the superintendent of the farms and the Cowlitz Landing became known as "Plamondon's Landing" from 1838 to 1849.

The Wilkes Expedition

In 1824, President James Monroe asked Congress for an appropriation to explore the Pacific Northwest. In 1818, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent. This was an agreement to jointly control the Oregon Territory. This arraignment was to expire in 1827, but was extended because they could not come to an agreement on how to divide the land. The extension lasted until 1846. When the Oregon Treaty was signed.

In 1836, Congress finally authorized the expedition, but a commander could not be found, which would take 2 more years. It was in March of 1838 when Naval Lieutenant Charles Wilkes was appointed to command a flotilla of 6 sailing vessels with over 500 military and civilian personnel that would sail around South America to the Oregon Territory. The exploring party set out from Virginia on August 18. 1838 and arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River on April 28, 1841. Because of the hazardous conditions in crossing the bar, they decided not to go up the river to Fort Vancouver, and instead, sailed north to Puget Sound, and landed at Port Nisqually. From here, Wilkes and his party explored the region. Wilkes then traveled down the Cowlitz trail to the Cowlitz Farm. After a brief visit with Plamondon, Wilkes traveled down to the landing where he hired Cowlitz canoemen to take him down the river to the HBC's post at Fort Vancouver.

On June 17, 1841 Wilkes began the journey back north to Fort Nisqually. The following is taken from his journal; "The day before I left the fort, Mr. Ogden informed me that he had made arrangements to take me as far as the Cowlitz farm in his boat, on my way to Nisqually, and desired that I would allow Mr. Drayton to accompany him up the river as far as Walla Walla." 

"To both of these arrangements I readily assented. About 10 o'clock, we were all summoned to the great dining hall by Mr. McLoughlin to take the parting cup, customary in this country. When all were assembled, wine was poured out, and we drank to each other's welfare, prosperity, etc. This was truly a cup of good fellowship and kind feeling. This hanging to old Scotch custom, in the way it was done here was pleasant, and carries with it pleasing recollections, especially when there is that warmth of feeling with it, that there was on this occasion." 

"After this was over, we formed quite a cavalcade to the riverside, which was now swollen to the top of its banks, and rushing by with irresistible force. On reaching the river, we found one of Mr. Ogden's boats manned by fourteen voyagers all gaily dressed in their ribands and plumes, the former tied in large bunches of divers colors, with numerous ends floating in the breeze. The boat was somewhat of the model of our whaleboats, only much larger, and of the kind built expressly to accommodate the trade; they are clinker-built, and all the timbers are flat. These boats are so light that they are easily carried across the portages. They use the gum of the pine to cover them instead of pitch."

"After having a hearty shake of the hand, Captain Barney, Mr. Ogden and myself embarked. The signal being given, we shoved off, and the voyageurs at once struck up one of their boat songs. After paddling up the stream for some distance, we made a graceful sweep to reach the center, and passed by the spectators with great animation. The boat and voyageurs seemed a fit object to grace the wide flowing river."

"On we merrily went, while each voyageur in succession took up the song, and all joined in the chorus. In 2 1/2 hours we reached the mouth of the Cowlitz, a distance of thirty-five miles. On the second day, our voyageurs doffed their finery, and their hats were carefully covered with oil skins. They thus appeared more prepared for hard work."

"On the 19th, we reached our destination. On our approach, although there were no spectators, except a few Indians, to be expected, the voyageurs again mounted their finery, and gaily chanted their boat song. Mr. Ogden had been one of the first who traveled over this part of the country, and he informed me that he had seen the whole country inundated by the rise of the river. This, however, can but rarely occur, and could only be the result of a sudden melting of the snows when accompanied by violent rain storms."

The Emigrants Begin to Arrive

By the mid 1840's, emigrants from the eastern U.S. began to arrive at Fort Vancouver and many wanted to make their homes in the Puget Sound region. The Hudson's Bay people, wanting the international border to be the Columbia River, would discourage any Americans from settling in "North Oregon" as it was called then. The area was mostly unknown and Americans were out numbered 10 to 1 by the English and even more by the Nisqually. To make matters worse, the trip north was more dangerous and expensive than it was to go south to the Willamette Valley. This made it easy for the HBC to persuade the American settlers to go south.

The Cowlitz Landing was once a village inhabited by the Cowlitz Tribe and the first known recorded resident was "Indian George," who was living just north of the landing in 1849. George was an expert canoe maker and lived with his wife and three daughters.

In 1850, Edward Dunlop Warbass was one of the first American emigrants to take a donation land claim at the Cowlitz Landing.  In 1851, Warbass was appointed the first U.S. postmaster north of the Columbia. He made a monthly trip carrying the mail between Fort Steilacoom and Fort Vancouver.

Also in 1850, Fred A. Clark, and Horace H. Pinto arrived and took claims near Warbass. That same year, Joseph Tebeau a French-Canadian, who had just retired from the HBC, started a homestead at what would eventually become downtown Toledo. His cabin was near the river on Cowlitz Street. In 1854, Christopher Pagett bought Tebeau’s property and filed for a donation land claim. In 1873, he sold the property to Augustus Rochon.

The Cowlitz Convention

By 1851, most if not all the American settlers who were living in North Oregon had felt they were not being fairly represented by the Oregon Territorial Government. At a meeting of the citizens of Lewis county, assembled at Olympia, on the afternoon of July 4, 1851, on motion of I. B. Chapman, Captain C. Crosby was called to the chair, and A. M. Poe appointed secretary. Captain Crosby, Colonel Ebey, Mr. Chapman and Major Goldsborough, addressed the meeting on the situation and wants of the Northern Oregon Territory, and on motion from Goldsborough, a committee of 7 was appointed by the chairman to report resolutions expressive of the feelings and views of the meeting. The chair then appointed the following committee; I. B. Chapman, Henry Wilson, Michael T. Simmons, Thomas M. Chambers, J. N. Ebey, H. A. Goldsborough and Sam B. Crocker.

The committee brought in the following report; "That having deliberated on the condition of the northern portion of Oregon, its wants and its geographical features and advantages as compared with the southern portion, and fully impresses with the great importance of the subject to all the inhabitants north of the Columbia River, they would suggest, and do hereby recommend that a general convention of delegates from every precinct in Clark, Lewis and Pacific counties, assemble at the house of Edward D. Warbass, on the Cowlitz River, on Friday August 29, 1851, to take into careful consideration, the present peculiar position of the northern portion of the Territory, its wants the best method of supplying those wants, and the propriety of an early appeal to Congress for a division of the Territory, together with such other matters as may be of immediate interest to themselves and constituencies." 

The resolutions were passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned. 

The meeting at Warbass' home on the 29th, resulted in a petition to begin the process of separation between the territory north and south of the Columbia. It would take two more years and two more conventions, one held at John R. Jackson's place known as the Highlands, and another at Monticello, before the creation of Washington Territory would be finalized by President Fillmore on March 2, 1853.

The Great Migration Westward

By 1852, the Willamette Valley was filling up fast and all of the best land had been taken. The new arrivals were now beginning to turn their sights to the north. Travel to the Cowlitz Landing would be a 3 to 4 day trip from Vancouver or Portland. The settler would need to hire a canoemen to take them 45 miles downstream to the town of Rainier, which is located on the Oregon side of the Columbia. From there it was 3 miles in a canoe to reach Monticello. Leaving Monticello, it was 19 excruciating miles upstream to the "Forks of the Cowlitz River." In 1854 the canoes on the Columbia were replaced with steamers as far as Monticello.

After a nights rest, it was another 12 more painful miles to the landing. If the weather was bad or if there were any mishaps or obstacles, the trip would be much longer and even less enjoyable than it already was. At the landing, travelers could rent horses from Fred Clark or Joseph Tebeau for the overland trip to Tumwater. Many settlers used their oxen that were driven up the trail that ran alongside the river.

The settlers who had livestock had to have them ferried or they swam across the Columbia to Vancouver. Some would stay with the animals and the rest of the family and their belongings would be loaded into the canoes. After the family was sent off, the animals were driven up the rough trail from Fort Vancouver that ran on the west side of the Columbia and Cowlitz rivers. The livestock would arrive at about the same time as the canoes. They would then make sleds to carry their belongings, which the oxen would drag behind them.

The Hudson’s Bay Company used this trail in 1841 as they were relocating the company's cattle from California, Oregon and Fort Vancouver, to the pasture lands of the Nisqually and Cowlitz farms. They would also use this trail periodically when transferring livestock. This trail would evolve over the years to become a section of the Pacific Highway between Woodland and Toledo.

After the departure from the Cowlitz Landing, it was 10 miles to the first stop on the trail, which was known as the "Highlands." It was the residence of John R. Jackson who was very hospitable and assisted many a weary traveler. The next day after a hearty breakfast served by the Jackson's, it was 15 miles to the next stop called the "Skookum House," which was owned by Judge Sidney Ford on Ford's Prairie. The Skookum House was just north of Centralia. Here the traveler would enjoy the fine hospitality of Uncle Sid. 

After a good nights sleep, the last leg of the journey to Tumwater was 30 miles, and the settlers would make camp somewhere between Grand Mound and Bush Prairie, where they would be attended to by either Leonard Durgin, J. W. Goodell or George Bush. 

The trip from Portland if everything went as planned was a total of 4 days and 129 miles to Tumwater and Olympia. To reach Steilacoom, it was another 25 miles by canoe through Balch's Passage. Seattle was a 55 miles farther away and could only be reached by canoe or boat.

Hard Bread's Hotel

The "Forks of the Cowlitz" was usually reached the first or second day and was a popular resting place. On July 29, 1852, James Gardiner, a widower, settled at the "forks" known today as the mouth of the Toutle River, and took over the abandoned Clark farm with his 2 sons, William A. Gardiner and James Alexander Gardiner. Before Gardiner arrived, the place was known as "Clark's Landing." Not long after, Gardiner converted the cabin into a crude hotel to serve the throngs of emigrants that were now coming up the river.

The only food that the hotel offered was boiled salmon, potatoes and blackstrap molasses, which was served with crackers that were so hard, they could kill a man if shot from a rifle. The hotel became notorious for the hard bread, and was known as "Hard Bread's Hotel," and they called Gardiner "Old Hard Bread." Rumors began to spread saying that Hard Bread's Hotel was a rough and rowdy place. Gardiner was a bachelor, and the establishment was known as a bachelor's hall. This may have been the reason for the rumors.

It wasn't long before these rumors reached Portland. The stories told by travelers would horrify the women settlers, and many families traveling up the river would avoid the place like the plague. (As with all rumors, most of the tales were exaggerated or downright false.)

In February of 1854, Reverend George F. Whitworth, one of the organizers in the establishment of the First Presbyterian Church in Portland, spoke about his night at Jackson's Inn near Castle Rock and Hard Bread's while on a trip to Olympia; "Late in February I departed for Puget Sound, going from here to Monticello by steamboat. Three days by canoe brought me and my Indian companion to Cowlitz Landing, the head of canoe navigation on the Cowlitz River."

"The first night's stop on the trip up the river was made at "Jackson's," where the travelers slept in a bed that was built to accommodate as many as 15 persons, being as wide as the room in which it was built, the sleepers lying across the shelf-like bunk that served as a bed. The second night's stop was made at Hard Bread's Hotel, a settler whose name was Gardner, but who was better known as "Mr. Hardbread," furnishing the conveniences his hostelry afforded."

"Mr. Hardbread received his name from the fact that he was never known to have bread other than sea biscuit to offer his guests. Salmon, black-strap and potatoes were the other delicacies afforded by Mr. Hardbread's table. With a small valise in one hand and my Bible in the other, I walked 45 miles through broken country to Olympia, where I arrived none the worse for the trip."

In the book, Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound, written in 1905 by Ezra Meeker. He tells about his journey up the Cowlitz River and arriving at Hard Bread's Hotel with his family in 1853; "The wife, baby, bedding, ox yoke, and log chain, were sent up the Cowlitz in a canoe, while Buck and Dandy, and I renewed our acquaintance by taking to the trail where we had our parting bivouac." 

"We had camped together many a night on the plains, and slept together literally, not figuratively. I used to crowd up close under Buck's back while napping on watch, for the double purpose of warmth and signal—warmth while at rest, signal if the ox moved. On this occasion I was illy prepared for a cool night camp, having neither blanket, nor coat, as I had expected to reach "Hard Bread's" Hotel, where the people in the canoe would stop over night."

"But I could not make it and so again laid on the trail to renew the journey bright and early the next morning. Hard Bread's is an odd name for a hotel, you will say; so it is, but the name grew out of the fact that Gardiner, the old widower that kept "bachelor's hall" at the mouth of Toutle River (opposite Pumphrey's place, on the left bank of the Cowlitz), fed his customers on hard tack three times a day, if perchance any one was unfortunate enough to be compelled to take three meals at his place."

"I found the little wife had not fared any better than I had on the trail, and in fact, not so well, for the floor of the cabin was a good deal harder than the sand spit where I had passed the night, with plenty of pure, fresh air, while she, in a closed cabin, in the same room with many others, could neither boast of fresh air, nor freedom from creeping things that make life miserable. With her shoes for a pillow, a shawl for covering, small wonder the report came "I did not sleep a wink, last night."

"Judge Olney and wife were passengers in the same canoe and guests at the same house with the wife, as also Frank Clark, who afterwards played a prominent part at the bar, and in the political affairs of Pierce County in particular, and incidentally of the whole Territory. We soon arrived at the Cowlitz landing, and at the end of the canoe journey, so, striking the tent that had served us so well on the plains, and with a cheerful camp fire blazing for cooking, speedily forgot the experience of the trail, the cramped passage in the canoe, the hard bread, dirt and all, while enjoying the savory meal, the like of which only the expert hands of the ladies of the plains could prepare."

"But now we had fifty miles of land to travel before us, and over such a road! Words cannot describe that road, and so I will not try. One must have traveled it to fully comprehend what it meant. However, we had one consolation, and that was, it would be worse in winter than at that time. We had no wagon. Our wagon had been left at the Dalles, and we never saw nor heard of it again. Our cows were gone, given for provender to save the lives of the oxen during the deep December snow, and so when we took account of stock, we had Buck and Dandy, the baby, and a tent, an ox yoke and chain, enough clothing and bedding to keep us comfortable, with but very little food and no money, that had all been expended on the canoe passage." 

On September 29, 1856, Gardiner sold his half his property to William Pumphrey and the other half to his son William, who continued to run the hotel for a few more years. James Gardiner, aka "Old Hard Bread" passed away in 1858. The hotel most likely closed down when the Military Road was completed and the steamers began to ply the river. By the mid 1860's, settlers had arrived in the area and established farms. The place then became known as the Gardiner Settlement.

Life at the Landing in 1852

The following article is from the Olympia Columbian and best describes life at the Cowlitz Landing in 1852 when the river was lined with settlers slowly making their way upstream to the Sound.

Matters and Things at the Cowlitz
Cowlitz Landing
May 2, 1852

This being the head of navigation on this truly formidable river, it is here the weary emigrant leaves his water conveyance, sets up his wagon, yokes his team, and, whistling to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," takes up his line of march, with his wife and children, filled with confident hope and joyful anticipation of a "home," a happy and prosperous home on the "Sound."

Indeed such has been the rush of immigration, that for the last few weeks this has been quite a thronged busy place, large numbers of families arriving every few days, having made the passage up the river in skiffs, large bateaus and canoes. There are some very large bateaus running on the river, capable of accommodating 8 or 10 families and their "plunder," including wagon, yokes, chains, etc.

A bateau manned by 8 or 9 expert Cowlitz canoemen will bring up such a load in about 3 days. The number of families which have arrived at this point during the last 3 weeks en route for the Sound, cannot have been less than fifty, and what will not be the least interesting to very many of our population, these families contain a handsome representation of female youth, of fine intelligence, well adapted to grace the parlor of the school room; sensible souls, who know how and have the fortitude to say no, and would not dislike to say "yes," providing such a word would be deemed neat and proper.

This addition to our population, lovely as the opening rose, are calculated to produce quite a fluttering among a certain class of bachelors, I mean of course that class of whom there is yet hope, whose day of probation did not expire on that doleful day in the month of December 51' whose sap has not only been wholly dried up from the roots, and like dry and barren sticks are only fit for their own place, the land of owls and bats!

A good many cattle have been brought up the trail, and many more it is anticipated are on the way. Of this trail much bitter complaint is found, and not without reason. It is bad, very bad. And why has it not been improved? A few hundred dollars judiciously expended would make it a very comfortable way. And is there not energy and public spirit enough in our citizens to set about so desirable a work?

It becomes all who have an interest in this new territory to be zealous in removing every impediment in the way of the emigrant struggling to make it his home. We had quite a row last night among our Indian neighbors. One had his head severely hacked with a hatchet, two were badly burned and another had his entrails let out with a knife. The latter has since died. The prime mover in this affair of course was the demon rum. We have laws against the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians, they are wholesome and salutary, shall they be enforced?

The Cowlitz Landing 1850's - 1870's

In 1852, Fred Clark opened the Cowlitz Hotel and Ed Warbass, who already had a store at Monticello, opened a new store at the landing. Warbass was in partnership with Alfred Townsend. Townsend had the contract for the mail and had it sent up the river in canoes to the landing, where Judge Yantis had it taken by horseback to Olympia. Warbass and Townsend also contracted with the Cowlitz canoemen to take passengers up the river. At the landing, Joseph Tebeau and Fred Clarke rented horses for the overland trip to Olympia.

By 1853, the Cowlitz Landing had; 2 hotels, 2 general stores, a sawmill and a grist mill, plus a small wharf for the landing of the canoes and the larger bateau. That summer, partners Henry V. Colter and Captain John G. Parker, who had a general store in Olympia, began running an express between Monticello and Olympia. They would bring packages and newspapers in from Monticello faster than the regular mail. Customers in Olympia could rent horses from Joseph Tebeau by placing the order at Parker and Colter's store. Captain Parker would transport express freight and passengers to all points on the Puget Sound on his sailing vessel.

On July 2, 1853, In addition to renting horses from his farm and running a hotel, Fred Clark began to transport passengers and freight from Monticello and Rainier up the river to the landing. In December, he sold the hotel to Christopher Pagett and his partner Mr. Carter, who also had a general store at the landing. Pagett and Carter had J. W. Goodell operate the Hotel. Clark continued to rent horses that were kept at his farm near the landing and at Judge Yantis' farm in Olympia.

On July 4, 1853, a large celebration was held at the Cowlitz Landing. The festivities began when the organizers, who had no guns, put powder into 13 large fir logs and set them off at sunrise. The people gathered quite early and raised a Liberty pole. At 12 noon, a procession of 30 couples formed and marched with music, to the dinner table on the bank of the river. The table was canopied with boughs and spread with an abundance of good cheer.

After a half hour intermission the procession again formed and marched to the grove with music playing. Halting at the speakers stand, the first part made up of the younger class of the people, opened file and took to the seats, the green turf, piles of boughs or in the trees. After the music, the President, John R. Jackson, introduced the reader Mr. R. S. Robinson, who read the declaration of Independence. The Rev. J. W. Goodell, orator of the day, was introduced and delivered his address.

After a short intermission the toasts were read as the patrons cheered. After the oration, Dr. Pasquirer addressed the audience in French, reminding them of the honor and thanks due to Lafayette for aid in the struggle for Independence. Many French citizens from the Cowlitz settlement were present and joined heartily in the celebration. The presence of ladies from the country around added much to the pleasure and good order of the day. The party at the toast table had a merry time and broke up in good season for the people to reach their homes that evening.

On October 15, 1853, partners Antonio Rabbeson and Judge Yantis who had recently placed new stages on the road between the landing and Olympia, advertised that they could make the trip in 12 hours. The stages departed from Olympia every Tuesday at 7am and on the return trip, they would depart after the arrival of the mail boat from Rainier. Tickets could be purchased from the Columbian Hotel in Olympia and at Ed Warbass' store on the Cowlitz.

On September 21, 1853, Horace Pinto placed an ad in the newspaper telling patrons that the partnership between Ed Warbass and himself was dissolved. Warbass had been collecting debts without Pinto's consent and he warned the debtors that paid him, that they would still be liable for any debts to him.

On June 30, 1854, William Simmons started transporting passengers and freight from Rainier and Monticello. Simmons had hired an expert crew of Cowlitz canoemen and he went along with them to ensure things went smoothly. He set his rates to "suit the times."

On July 8, 1854, former Adams & Company express rider A. B. Stuart began his own express company called "Stuarts's Express." He ran semi-monthly runs between Olympia and the P. M. S. S. steamers that called at Monticello, Rainier and St. Helens. At Portland he made connections with the Adams and Company express from San Francisco. Stuart had an office in Parker's store in Olympia and another at the Adams and Company's station in Portland.

On December 30, 1854, William B. Goodell began a transport business at the Cowlitz Landing and ran a line of stages and rental horses for passengers and freight. The horses were kept at Olympia, Grand Mound and the Cowlitz Landing. The company promoted the service as a way passengers "could be saved the expense of horse keeping on the way," as fresh horses would be available along the route, which made the journey more agreeable.

The stages departed Olympia on Tuesdays and Fridays of each week at midnight and arrived that same evening. Horses at the landing were rented from Goodell at Strong's Hotel. During the winter, passengers would be transported down the Chehalis River in canoes from Saunders' bottom (Chehalis) to the Skookum Chuck, (Centralia) avoiding the most disagreeable portion of the road. The stages in Olympia started from Parker's store, and the rates were; From Olympia to Grand Mound was $3.50. From Grand Mound to the Cowlitz was $6.50.

The post office at the Cowlitz Landing was established in the summer of 1854. The postmaster was Ed Warbass and the office was located inside his store. On August 8, 1855, Henry Winsor was awarded a contract to carry the mail between Olympia and Seattle for $1,000 per year.

In 1854, the Naches Military road was opened between Fort Steilacoom and Fort Walla Walla. This road was by no means a good road, and because of the steep hills and endless fords across the Naches River, the road was never used extensively. Even though it was a terrible road, it did give the settlers another way to reach Puget Sound. The following paragraph was printed on August 16, 1854 describing the new road;

"Two years ago, the only accessible means of gaining a transit to this Territory was up the Cowlitz River in bateau and canoes, and a family of six or under, would be compelled to pay at least $100 for their migration northward, to drive their stock up a trail, and probably to enter our Territory without a dollar. Now a highway is opened between the Sound and the Walla Walla country."

The Naches Trail never brought many settlers to the Puget Sound due to the roughness of the road. Settlers would continue to use the Cowlitz Corridor to reach the Sound Country. There would not be a viable road for wagons across the Cascade Mountains until the 1880's.

During the War of 1855, the landing was tense, but remained quiet. The was never any hostility in the region although the Hudson's Bay Company had built a blockhouse there in the late 1840's, which was never used for defense. After the war in 1856, Warbass, who had become a Captain in the volunteer militia, sold his property at the landing and moved north to Whatcom. This was when Fort Bellingham was established, under command of Capt. George E. Pickett. Warbass was appointed post trader there by John B. Floyd, the secretary of war.

On February 2, 1857, the government placed ads for bids to construct a military road from the Cowlitz Landing to Ford's Prairie. The roadway was to be 25 feet wide with all stumps and roots removed within 12 feet of the roadway. Corduroy was used on the low and marshy ground between Skookum Chuck and Newaukum. The first section constructed, was 15 miles from the landing to the Newaukum River, where a bridge was built replacing Moore's ferry. The second section was 12 miles between the Newaukum River bridge and the Skookumchuck River bridge at the southern edge of Ford's Prairie. This when the old Cowlitz Trail was moved to its present location on the Pacific Highway through the town of Forest, south of Chehalis.

On March 19, 1858, Henry Winsor began to carry the mail between Rainier, Oregon and Olympia. His company also offered horses, mules and wagons for rent, and he ran a stage between Monticello and Olympia on the Military Road. Winsor had offices at Olympia, Monticello and the Cowlitz Landing. Travelers passing up the Cowlitz River, had a choice of renting a horse, mule or canoe for the journey overland. Coach rates were; from Rainier to Olympia was $16.00 and from Olympia to Rainier was $15.00.

On May 14, 1858, the Postmaster General awarded mail contracts to C. Wallace and Rice Tilley. They carried the mail between Rainier and Steilacoom. Between Oak Point and Grand Mound, the mail was carried by Conrad Snyder. From the Cowlitz Landing to Boisfort, Henry Winsor carried the mail, and from Olympia to Fort Montgomery on the Nisqually Plains, was John Shelton.

On October 26, 1860, Henry Winsor was awarded a U. S. mail contract to carry the daily mail between Monticello and Olympia. Captain R. Hoyt of Portland was awarded the contract between Portland and Monticello. This was the first daily mail service north of the Columbia. Now instead of waiting weeks to receive the mail by horseback, it was now delivered to Olympia every day.

Major changes to transportation through the Cowlitz Corridor began in 1861, when the Military Road between Fort Vancouver and Fort Steilacoom was completed. This was also the same year that steamers began to run on the river between Monticello and the Cowlitz Landing. Stages were now running daily from Monticello and the Cowlitz Landing to Puget Sound transporting passengers mail and freight.

In 1861, the steamer Bell became the first to navigate the river north to the landing. At first, it was a once a week service, and at it's peak, there were 3 sailings each week. By the 1870's, the Kellogg Company became the largest steamboat company to operate on the Cowlitz. In 1878, the 100 foot long steamer Toledo was put into service and it plied the river for 13 years before it was retired.

In 1868, Butler & Buchanan started a stage line between the Cowlitz Landing and Olympia. On April 3, 1869, Isidore Bernier started to run stages between the Cowlitz Landing and Olympia.

On May 2, 1870 Joseph Ricard and M. Plamondon started a canoe-line from the Cowlitz landing to Monticello. The canoes started from the landing every Monday and Friday at 7am The return trip started from Monticello every Monday and Friday, after the arrival of the steamboat from Portland. They would reach the Cowlitz landing the next day. Fare from the landing to Monticello was $3 , and from Pumphrey's landing it was $2. The returning fare was the same price. each passenger was allowed 20lbs of cargo, and half a cent was charged for every additional pound on the way downstream, and an additional penny for cargo going up the river.

Trains began to run between Kalama and Olequa on January 10, 1872. Passengers going north would be transferred to waiting stages at Pumphrey's Hotel at Olequa for the remainder of the trip to Olympia. The trip from Kalama to Olequa took just an hour and a half. This would be the beginning of the end for the steamers, canoe operators and stage lines. Until the advent of the motorcar, stages would continue to be used to transport people and mail from the train stations along the line to the outlying settlements. The steamers would continue to haul passengers and cargo between Freeport and Toledo until 1918.

In 1871, women's rights activist Abigail Scott Duniway traveled to Olympia from Portland with her guest women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony. They came to speak to the Legislature concerning women's right to vote. On November 3, 1881, Duniway again traveled to Olympia to talk to the Legislature about the issue. In the Portland paper The New Northwest, Duniway wrote about her trip;

"Ten years ago there was no railroad leading to Olympia, and we cannot forget the horrible staging between the Cowlitz Landing and this classic town. Now, the stages, are removed to the farther frontier, the mud is covered, by railway ties, the gulches are spanned by trestle-work, and the rivers are crossed by railroad bridges. Three hours are now occupied in compassing the distance that once required twenty-four." 

"Nothing is natural but the rain, and that is as familiar to our senses as of yore, save that we are not exposed to its ravages now as we sit comfortably in the rail way coach and gaze in sympathy upon the, trembling kine that arch their backs behind the sodden trees, and shiver as it pelts their hairy hides."

Toledo is Established

In 1873 Augustine Rochon moved back to the Cowlitz Landing from New York where he had been living since 1849, and purchased  Joseph Tebeau's property. This is where where Toledo will be established. Rochon first arrived on the Cowlitz in 1838 with Rev. Francois Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers and he helped build the first church on the Cowlitz Prairie. In 1841 Rochon left the Cowlitz and moved to St. Paul, Oregon where he worked as a millwright. In 1842 he married a woman named Celeste who was from the household of Governor John McLoughlin. In 1849 the Rochon's moved to New York where they stayed until they came back in 1872.

In 1881, Captain Oren Kellogg, purchased an acre of riverfront land from Rochon. Around that time, Captain Kellogg told Augustine's wife Celeste that she could have the honor of naming the new town. Mrs. Rochon thought about it for a moment and then looked out the window and saw the riverboat Toledo coming up the river and decided that "Toledo" should be the name for the town.

On July 4, 1883, W. E. Colby started a ferry service across the Cowlitz River about a mile upstream from the landing. This service continued until the wooden bridge was built there in 1892. Toledo grew fast during the 1880's and by 1890, there were a couple of hotels, a blacksmith shop, a doctor, a drug store, several saloons, 2 general stores, a tin shop, a millinery shop, several saw mills, a sash and door factory, a distillery, cigar factory, soap factory, and a furniture factory. The Toledo post office was established on November 30, 1880, and the Toledo cemetery was established in 1883.

History of Toledo