The Historic Pacific Highway
in Washington
The V & S Military Road
aka
The Fort Vancouver - Fort Steilacoom Military Road
The Historic Pacific Highway
in Washington
The V & S Military Road
aka
The Fort Vancouver - Fort Steilacoom Military Road
Ezra Meeker, who had traveled the old road in the 1860's said this in 1906; "The facts are, this road, like Topsy, "just growed," and so gradually became a highway one could scarcely say when the trail ceased to be simply a trail and the road actually could be called a road. First, only saddle trains could pass. On the back of a stiff jointed, hard trotting, slow walking, contrary mule, I was initiated into the secret depths of the mud holes of this trail."
"And such mud holes! It became a standing joke after the road was opened, a team would stall with an empty wagon going downhill, and I came very near having just such an experience once, within what is now the city limits of the thriving city of Chehalis. After the saddle train came the mud wagons in which passengers were conveyed (or invited to walk over bad places, or preferred to walk), over either the roughest corduroy or deepest mud, the one bruising the muscles the other straining the nerves in the anticipation of being dumped into the bottomless pit of mud."
In 1869, Alvin Flanders was governor of Washington Territory and in his message to the Second Biennial Legislative assembly he said: "One of the most immediate and pressing wants of our Territory is roads, and there is no place in the Territory where a good wagon road is more needed than between Monticello and Olympia. Neither is there any road in which more of the people of the Territory are interested than in this. Over this road passes all the mail to and from the Sound country. In the best weather it is bad, and in bad weather it is well nigh impassible. Your attention is especially called to this matter with the hope that you will be able to devise some means for greatly improving this road and keeping it in repair."
The Vancouver Barracks was the first American Army post in the Pacific Northwest and for many years, it served as a major supply depot and was the center of activities for the greater Pacific Northwest region and it was considered at the time to be the most beautifully located military post in the United States. From its magnificent parade grounds can be enjoyed the finest view of the great Columbia River and the majestic volcanic mountains of Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens, and the snow crowned peaks of the Cascade mountain range.
The Lake River crossing was located at the town of Ridgefield, which is about 15 miles northwest of Vancouver. Ridgefield is at the north end of the Lake River country, which is a large agricultural area and home to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
The second obstacle after leaving Fort Vancouver was the Lewis River. The area was known as the “Lewis River Bottoms” and is about 17 miles north of Vancouver. The Lewis River is the largest tributary of the Columbia River west of the Willamette and begins its journey near the foot of Mt. St. Helens and flows westerly toward the Columbia. The Lewis River is formed by 2 branches called the North and East Forks, which unite about 3 miles above its mouth. The North Fork is the largest and is more rapid than the East Fork.
The Cowlitz River Valley is a natural transportation route between the Columbia River and Puget Sound and is known as the Cowlitz Corridor. Beginning in the 1850's, Monticello was the starting point for travelers and settlers going northward through the corridor. The town was a busy place for about 15 years before the flood of 1867 washed the town away and Freeport took over as the starting point for northward travel.
The town of Freeport was located on the banks of the Cowlitz River opposite of Kelso near today's Hudson Street in Longview. The first settler to this area was in 1847, when Peter Crawford took a claim on the east side of the Cowlitz River where he later founded the the City of Kelso. Two years later in 1849 Jonathan Burbee, Nathaniel Stone, Henry "Uncle Darby" Huntington, Royal C. Smith and Seth Catlin, took claims along the river opposite Crawford's place.
In the fall of 1853, Henry Jackson and his wife Elizabeth landed at Monticello after an arduous journey over the Oregon Trail. There were no roads north yet so the Jackson's hired some Cowlitz boatmen to take them up the Cowlitz River. They landed at a bend in the river that will one day become the city of Castle Rock. The Jackson's decided to take a donation land claim on the other side of the river about near the mouth of Arkansas Creek. The creek got it's name because most of the settlers who came later, were from that state.
Olequa creek flows through the town of Vader and empties into the Cowlitz river about 6 miles southwest of Toledo. The creek begins in the Napavine prairie and flows southward toward Vader. Between these points the creek was originally called Homochen or Hom creek. At Vader, Homochen creek meets Stillwater creek which comes from the west, and together they flow into the Cowlitz river at Pumphrey's Landing. Between Vader and the Cowlitz river, the creek was known as Olequa creek. Years later Homochen creek was renamed Olequa creek.
In 1852, Captain George Drew and his wife Caroline, took a claim at the north end of a prairie that will take his name. Not long after he arrived, he built a cabin and a sawmill in a gully alongside a creek. Drew then turned his home into a general store and his place became the trading center for the residents of the surrounding area that was known as the Grand prairie. The ridge where Pike's Hill is located, runs in a north-south direction and splits the Grand Prairie into two parts. On the east side of the hill is Drew's prairie, which is located about 2.5 miles west of Toledo. On the west side of the hill is Banfan Prairie, which is located about a mile east of Winlock. Together they were known as the Grand Prairie.
In the middle of what was once a dense forest near the lowest point in the divide between the Cowlitz and Chehalis rivers, and located about 2 miles southeast of the city of Napavine was a small prairie. The early trails that ran through this prairie suggest that it was once a hunting ground for the Upper Chehalis tribe. During the summer of 1853 U. S. Deputy Surveyor Joseph Hunt surveyed township 12 north, range 2 west, where this prairie is located, and on August 5, 1853, he made the following notation in his field journal; "Enter Napuvina Prairie W & SE. Set section post. Leave prairie E & SW. A house bears NW about 3 chains. A trail, course East."
The town of Claquato is located about 3 miles SW of Chehalis on the north side of the Chehalis River near SR 6. The word Claquato comes from the Chehalis People and means high prairie. The Chehalis People had buried their dead on this high prairie that is located on the eastern edge of the town near SR 6. There are no markers signifying this burial ground except for a notation on the map that is hung next to the old church.
The Skookumchuck river's headwaters are found in the Huckleberry Mountains , which lie southwest of Mount Rainier between Puget Sound and the Cowlitz river, and flows westward to join the Chehalis at Centralia. Before the massive 1,000 foot thick Puget Sound glacier covered the region during the Ice Age, it is theorized that the Skookumchuck river did not flow through Bucoda but continued northwest across the Frost and Rock prairies and followed Scatter creek to the Chehalis river at Grand Mound.
Before the arrival of the farmer, the plains of Western Washington were covered with large fir and cedar forests. The open places known as prairies, were created a long time ago by the Upper Chehalis, the Cowlitz, and the Nisqually people who burnt the forests to open up areas of land. This was done to create places for their horses to graze, to hunt wild game and to gather camas bulbs. Camas bulbs were a major source of carbohydrates and protein. The prairies would become covered with wildflowers and luxuriant grasses.
The area that surrounds the city of Tenino was originally called Kla-pe-ad-am. This name is said to have been given by the Nisqually people, as this was the southern part of their territory. The Upper Chehalis also used the prairies in the area to hunt wild game, and they fished for salmon in Scatter creek during the spawning season. There is an old legend that Tenino was once a meeting place for the tribes from the Columbia, Willapa, Chehalis, and Cowlitz rivers, and from the Puget Sound, Snoqualmie area, and Eastern Washington. Here they would gather to discuss politics, trade, gamble and socialize. Because of where Tenino is situated this legend is most likely true.
The Tenalquot Prairie is located just north of the town of Rainier and east of the Deschutes River. The prairie is also within the ancestral territory of the Nisqually People. There is a legend associated with the meaning of the word Tenalquot. The legend says that the first people of the area migrated from California and when they arrived on the prairie, their leader said that this is "tenalquelth," or "the best yet."
The Yelm prairie is roughly 12 square miles or 7,500 acres, and is located about 20 miles southeast of Olympia. The City of Yelm now sits in the middle of this prairie. The Nisqually river borders its northern and eastern edges, and an interlobate moraine separates it from the Tenalquot prairie at its western and southwestern edge. The Nisqually reservation encompasses this plain.
The Steilacoom Plains, encompass an area of about 250 square miles and is located in south Pierce county between the Puyallup river on the north and east, the Puget Sound on the west and the Nisqually river on the south. The Puget Sound Agricultural Company's farms, ranches and sheep stations were all located within the Steilacoom plains, which they called the Nisqually plains. The Steilacoom plains consist of 8 smaller plains or prairies, which the British named; Puyallup plain, American plain, Dairy plain, Squally plain, Elk plain, Muck plain, Canadian plain and Long plain.
On October 22, 1858. a writer wrote about the advantages of Steilacoom; "Steilacoom aspires to become the great city of Puget Sound, and it has some important advantages. The first advantage is that it is really the head of navigation for large sailing vessels, the Sound above being comparatively narrow and crooked, so that the winds are prevented by the high banks from reaching the water, and the tides are so strong that large vessels are in danger unless they have wind. Steilacoom lies about east-northeast from Olympia, and is therefore only about four miles farther from the southern part of the territory. Its second advantage is that the harbor is very large and deep, and the shore steep, so that vessels of any size can come close in to the bank. Its third advantage is its proximity to the Naches and Snoqualmie passes, through which passes there will be, at no distant day, a considerable travel to and from east of the Cascades."