# OHQ Article -- Draft 12/04/00

Vancouver's Treasure of Material Culture: The Archaeological Collection
at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

# By Theresa E. Langford

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site joined the National Park Service
in 1948, a recognition of its role in the development, both cultural and
economic, of the Oregon Country. In 1993 Congress established the
Vancouver National Historic Reserve, a cooperative partnership of four
agencies: the National Park Service, the City of Vancouver, the State of
Washington, and the U.S. Army. These partners work together to
administer and preserve adjacent, historically significant areas whose
stories overlap one another through time. The Reserve includes Fort
Vancouver, Vancouver Barracks and Officer's Row, Pearson Air Field, and
portions of the Columbia River waterfront. The material culture
collected at Fort Vancouver is an unparalleled product of over 50 years
of archaeological excavations, encompassing 1.5 million artifacts
representing the British Hudson's Bay Company, Native American
occupation, and the early United States military presence in the Pacific
Northwest.

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), a London-based fur trading company,
established an extensive trade network throughout the Pacific Northwest
region, eventually utilizing two dozen posts, six ships, and about 600
employees during peak seasons. Fort Vancouver was the headquarters for
the Columbia Department, which controlled an immense area of 700,000
square miles that stretched from Russian Alaska to Mexican California,
and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. From 1825-1846 it was
the administrative center and principal supply depot for this entire
system, as well as the collection point for furs being shipped to
London. The fort grew to become a center of intense activity and
influence. Every year two supply ships would arrive in the Columbia
River with European goods for trade or internal use, and goods and raw
materials from the Hawaiian Islands. After the cold winter months had
been spent trapping, Company brigades and freelance trappers would
return each summer with incredible amounts of furs. As the possibility
of self-sufficiency grew, so did the site's industries and practices.
The agricultural enterprise expanded to cover 30 miles along the
Columbia River and up to 10 miles north from the riverbanks -- including
grazing areas, large-scale crops, ornamental gardens, and orchards --
and employed more persons than any other activity at the fort[^1].
Sawmills, gristmills, and dairies were built, both for materials used at
the fort and its subsidiary posts, and to supply the Hawaiian Islands
and Russian-American Company. Many trades flourished at the post,
including blacksmithing, carpentry, cooperage, and baking. These
activities expanded the physical size of the post as they did the amount
of goods that could be internally supplied. A riverside complex
developed on the bank of the Columbia, with areas for shipbuilding, a
salmon store, tanneries, and a hospital built during the peak of malaria
epidemics in the 1830s[^2].

The scale of the Fort Vancouver operations has yielded the largest
recovered collection of HBC material culture in the world. The artifacts
excavated from the fort represent not only everyday life for the
inhabitants of this early European settlement, but also its position as
the political, cultural, and mercantile center for the entire Oregon
Country. Imported luxury items are found in great quantities, mainly
ceramics, alcohol bottles, glassware, personal ornaments, and other
items from Great Britain. The Spode transferprint ceramic, general
ceramic, and button type collections form a valuable resource for
identification and comparative analysis. As a result of far-reaching
trade networks, many Chinese stoneware and porcelain items appear.
Domestic artifacts of a more utilitarian nature have been found as well:
food and medicine bottles, toothpaste and shaving cream jars, and
cutlery. Some of the most poignant objects are in this category,
especially those where the inhabitants took the time to mark them as
their own. For example, several glass tumblers were found in a
privy/trash pit inscribed with "A.L. Lewes", the name of a Scottish
clerk in the 1850s.

A large percentage of the collection also represents imported goods that
were designated to be traded with Native Americans for pelts. Since Fort
Vancouver was the supply depot for the entire department, the collection
here represents types of goods that would have been traded at each fort
throughout the region. The bead type collection is one of the most
extensive, showing examples of wire wound and cut beads from China,
Italy, and Bohemia. This type collection has been at the forefront of
seminal studies in bead research, including work by Ross[^3]. Other
trade goods featured in the collection, many imported and some
originally manufactured at Fort Vancouver, include axes, awls, tobacco
and pipes, flintlock guns and ammunition, and brass trade rings. Fort
Vancouver, as an industrial center and farm, also appears in the
archaeological record. The collection has many artifacts from the
tradesmen's shops, including tools and preforms or items that broke
during manufacture. Agricultural activity, on the scale which was
occurring in the immediate vicinity of the fort, left a good number of
artifacts and features: scythes, sickles, whetstones, forks, shovels,
trowels, hoe blades, plowshares, horseshoes, flowerpots, and seeds.

The Company village, located just west of the fort proper, housed the
lower ranks of employees and their families. It was the heart of the
varied population living in the vicinity of the fort. Not only did the
HBC purposefully hire a diverse workforce, but the fur trade, as an
industry, offered economic opportunities to many different types of
people. Employment lists and Catholic Church records[^4], two of the
primary sources for estimating demography of the village population,
note French-Canadian, Scottish, Irish, Hawaiian, Iroquois, and people
from over 25 regional Native American groups. As the number of marriages
*à la façon du pays* ("in the fashion of the country", meaning they were
contracted without church sanctification) increased, they gave rise to
the *Métis*, a culture of mixed European and Native heritage.

In the 1840s, American immigration to the area increased exponentially.
As Fort Vancouver was the original terminus of the Oregon Trail, many
immigrants arrived at the fort as their last stop before settling in the
Willamette Valley. In 1849 the U.S. Army established the post of
Columbia (later Vancouver) Barracks, just up the slope from Fort
Vancouver. The Company village became the nucleus of a transitional
period: an era of upheaval when British influence was waning and the
U.S. Army was establishing a permanent presence in the Pacific
Northwest. In the earliest days of Vancouver Barracks, the headquarters
for the Department of the Columbia, the U.S. Army and the HBC coexisted
amicably. The army was allowed to hire laborers, and rent horses and
boats at moderate prices to establish their post, while the HBC had a
ready market for its growing mercantile trade. The army rented many of
the buildings in the village for housing and storage. In 1850, several
new army buildings were constructed in the village area. Captain Rufus
Ingalls established the Quartermaster Depot here, as well as his own
house, which he shared with Ulysses S. Grant. The relations between the
U.S. Army and Fort Vancouver steadily deteriorated during the latter
half of the 1850s, as each became more aggressive in asserting their
land claims[^5]. The Company was concerned with maintaining their
ownership of areas south of the 49^th^ parallel. The army, on the other
hand, came to view land and buildings they were physically occupying as
their own. Matters came to a head when the army destroyed several
Company buildings in the village area as they cleared land for a drill
ground. With the regional fur trade in decline and relations with the
U.S. Army worsening, the HBC decided to withdraw entirely to Victoria,
B.C., and the fort was vacated in 1860. The army temporarily occupied
some of the buildings within the stockade, but by 1866 fire had
destroyed all above-ground traces of Fort Vancouver and its village.

The latter days of Fort Vancouver underline the special significance of
archaeology at the site. The material culture, both in the collection
and still *in situ*, is what remains of the original site and its
inhabitants. Because the physical structures were destroyed, the
archaeological artifacts and features are primary resources for
reconstructing and interpreting Fort Vancouver. The collection
encompasses a wide range of architectural remains, including structural
materials like wood, brick, mortar, and glass, as well as hardware,
nails, and other finishing materials. Accurate reconstruction of the
buildings at the historic site depends heavily on a combination of
historical research and archaeological analysis. In several cases,
artifact distribution has helped to correlate placement of windows,
doors, fireplaces, and arrangement of rooms. Architectural artifacts,
similar to the bead type collection, have formed the core of several
material culture studies. The work of Roenke[^6] and Gerke[^7] in the
Fort Vancouver village area precipitated their well-known analyses of
window glass and brick, respectively.

Especially in the village area, analysis of the archaeological record
holds great potential for filling gaps in the historical record,
informing researchers about underrepresented classes and ethnicities.
Variations between "fort" and "village" artifacts help to illuminate
different levels of status and consumption, as well as diverse
preferences and tastes. Artifacts directly associated with Native
American occupation, like projectile points, carved argillite, and
gaming pieces, are present. Though only a small percentage of the areas
outside the stockade have been excavated, initial research hints that
the archaeological record may show a pattern of ethnic segregation in
the arrangement of village dwellings and echo known economic shifts
between the 1830s and 1850s[^8]. Fort Vancouver's foundation moved from
a fur-trade economy dependent on waterways and French-Canadian
*voyageurs* to land-based mercantile activities during which the number
of Hawaiian contract laborers grew steadily. During this period, the
village came to be known as Kanaka Village, adopting a Hawaiian word for
"people".

In this same period, the amount of artifacts of American manufacture
increases, reflecting not only the growing American presence, but also
the Company's growing dependence on locally made articles. There are
many artifacts in the collection from the U.S. Army era that reflect a
military presence. Some of the specific artifacts include munitions
(shot, bullets, grenades), insignias, and ceramics and cutlery issued by
the Quartermaster Depot. Other artifacts portray a more domestic,
family-oriented side of life, like jewelry, a garter belt buckle,
dominoes, jacks, marbles, dolls, and a miniature tea set. The village
artifacts in the collection deserve further analysis from researchers
interested in the people that formed the support system for the Fort
Vancouver enterprise, as well as the period when the shift of nations
occurred and official American political control was dawning.
Additionally, many objects remain from the c.1917 spruce mill, at the
time the largest complex in the world milling wood used in biplane
manufacture, and the Civilian Conservation Corps district headquarters
overseen by George C. Marshall, post commander in the 1930s. Analysis of
these site features in the archaeological record has traditionally been
neglected, but could now serve the historical interpretation and
educational projects of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.

Staff in the cultural resources division at the park have made it their
foremost priority to increase the availability of the collection, and
open its potential by transitioning from a repository to an accessible,
interactive research center that highlights its unique holdings. As part
of this scheme, an "online collection" has been created which provides
access to catalog records and digital images of artifacts in the study
collection via the World Wide Web. Researchers and other interested
persons can browse through the collection, or query the database in
order to sort records by search terms. One planned project will
integrate artifact provenience with a GIS representation of the site,
visually tying objects to the units and strata from which they were
excavated. Because the map layers would include historical features as
well as existing conditions, they would place artifacts in time and
space, giving researchers a greater historical context for a individual
item from the collection. Hopefully in the near future, archaeological
reports, field notes, photos, maps, and other reference materials will
be available online as well.

The staff is working to promote research and educational activities that
utilize this rich collection, and increase knowledge about the historic
areas of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. The archaeological
collection at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site has been called its
"best-kept secret". We hope it becomes one of the site's best-known
elements.

To use the collection, make an appointment by calling David Hansen,
Curator, at (360) 696-7659 extension 15. The fort is open daily from
9:00 -- 5:00 during summer hours and 9:00 -- 4:00 during winter hours.

Additional Resources:

Most of the best information on Fort Vancouver and its archaeological
collection is available only at the site. The library there is open by
appointment by calling (360) 696-7659 extension 18.

For a good, thorough history of Fort Vancouver and its environs read the
*Cultural Landscape Report: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, vol.
II*, by Patricia C. Erigero, published by the National Park Service in
1992.

As a reference for the archaeological collection in general, nothing
beats Lester Ross' *Fort Vancouver 1829-1860, a Historical
Archaeological Investigation of the Goods Imported and Manufactured by
the Hudson's Bay Company*, published by the National Park Service in
1976.

If you are planning on using the collection, first read the *Research
Guide: Fort Vancouver Archaeological Collection* by Theresa E. Langford.
There are complementary copies of this available for researchers in the
cultural resources offices at the site, and it is also available online
at [www.nps.gov/fova/acguide.htm]{.underline}.

To visit the online collection, go to
[www.cr.nps.gov/fova/page.htm](http://www.cr.nps.gov/fova/page.htm)
(check this link before final)

[^1]: Hussey, John A. 197-. *The Fort Vancouver Farm*. National Park
    Service manuscript, Fort Vancouver National Historical Site,
    Vancouver, WA.

[^2]: Carley, Caroline D. 1979. *Historical and Archaeological Evidence
    of Nineteenth Century Fever Epidemics and Medicine at the Hudson's
    Bay Company's Fort Vancouver*. Master's thesis, University of Idaho,
    Moscow, Idaho.

[^3]: Ross, Lester A. 1990. "Trade Beads from Hudson's Bay Company Fort
    Vancouver (1829-1860), Vancouver, Washington", *Beads: Journal of
    the Society of Bead Researchers, Vol. II*. The Society of Bead
    Researchers, Gloucester, Ontario, Canada.

[^4]: Munnick, Harriet Duncan, and Mikell De Lores Wormell Warner. 1972.
    *Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, Vol. I
    and II, and Stellamaris Mission*. French Prairie Press, St. Paul,
    Oregon.

[^5]: Hussey, John A. 1957. *The History and Physical Structure of Fort
    Vancouver*. Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, Washington.

[^6]: Roenke, Karl G. 1978. *Flat Glass: Its Use as a Dating Tool for
    Nineteenth Century Archaeological Sites in the Pacific Northwest and
    Elsewhere*. Master's Thesis, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.

[^7]: Gurcke, Karl. 1987. *Bricks and Brick-Making: a Handbook for
    Historical Archaeology*. University of Idaho Press, Moscow, Idaho.

[^8]: Thomas, Bryn and Charles Hibbs, Jr. 1984. *Report of
    Investigations of Excavatoins at Kanaka Village/Vancouver Barracks,
    Washington 1980/1981, Vol. I and II*. Washington State Department of
    Transportation, Olympia, Washington.