Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th - century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson ' s Bay Company in the company ' s Columbia District ( which covered the northern half of the region known to Americans as the Oregon Country ) . Named for Captain George Vancouver , the fort was located on the northern bank of the Columbia River in present - day Vancouver , Washington , near Portland , Oregon . Today , a full - scale replica of the fort , with internal buildings , has been constructed and is open to the public as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site . History . Joint occupation . The outpost was established in the winter of 1824 – 1825 . At that time , the region known as the Columbia District of the Hudson ' s Bay Company , and increasingly as the Oregon Country to Americans , was jointly occupied by the United States and Britain ; a situation agreed to in the Anglo - American Convention of 1818 . British interests were represented by the Hudson ' s Bay Company , which had exclusive trading rights to most of the land that is now Western Canada . To protect their interests north of the Columbia River , they sought to set up a headquarters somewhere along the northern bank that would secure the area and act as the hub for their fur trading in the Pacific Northwest ; replacing Fort George ( Fort Astoria ) in that capacity as it was on the river ' s south bank and not as convenient to the inland trade . Sir George Simpson was instrumental in establishing the fort , and Dr . John McLoughlin was its first Chief Factor ( manager ) ; a position he held for nearly 22 years . James Douglas spent nineteen years in Fort Vancouver ; serving as Chief Accountant until 1834 when he was promoted to Chief Trader of the post . McLoughlin was later hailed as the Father of Oregon . Against the Company ' s wishes , he provided substantial aid and assistance to westbound Americans settlers in the territory . He left the company in 1846 to found Oregon City in the Willamette Valley . When Simpson chose the fort ' s location , the lower Columbia River was becoming the " de facto " boundary between British and U . S . interests . The site he selected , on the opposite side of the Columbia River from the mouth of the Willamette River , was flat and had easy access to the Columbia , yet was just outside the flood plain . The site was also picked because of the access to fertile farmland . Simpson wanted the fort to be self - sufficient , as food was costly to ship . In time Fort Vancouver produced a surplus of food , some of which was used to provision other HBC posts and some of which was exported for sale in Hawaii , Russian Alaska , and other markets . The area around the fort was commonly known as " La Jolie Prairie " ( the pretty prairie ) or Belle Vue Point ( " beautiful vista " ) . The fort was supplied by ships from the Pacific and by the overland York Factory Express trade route , which evolved from an earlier express brigade used by the North West Company between Fort George ( originally Fort Astoria , founded in 1811 by John Jacob Astor ' s American Fur Company ) , at the mouth of the Columbia River , to Fort William on Lake Superior . Following the forced merger of the North West Company and the Hudson ' s Bay Company in 1821 ; the British Parliament imposed the laws of Upper Canada on British subjects in the Columbia District and Rupert ' s Land and gave the authority to enforce the laws to the Hudson ' s Bay Company . John McLoughlin , as chief factor of Fort Vancouver , applied the law to British subjects , kept peace with the natives and sought to maintain law and order amongst American settlers as well . Express . By 1825 , there were usually two York Factory Express brigades , each setting out from opposite ends of the route . Each spring , one left from Fort Vancouver and the other from York Factory on Hudson Bay . They passed each other in the middle of the continent . Each brigade consisted of about forty to seventy five men and two to five specially made " bateaux " . Compared to other travellers of the time , they travelled quickly — an 1839 report cites the travel time as three months and ten days — almost 26 miles ( 40 km ) per day on average . These men carried supplies in and furs out by boat , horseback and as back packs for the forts and trading posts along the route . They also carried status reports for supplies needed , furs traded , etc . , to and from Dr . John McLoughlin and the other fort managers along the route . The practice of using " bateaux " ( boats ) was adopted because birch bark canoes had proved too dangerous on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest . In 1820 , Joe McKay of the HBC described the Columbia District " bateaux " as " made from quarter - inch pine board , and are thirty - two feet long , and six and a half feet wide in midships , with both ends sharp , and without a keel — worked , according to the circumstances of the navigation , with paddles , or with oars . " Indians along the way were often paid in trade goods to help them portage around falls and unnavigable rapids . From west to east , Fort Vancouver to York Factory , the express route ran as follows : up the Columbia River past the posts of Fort Nez Perces , Fort Okanogan , and Fort Colvile to Boat Encampment ( today under Kinbasket Lake ) , then over Athabasca Pass to Jasper House , down the Athabasca River to Fort Assiniboine , then overland to Fort Edmonton . Thence down the North Saskatchewan River and Saskatchewan River to Lake Winnipeg and via Norway House on the Nelson River . Finally the brigade would travel down the Hayes River to York Factory on Hudson Bay . This route was longer than the Oregon Trail route followed by the Americans , but easier . Ships . The trade goods , supplies and mail which were moved overland in this manner , were brought into Fort Vancouver and York Factory by ship every year ( they tried to maintain one year ' s extra supplies to avoid disastrous ship wrecks , etc . ) . The furs they had traded for blankets , tobacco and manufactured goods were shipped back on the supply ships . Furs from Fort Vancouver were often being shipped to China where they were traded for Chinese goods before returning to England , with the furs from York Factory being sold in London in an annual fur sale . This continued until 1846 , when the land on which the fort was located changed from British to American ownership . Fort . The fort was substantial . The palisade s that protected it were long , wide and about high . Inside there were 40 buildings , including housing , warehouses , a school , a library , a pharmacy , a chapel , a blacksmith , plus a large manufacturing facility . Outside the rampart s there was additional housing , as well as fields , gardens , fruit orchards , a shipyard , a distillery , a tannery , a sawmill , and a dairy . The residential village , populated by employees , their families , and others , was known as Kanaka Village because of the many Hawaiians in company employ who lived there . Fort Vancouver was by far the largest settlement of non - natives west of the Great Plains at this time . The populace of the fort and the surrounding area were mostly French - Canadians and Metis ; there were also English , Scots , Irish , Hawaiians and a large variety of Native Americans including Iroquois and Cree . The common language spoken at the fort was Canadian French . However trading and relations with the surrounding community were done in Chinook Jargon , a pidgin of Chinook , Nootka , Chehalis , English , French , Hawaiian and other elements . Company records and official journals were kept in English , however , and English was used at the head table . The fort was the center of activity in the Pacific Northwest . Every year , ships and supplies from London arrived , directly via the Pacific Ocean , and overland via Hudson Bay . Supplies and trade goods were exchanged for the furs . Fort Vancouver was the nexus for the fur trade on the Pacific Coast and its influence reached from the Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands , and from Alaska into Mexican - controlled California . Over time , Fort Vancouver diversified its economic activity and began exporting agricultural foodstuffs from HBC farms , along with salmon , lumber , and other products . It developed markets for these exports in Russian Alaska , Hawaii , and Mexican California . The HBC opened agencies in Sitka , Honolulu , and Yerba Buena ( San Francisco ) to facilitate such trade . At its pinnacle , Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts , 24 ports , six ships , and 600 employees . Americans . The Hudson ' s Bay Company , which controlled the fur trade in much of what Americans styled the Oregon Country , had previously discouraged settlement because it interfered with the lucrative fur trade . By 1838 , however , American settlers were coming across the Rocky Mountains and their numbers increased each subsequent year . Many left from St . Louis , Missouri and followed a fairly straight , but difficult , route called the Oregon Trail . For many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail where they could get supplies before starting their homestead . During the Great Migration of 1843 an estimated 700 to 1 , 000 American settlers arrived via the Oregon Trail . British response . Belatedly realizing that settlement would eventually decide the Oregon question , Simpson established the Puget Sound Agricultural Company around 1840 as a subsidiary of the Hudson ' s Bay Company . The purpose of the company was ostensibly to promote settlement by British subjects of land on the Pacific coast of North America . Company operations were centered at Fort Nisqually , near present - day Olympia , Washington , where the company developed dairy , livestock and produce farms . Sir George Simpson then instructed Alexander Ross to organize and lead a party of Red River Colony settlers over the Rockies into the Columbia District , to settle on the HBC farms . Ross , fearing he was getting too old for such an arduous journey , selected James Sinclair for the task . In 1841 , James Sinclair guided a large party of over 120 settlers from the Red River Colony west in an attempt to retain the Columbia District for Britain . They left Fort Garry , now the city of Winnipeg , in 1841 with 23 families , including a 75 - year - old woman , with an aim to settle in the Oregon Country to reinforce British claims to the area . The British trappers , traders and settlers followed the Red River north , then crossed Lake Winnipeg and followed the Saskatchewan River system to Fort Edmonton . After a brief stop at Fort Edmonton , they were guided by Maskepetoon , the chief of the Wetaskiwin Cree , via Lake Minnewanka to the present site of Banff , Alberta where the Spray River joins with the Bow River ; and then south up the Spray River valley where the reservoir now lies . They then trekked along a tributary , Whiteman ' s Creek , and crossed the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains , by a new route which became known as Whiteman ' s Pass . From the summit , they traveled southwest down the Cross River to it junction with the Kootenay River . They entered the upper Columbia River basin via Sinclair Pass ( near present day Radium Hot Springs ) and followed established trade routes from Lake Windermere , B . C . to Fort Vancouver . Despite the hardship , no one died and a baby was born on the way . When the Sinclair settlers arrived , McLoughlin was slow to settle them on Pugets Sound Agricultural Company farms . Instead he encouraged them to settle in the Willamette Valley , with the American settlers , where they could get free land . In 1846 , McLoughlin resigned from service with the Hudson ' s Bay Company for a homestead of his own . He founded Oregon City in the Willamette Valley . That same year , the Oregon Treaty set the US – Canadian border at the 49th parallel north , and Fort Vancouver was now within American territory . Although the treaty ensured that the Hudson ' s Bay Company could continue to operate and had free access to navigate the Strait of Juan de Fuca , Puget Sound , and the Columbia , company operations were effectively stifled by the treaty and became unprofitable and were soon closed down . Fort Vancouver and Columbia . Early history . In 1849 , the U . S . Army set up the Columbia Barracks ( later renamed Vancouver Barracks ) on a rise 20 feet ( 6 m ) above the trading post , fronting 1 , 200 yards ( 1100 m ) on the river with buildings on a line 2 , 000 yards ( 1800 m ) from the water . While the Hudson ' s Bay Company continued to operate out of Fort Vancouver , every year saw less and less fur trade and more and more settlers and U . S . Army warfare against the HBC ' s former customer base . During this time the Indian Wars were happening in the west and famous military men such as Ulysses S . Grant , Philip Henry Sheridan , Arthur MacArthur , Jr . , and George Crook were stationed at the fort at various times . Finally , on June 14 , 1860 , the Hudson ' s Bay Company abandoned Fort Vancouver and moved its operations north of the border . The U . S . Army immediately renamed the combined location Fort Columbia , changing the name again to Fort Vancouver . They used it for quarters and storage , with its local population fluctuating seasonally , with the lowest strength being 50 people in 1861 . During the American Civil War , detachments of the 1st Washington Territory Infantry Volunteers and 1st Oregon Cavalry were stationed here . In 1866 , most of the fort burned down in a large fire . Fort Vancouver was rebuilt , with a layout that included two double - story barracks on opposite sides of the parade ground , each with a kitchen and mess room to the rear . Seven log and four frame buildings served as officer ' s quarters . 20th and 21st centuries . The post remained in active service , being expanded for World War I into Vancouver Barracks . During World War I it was the home of the Army ' s Spruce Production Division under the command of Colonel Brice Disque . In the interwar years , the 5th Infantry Brigade was based there and from 1936 to 1938 , it was commanded by future Army Chief of Staff George C . Marshall . In World War II when Vancouver Barracks was used as a staging area for the Seattle Port of Embarkation , the post included 3 , 019 acres ( 12 . 22 km ) , and had billeting space for 250 officers and 7 , 295 enlisted persons . After WWII , Vancouver Barracks became a sub - installation of Fort Lewis and maintained a small contingent of active duty troops . The majority of billeting space was trannsformed into military offices and became home for Army Reserve and Washington National Guard troops during this time as well . The installation remained the oldest military installation ( in continual operation ) , west of the Mississippi river , until forced to close ( under the BRAC commission ) in the summer of 2011 . A 2012 Memorial Day ceremony saw the south and east barracks officially turned over to the care of the National Park Service , ending its status as the US Army ' s " longest continuing operation west of the Mississippi River . " Because of its significance in United States history a plan was put together to preserve the location . Fort Vancouver was declared a U . S . National Monument on June 19 , 1948 , and redesignated as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site on June 30 , 1961 . This was taken a step further in 1996 when a 366 - acre ( 1 . 48 km ) area around the fort , including Kanaka Village , the Columbia Barracks and the bank of the river , was established as the Vancouver National Historic Reserve maintained by the National Park Service . It is possible to tour the fort . It is also the site of a large fireworks display , said to be the largest 4 July display west of the Mississippi River , lasting for 31 minutes and featuring 5 , 440 shells in 2008 . An earth - covered pedestrian land bridge was built over the Lewis and Clark Highway , as part of the Confluence Project , in 2007 . It connects the site with the Columbia River . Buildings . Notable buildings of the restored Fort Vancouver include :