Cape Disappointment did not live up to its name today—it was spectacular, along with every other place we visited. The skies were clear and blue, and enhanced by a cool breeze all day. The sun rose slowly over the hills, bathing the large barges in a warm glow, and a fog rolled on in the distance. By the time we left for Fort Clatsop, the ocean had no more than the faintest tendrils of fog rising off the water, looking like a warm tea on a cold morning.
Fort Clatsop, or at least the newest rendition of it, gave us the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Lewis & Clark, and their team of explorers called the Corps of Discovery. Fort Clatsop is where the team spent the last winter of their expedition before heading home in the spring. It took them more than a year and a half to reach this spot, and as the season turned into a gloomy rain, it was time to build a fort. This American story is more than the success of discovering the route to the Pacific Ocean, but it is also a story of a heroic act of equality. Once the team knew they’d made it to the Pacific, it was time to build a fort for winter. Meriwether Lewis proposed several sites to the team and asked where they wanted to camp, and to settle it with a vote. The vote was not limited to the leaders, but the men, Sacagawea and also William Clark’s African American Slave were included. By this part in the journey, all were equals, and given equal voting power as the leader himself, many decades before all would have equal voting power in the United States. It represented an equality that took the country a long time to catch up to.
We moved to the Astoria Column for an impressive view over the area, then to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which some call the most impressive museum in America. It was full of fascinating artifacts and powerful stories, shared with us by engaging docents.
In the afternoon, we visited Cape Disappointment, which offered stunning views over the tranquil Pacific Ocean. We followed that with a trip to a beautiful beach, and then returning to the ship for our famous crab feast. All-in-all, you couldn’t ask for a better start to our expedition exploring the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
