Fort Columbia is a historical military facility situated on Chinook Paint, that defended the entrance to the Columbia River from 1896 to 1947 and is now a state park, about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Ilwaco and 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Astoria, Oregon. Chinook Point is on the right bank, or northern shore, of the Columbia River estuary, between the communities of Megler to the east and Chinook to the northwest. The point was named in 1792 by Lieutenant William R. Broughton, who commanded HMS Chatham as part of the Vancouver Expedition. The name “Chinook” is believed to originate from “Tsinuk,” the Chehalis name for the Chinookan people. The fort is named after the river, which was named in 1792 by Captain Robert Gray after his ship, Columbia Rediviva. This area of southwestern Washington lies along the westernmost exposed edge of the Coast Range. The Coast Range is part of a forearc basin formed during the Paleogene period. It extends offshore and lies within an active convergent margin where the Juan de Fuca Plate is subducting beneath the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. The oldest rocks of the Coast Range are known as the Crescent Formation, dating from the early to middle Eocene epoch. This formation, exposed at Chinook Point, primarily consists of middle Eocene submarine-pillowed basalt, basalt lapilli tuff, columnar-jointed basalt breccia, and massive basalt sandstone and conglomerate. Since 1878, efforts have been underway to maintain a suitable navigation channel through the shifting sands of the lower Columbia River. These modifications include constructing jetties near the river’s mouth, dredging the channel, and installing 233 pile dikes by the US Army Corps of Engineers. These measures promote scouring and direct the river along a desired path. A series of pile dikes at Chinook Point, including the Chinook Jetty, directs river water away from the north shore.

The Lower Chinookan people inhabited a traditional territory along the north shore of the lower Columbia River estuary. Their social and economic influence stemmed from a strategic geographic position at the mouth of the Columbia, which offered them a role as middlemen in aboriginal trade networks of the coast and interior as well as the later maritime and overland fur trades. At the time of first contact with Europeans, the Lower Chinookan peoples consisted of at least 28 local groups occupying villages along the shores of the Lower Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean upstream about 195 river miles (314 km) to the vicinity of The Dalles. The mouth of the Columbia River was missed by several early European explorers. In 1775, the Spanish explorer Bruno de Heceta discovered a large bay penetrating far inland and is credited with being the first European to sight the mouth of the Columbia. He tried to sail upriver but strong currents prevented any progress. In 1778, British Captain James Cook explored the coastline but missed the river mouth entirely due to bad weather. In 1792, Captain George Vancouver also sailed the area but did not see the river mouth. That same year, Captain Gray made note of the strong offshore currents but was unable to enter the river mouth. He later returned and succeeded in sailing up the river and is officially credited for discovering the Columbia. This formally established an American claim to the region, since international law held that the discovery and entrance of a river mouth granted the discovering nation sovereignty over the water, its valley, its watershed, and the adjacent coast. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition was organized in the early 19th century, reaching the Columbia River was one of its objectives. The expedition arrived at Chinook Point in November 1805. Comcomly, a prominent Chinook leader, played a key role in maintaining peaceful relations during early contact with Euro-American fur traders. The Chinookan peoples suffered devastating epidemics, beginning with smallpox in the 1770s. More than 90% of the population was wiped out, with the worst outbreak being malaria in the 1830s. Starting in the 1850s, many surviving Chinookan members were relocated to the Grand Ronde, Warm Springs, and Quinault Reservations.

In the 1800s, the Oregon Country was a disputed region occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders since before 1810, and by American settlers from the mid-1830s. The coastal areas north of the Columbia River were frequented by ships from many nations engaged in the maritime fur trade. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ended the joint occupancy dispute and established the British-American boundary mostly along the 49th parallel. U.S. Army engineers were then sent to the Pacific coast to identify suitable sites for fortifications. In 1864, the United States established a military reservation at Chinook Point to complete a system of coastal defenses, although it was initially neglected. Between 1896 and 1904, an intensive construction program was carried out at Fort Stevens and Fort Canby at the mouth of the Columbia River, and Fort Columbia was built on Chinook Point to complete the triangle of artillery fire. In 1942, a reinforced concrete gun emplacement named Battery 246 was constructed at Fort Columbia but was never completed. Declared surplus at the end of World War II, Fort Columbia was transferred to the State of Washington in 1950. The surviving historic structures include three gun batteries and 13 frame buildings built in 1902. The two-story barracks were converted into a museum in 1954, featuring exhibits on Pacific explorations, regional history, and the fort’s military past. Remnants of the long dock, used when supplies arrived by water, are still present. Chinook Point is now part of Fort Columbia State Park, covering 618 acres (250 hectares). It is included in the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, which preserves sites related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. U.S. Route 101 passes through a tunnel underneath the park. Read more here and here. Explore more of Fort Columbia and Chinook Point here: