Vacation 2005: Fort Stevens – Civil War to World War 2

2005 Summer Vacation – August 5th – Day 7

After visiting Fort Clatsop and getting some lunch we drove over to Fort Stevens State Park.

We followed the signs to an old wreck, the Peter Iredale, which ran aground during a storm in 1906. The rusting hulk is more than half buried in the sand on the beach. We viewed it from the car since we did not plan to play on the beach and saw no need to get out in the wind and track sand into the car.

We then drove over to the Historic Military Site which had a small museum and what remains of the original Fort Stevens. The original fort was constructed in 1863 for the Civil War and remained active until shortly after World War II.

I had no idea the west coast had any involvement in the civil war. It is hard to imagine Union soldiers standing guard over the mouth of the Columbia. The stories one reads usually take place in the east coast states with some mention of states as far west as Mississippi. A brochure at the fort explained that President Lincoln ordered the construction of the fort due to British and Confederate sea raiders in the area. There was a need to protect the shipping coming in to the Columbia River as well as to deter foreign powers from taking advantage of the situation.

On June 21, 1942 Fort Stevens gained the distinction of being fired upon by a Japanese submarine roaming off-shore. The submarine fired 17 shells at the fort but the fort did not fire back and no damage was inflicted on the fort.

The concrete gun batteries, which are the most prominent feature of the site, where built between 1897 and 1904. Using their FRS radios the boys had great fun playing a modified game of hide & seek in the many rooms and passageways.

As we were leaving a group was beginning to set up for a civil war reenactment scheduled for later in the week.

Inside the museum there is a scale model of the fort which helps give you an idea of what the encampment at the fort looked like when it was still commissioned. Also inside were some of the guns and shells that were used as well as one of the WWII era mines that was used to protect the mouth of the Columbia River. Detonation of the mines was electronically controlled from the Mine Commander’s Stations at Fort Stevens or across the Columbia River at Fort Columbia

Near the museum a long house has been reconstructed at the site of a Clatsop Indians village. Lewis and Clark traded with these Indians during their stay at Fort Clatsop. My lack of knowledge regarding Native American culture was evident in that I thought that all Indians lived in teepees.

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• Fort Stevens
• 2005 Summer Vacation