Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report

Site

After seeing the site for the new post, George Simpson recorded in his journal:

The place we have selected is beautiful as may be inferred from its Name and the Country so open that from the Establishment there is good travelling on Horseback to any part of the interior; a Farm to any extent may be made there, the pasture is good and innumerable herds of Swine can fatten so as to be fit for the Knife merely on nutricious Roots that are found here in any quantity and the Climate so fine that Indian Corn and other Grain cannot fail of thriving...The distance from the Harbour is the only inconvenience but that is of little importance being now a secondary Establishment ... ...at the Jolie Prairie or Belle vue Point where the New Fort is situated it may be from time to time enlarged without the trouble of felling a tree. [30]

As mentioned earlier, the site selected for the new post was situated about a mile from the Columbia River: its position on a bluff overlooking the low-lying plain below was apparently selected for defensive reasons. According to George Emmons of the United States Exploring Expedition, who visited Fort Vancouver in 1841, the site was "...originally selected on account of its commanding position, at a time when the surrounding Indians were hostile, but vacated when the latter became friendly and no longer required watching for the present location which possesses superior advantages on account of its nearer approximation to the River which is the great thoroghfare of the country." [31] McLoughlin's grandson, J.W. McLoughlin Harvey later wrote that "During the early part of Residence at the fort, considerable trouble was had with the Indians, but everything was settled amicably." [32]

The disadvantages of this site included its distance from the river--both in moving supplies and goods from the water "highway" which was the principal transportation route to the site, and in obtaining water. Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, who visited Fort Vancouver in 1841, was apparently told, "This site was abandoned, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining water, and its distance from the river, which compelled them to transport every article up a high and rugged road. The latter difficulty was encountered in the first location on the upper prairie, because it was said that the lower one was occasionally flooded; but although this may have happened formerly, it is not found to occur at present." [33]

At the time of its establishment, it apparently was not at all certain that ocean-going vessels could make it it all the way up river to Fort Vancouver, and for several years goods were unloaded at Fort George and points down river, and transported in smaller craft or overland to the post. It is believed that it was not until 1827 that the annual supply ship from Great Britain, the William and Ann, made it all the way up river to the post; after that supply ships were to anchor off Fort Plain annually. [34]

General Site Characteristics of Belle Vue Point/Jolie Prairie

The site of the Hudson's Bay farm at Fort Vancouver, at its greatest extent in the 1840s, consisted of three large open meadows--called by the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Plain, Lower Plain and Mill Plain--in the forest along the Columbia River. There were also five open spaces or "plains" north and east of the three principal plains, jointly referred to as the Back Plains, on which crops were periodically raised. However, all available evidence indicates that during this first historic period, 1824-1828, the Company's site development was principally confined to the region of Fort Plain, later to become the heart of the Fort Vancouver farm. For this reason, the larger site context is described in the section on the second historic period, 1829-1844.

Simpson described the site established for Fort Vancouver in March of 1825: "The Establishment is beautifully situated on the top of a bank about 1 1/4 Miles from the Water side commanding an extensive view of the River the surrounding Country and the fine plain below which is watered by two very pretty small Lakes and studded as if artificially by clumps of Fine Timber." [35]

Captain Charles Wilkes, who visited the post in 1841, and took a ride to the site of this first fort in May or June, said: "...it is less than a mile from the present [1841] position, and is just on the brow of the upper prairie. The view from this place is truly beautiful: the noble river can be traced in all its windings, for a long distance through the cultivated prairie, with its groves and clumps of trees; beyond the eye sweeps over an interminable forest, melting into a blue haze, from which Mount Hood, capped with its eternal snows, rises in great beauty. The tints of purple which appear in the atmosphere, are, so far as I am aware, peculiar to this country. [36]

John Scouler, visiting the fort in the spring of 1825, noted: "It is situated in the middle of a beautiful prairie, containing about 300 acres of excellent land, on which potatoes and other vegetables are cultivated; while a large plain between the fort and river affords abundance of pasture to 120 horses, besides other cattle...The forests around the fort consists chiefly of Pinue balsamea & P. canadensis, while most amentaceae are exceedingly rare. Within a short distance of the fort I found several interesting plants, as Phalagium escluentum, Berberis nervosa, B. Aquifolium, Calypso borealis & Corallorhiza innata. The root of the Phalangium esculentem is much used by the natives as a substitute for bread. They grow abundantly in the moist prairies, the flower is usually blue, but sometimes white flowers are found." [37]

What became known as Fort Plain was a long, irregularly-shaped meadow with natural terraces extending down to the River, located roughly in the center of the site. It ran for approximately 3 1/2 miles along the Columbia River, approaching a mile or so in depth at its widest. The lowest terrace was subject to Spring inundations: the 1844 stockade area map shows the high water mark during the river's spring freshets extended almost one-half mile into the plain in places, depending on the changes in topography. There were two lakes, referred to by Simpson, which were located in the approximate center of the plain. These lakes were occasionally encompassed in the spring floods. The northern and eastern boundaries were defined by dense coniferous forest on rising ground, with a bluff or bench, occasionally referred to as the "Upper Prairie," to the northeast, rising about sixty feet above the river plain. This bluff was the site chosen for the original fort , which was located roughly in the middle of the bench, overlooking the plain below. By the 1840s, the bluff was referred to as "Old Fort Hill." George Emmons, at Fort Vancouver in late July of 1841, went to the old fort site and "measured the alt. of the high prairie land.., about 1/4 mile from the River upon which old Fort Vancouver formerly stood..." and "...found it 61 feet above the low bottom immediately skirting the River & the latter about 15 feet above the river water when at a low stage." [38]

William Fraser Tolmie, who visited the post in 1833, after the move, took many walks around the area, and described them in his journal. On May 8, he and his colleague and shipmate, Dr. Gairdner, headed northeast, skirting the northeast boundary of Fort Plain and:

"...struck up towards the wood & then walked along an upland plateau which reaches for about two miles to eastward from near [1829] fort to where the dense forest obstructs the view--its breadth is about 1/4 mile & it presents a rounded bluff face to NWard, beautified with elegant Columbines, luxuriant lupins & other plants equally attractive but unknown. From this part to bank of river is a level plain generally 3/4 mile broad...Two ponds [the Fort Plain Lakes] abounding in ducks diversify the scene somewhat but add little to its beautify, their banks being of a dry sandy nature... " [39]

On May 9, Tolmie and his companion, Dr. Gairdner, left the 1828-29 fort heading southeast:

"It is a continuation of that to eastward of fort described yesterday, below fort for some way it is covered with gigantic relics of the primeval forest, which form a broad belt of wood extending to river's edge. Proceeded along a rough road passing through the wood. The magnificence & grandeur of its colossal tenants was very impressive & the ground was beautifully carpeted with wild flowers & low creeping evergreen shrubs. Many of the pines were strip't of their bark for a few feet above root & the turpentine was profusely exuded in large pellucid drops. Travelled along the grassy level plain for nearly a mile & then plunged into the forest which skirted it on the right, or north side--did not find it very impenetrable--there being little underwood--soon emerged again & turned homewards. What an excellent cricket field this part of plain would make.

This description seems to apply to the southeast area of Fort Plain; Tolmie and Gairdner traveling through the forest bounding the southeast edge of the plain, and skirting the edge of the plain towards its narrowest east end.

The west and northwest edge of Fort Plain, was also bounded by a finger of forest "...of pinewood," which extended almost to the river edge. In 1833, it was still quite dense, according to Tolmie, who said it took a "...half an hour's dangerous scrambling through brush & brake..." to emerge on the plain [Lower Plain] to the west of Fort Plain. [40]

Figure 1. 1825 map Columbia River, Surveyed 1825. Portion of map showing site of first Hudson's Bay Company stockade at Fort Vancouver, on bluff overlooking Columbia River. See Map 1 for illustration of larger vicinity. Courtesy Washington State Historical Society.

Circulation Networks

In this first historic period, it is clear the principal road was one from the river to the fort: all goods unloaded on the river front had to be transported up the bluff to the storehouses in the stockade. It is not clear where either the anchorage or unloading stage for goods from London ships were located, until the construction of the wharf, which may not have occurred until construction of the new stockade in 1828-29. However, the 1825 map shows two possible locations, one of which is labeled "parting point," near the river bend to the west of the first stockade. The second point may have been on the river at the end of a clearly indicated north-south road or path, leading from the first stockade on the bluff, across the "low ground." John Work, in charge of supervising the move of material and equipment from Fort George to the new fort stated on April 13, 1825: "Came up to the fort early in the morning and had the boats immediately unloaded. Carting the property up to the fort occupied the most of the day..." [41] One of McLoughlin's descendents stated: "The new fort was located about 3/4 mile from the River, and for the purpose of transporting goods from the River to the Fort, the Company bought horses from the Indians, and with rudely constructed wagons, the wheels of which were round pieces of Oak sawed from the log with holes in the centre for the Axles. [42] Evidently the road was complete enough to support these wagons.

The Vavasour map (1845-46) shows a road leading due south from the Upper Mill Plain Road, south of the 1824-25 fort site, to the Lower Mill Plain Road, between the two lakes on Fort Plain, which appears to roughly correspond to the road shown on the 1825 map. [43] However, this does not correlate with an 1844 map by Henry Peers, which shows the road connecting the two mill plain roads to the east of the lakes, by some distance, nor with an 1846 map by Richard Covington, which is similar to the Peers map. [44] And none of the 1840s maps show any direct connection to the river from what became the Lower Mill Plain road at the east edge of the Fort Plain, although it is possible a road skirted the east edge of the plain below Lower Mill Road. It is also possible a track, which became Lower Mill Road, was established to the site of the later wharf as shown in the smaller 1844 map, although this seems unlikely due to the additional distances involved in overland transport of goods. It is possible that the eastern part of what became Lower Mill Road as it went through the forest at the east edge of Fort Plain was the "...rough road passing through the wood" Tolmie describes in his evening walk on May 9, 1833.

Stockade and Associated Structures

Dr. John Scouler noted in May, 1825, that "Fort Vancouver is built on the same plan as the other fort [Ft. George, now Astoria], but is not so large." [45] A discussion of the possible appearance of the stockade is described by historian John Hussey in The History of Fort Vancouver and its Physical Structure. [46]

The exact date when construction began is unknown, however, it was sometime after November 8, 1824, because a river expedition which set out a few days after Simpson's arrival at Fort George on that date, including Simpson, McLoughlin, Kennedy and Thomas McKay, a clerk with the Company, had to abort due to a leaking boat. [47] It was after this cancelled trip that Kennedy and McLoughlin were apparently sent to search for a location for a new post. McLoughlin reported in 1825 that "immediately on Mr. Kennedy and my Return to Fort George" a party was sent to begin construction. [48] A McLoughlin descendent, J.W. McLoughlin Harvey, stated that it was in January of 1825 when "...Thos McKay and a party of Canadians and Kanakas were sent to Ske-Chew-twa to cut the lumber necessary for building the new Fort, and after so doing built fences, Stores, etc. The Indians around Ske-chew-twa were engaged by the Company to gather Cedar bark this article being used as a substitute for covering the roofs of the houses instead of shingles. After the completion of one of the storehouses, other houses being in course of construction, and the necessary fences and gates having been finished, they began to Receive the goods etc from Ft George to Ske-chew-twa." [49]

On March 18, 1825, Simpson recorded in his journal: "The Fort is well picketted covering a space of about 3/4ths of an acre and the buildings already completed are a Dwelling House, two good Stores an Indian Hall and temporary quarters for the people." [50] It appears that the quarters for employees consisted of tents and structures made of other non permanent materials. Botanist David Douglas, who arrived at the new post on a collecting trip for the Horticultural Society of London on the William and Ann in April of 1825, was housed in a tent, and later, a bark hut near the river. [51] Even at this early date, McLoughlin was known for his hospitality; if better housing were available, it is likely Douglas would have been lodged in it.

There does not appear to be any available information on the evolution of the stockade over the three years of its occupation (winter of 1824-25 to winter 1828-29). It is known that the William and Ann brought bricks and tiles in her hold, apparently originally ordered for Fort George: McLoughlin considered them "inferior," but it is believed they were used for chimneys at Fort Vancouver. [52] Perhaps not much was done on the buildings in the stockade proper during this period, since, as noted above, it was not originally intended as the principal depot for the Columbia Department. Also, by 1827, the farm apparently could not support the manpower needed to work on the buildings during the off-season (winter) months: in the fall of that year provisions were low, and McLoughlin sent his spare hands to hunt furs and, apparently, live off the land, rather than feed them at the fort. [53] The water supply on the bluff was a problem: water was hauled from the Columbia to the stockade in a wagon pulled by two oxen. [54]

Because it became apparent that trade south of the Columbia River would continue, and because Simpson's 1828-29 trip to the Columbia convinced him that his plans for a major depot on the Fraser River were not feasible, the stockade's site on the bluff, tenantable while the continuation of the Vancouver depot was questionable, began to appear unsuitable: Fort Vancouver was to become the Columbia Department's main depot. Its distance from the river, the necessity of hauling water up the bluff, its distance from the plain with the "alluvial" soil, and the apparent lack of hostility of the local Indians--all were factors in the decision to relocate the fort. In the winter of 1828-29, construction of the new post on the present site of its reconstruction began.

Garden and Orchard

There is no doubt a garden existed by 1828. As noted earlier, Simpson, in his dispatch to London in the spring of 1829, listed the field crop production at Fort Vancouver for 1828, concluding the list with the statement "...besides that of extensive Gardens," and Jedediah Smith, arriving at the end of that year noted the fort had "...a fine garden, some small apple trees and vines." Smith's statement seems to indicate the small trees and vines were in the garden, and not in a separate orchard. [55]

Seeds

In the early 1820s seeds for HBC posts from London came from the firm of Thomas Sheppard. [56] After 1827, seeds were purchased from the London firm of Gordon and Forsythe. Any seeds planted in the spring of 1825 at Fort Vancouver would have had to have been left from the 1824 spring express shipment to Fort George. Wheat, oat, barley and Indian corn seeds were definitely shipped overland from York Factory in the spring, arriving in the fall of 1825, although it is unknown at present if any garden seeds purchased in London for the North American Company posts were also shipped west. [57] Garden seeds for York Factory for Outfit 1826 included cabbage, carrots, Deptford onion, vetch, early white turnip, Dutch turnip, and La Filame turnip; any seeds for the Columbia would arrive in Montreal in the spring of 1825, and at the Columbia in June or July. [58] Seeds for York Factory for Outfit 1827, arriving in Montreal in the spring of 1826, included: broad beans, Early York cabbage, carrots, Cos lettuce, leek, Deptford onion, parsnip, marjoram, blue peas, hopper peas, black radish, radish turnip, type, Dutch turnip, Swedish turnip, yellow turnip, and mustard. [59] The following year, for Outfit 1828, a separate order appears to have been placed specifically for the Columbia River. This shipment included red beet, early York cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, celery, cucumber, leek, green Cos lettuce, white lettuce, melon, mustard, Deptford onion, Welch onion, good parsley, early white peas, salmon turnip, radish turnip, and early white store or storm turnip. [60] This shipment would have reached Vancouver directly from London in the spring of 1827.

There are many published variations of a story regarding apple and grape seeds at Fort Vancouver in the 1820s. In essence, it states that a gentleman--or gentlemen--heading to Vancouver from London kept some seeds of apples and grapes he (they) had eaten, either deliberately or unintentionally, by placing them in a vest pocket, or, alternatively, was (were) given the seeds by a young lady with whom he (they) was (were) dining for planting in the new country. Upon arrival at Fort Vancouver, these seeds were planted by either a gardener named James Bruce (possibly confusion with the Company's later gardener, William Bruce), or by Pierre Pambrum (Pabrun), or by persons unknown, and the seedlings became the basis for the first fruit trees at the Fort.

The earliest written account of part of this story comes from Henry Bingham, a missionary in Hawaii, who met Captain Aemilius Simpson, head of the Company's Pacific coastal trade, and wrote a friend in February of 1829, "He says he has himself planted the grape and the apple at that place." [61] Captain Simpson was at Fort Vancouver in November of 1826. Planting the seeds--if these are the original seeds of the story--would not have occurred until the spring of 1827, as historian John Hussey points out. [62]

The next documented story is recorded in missionary Narcissa Whitman's journal of 1836, when she states: "Here I must mention the origen of these Apples and grapes. A gentleman twelve years ago, while at a party in London put the seeds of the grapes and apples he ate in his vest pocket and soon after took a voyage to this country and left them here. Now they are greatly multiplied." [63] This is followed by an account by Jesse Applegate, an American immigrant of 1843 and later a prominent Oregonian, who wrote to a friend in 1868 that he heard directly from John McLoughlin that "...a gentleman ate a fine apple in London and put the seeds in his vest pocket and thought no more about them until he arrived at Vancouver nine or ten months after, and having on the same vest at dinner, felt the seeds in his pocket, and from these seeds grew the first apple trees on the Pacific--now the most famous country in the world for fruit." [64]

Bancroft, in his History of the Northwest Coast, repeats a similar story he gathered from McLoughlin descendents. [65] One of these wrote his own account, stating "In the year 1827 Mr. Simpson, cousin of Gov'r Simpson, who arrived in the country in 1826, at the dinner table happening to feel in his vest pocket found a few apple seeds wrapped up in a paper, the circumstances of which he explained as follows. At a dinner party in England prior to his coming to this country, a lady after paring an apple gathered the seeds together and handed them to Mr. Simpson with the remark 'that as he was going to a new country where apples were unknown she would make him a present of the seeds with the hope that at some time he would plant them.' These seeds were planted by Peter Pabrum, and the growth of the tree from day to day was carefully watched. At the first fruits some years later Mr. Pambrum received his portion." [66]

Sifting out the exact occurrence from the varied accounts--excluding twentieth century variations--is not easy. However, it is interesting to note that the missionary's statement regarding Captain Simpson correlates well with the story by repeated by J.W. M. Harvey, at least in terms of who was involved, and the dates. The dates also fall roughly in line with Jedediah Smith's report of seeing small apple trees and vines in 1828. If they were seedlings, they had to have been planted at least by the spring of 1828, and if set out in the garden, as his statement implies, they could have been planted in 1827.

There was another source of garden seeds in the late 1820s: the Horticultural Society of London. Here, however, the seed varieties are unknown, and their dates of arrival not certain. Botanist David Douglas, whose collecting expedition was sponsored by the Society, wrote in October of 1825 from Fort Vancouver to Joseph Sabine, head of the Society. [67] This letter, which apparently accompanied a collection of seeds and plants Douglas sent back to England, at present is not available, but is referred to in another letter. From this we know that Douglas reported receiving "every attention" from the Company's "Officers" at the fort, and that Douglas asked the Society to ship a parcel of seeds to "...the Companys Settlements on the Western Coast." This parcel was sent to York Factory via the Company ship, which was scheduled to leave Gravesend on June 3, 1826. From York Factory, the parcel would have been shipped overland via the express to Fort Vancouver, possibly arriving in the summer or fall of 1826, but most probably in the spring of 1827. On Sabine's advice, a second parcel, and a box "to the address of Mr. McLoughlin" was sent by the Society via the Company ship sailing directly to the Columbia in late September of 1826. These packages would have reached the Columbia in the early spring of 1827, in advance of the express from York Factory. [68]

On May 11, 1826, the Society awarded McLoughlin a silver medal for assisting in the promotion of the study of botany. It seems likely the second shipment from the Society included McLoughlin's medal, now on exhibit at the McLoughlin House in Oregon City. [69]

Another shipment of seeds and letters to Fort Vancouver from the Horticultural Society of London left London in the early spring of 1828 for York Factory, and apparently was sent via the spring express that year to Fort Vancouver, arriving in the fall. Once again, the varieties of seeds is not at present known. [70]

Location

It is not clear whether the first references to a garden are to an early garden near the 1824-25 fort site or somewhere else. Scouler, in May of 1825, noted that potatoes and other vegetables were cultivated on the "beautiful prairie" where the stockade was located. His observations regarding the location of potatoes, at least, are confirmed by the 1825 map, which shows "Potatoe Grounds" located north of the first stockade on "High Ground." However, potatoes were a staple throughout most of the post's historic period, and were planted in great quantities as a field crop.

The location of a vegetable garden plot, with lettuce, cabbage and other more perishable table foods, if one existed before the fall of 1828, is not indicated on the 1825 map. In addition, one of the variations on the Simpson apple and grape seed story indicates these seeds were first sown in "little boxes" which were covered with glass and then placed in the "store" until large enough for transplanting outside. [71] If this story is true, then one wonders if these precious seedlings were planted much beyond the immediate vicinity of the stockade.

Fields and Pastures

Cultivated Fields

"In March 1825, we moved there and that spring planted potatoes and sowed two bushels of peas, the only grain we had, and all we had," McLoughlin recalled in his retirement in Oregon City. [72] To Simpson in April of 1825 he reported, "It was the 21st April before we could plough the ground," and said they had planted 100 bushels of seed potatoes, one-quarter acre of beans, and 3 acres of peas. [73] That year he reported a harvest of "...one and a half Bushels seed pease from those imported, and we expect with this to be able to raise a sufficient Stock of Pease to dispence with importing any corn in future, we have also succeeded in raising a few beans for seed and had a crop of nine hundred barrels of Potatoes, of the latter I will endeavor to put two hundred barrels in the ground [in 1826], so as to have a sufficient supply for this place and Frasers River." [74]

These fields were observed by Scouler in May of 1825, where he noted that the "beautiful prairie" contained "...about 300 acres of excellent land, on which potatoes and other vegetables are cultivated." Scouler appears to have distinguished this "upper" prairie from the "...large plain between the fort and river... "which the fort overlooked, offering "... abundance of pasture to 120 horses, besides other cattle." The 1825 map clearly indicates the location of "Potatoe Grounds," north of the first stockade on "High Ground." The first fields, as shown by the map, were located on the upper bench, which measures about 250 acres today. The 1846 Covington farm map shows fields on the southern edge of the bluff, and a portion of this plateau was still in cultivated fields as late as 1914. McLoughlin reported the soil on the "Hill" was "light and covered with very large trees." He also said the on soil on the plain below the fort was "alluvial," and said both locations were "infested" with moles. It appears that when the new stockade was built in the late 1820s, most of the farming operation shifted to the lower plain with its "alluvial soil." [75]

In the fall of 1825, McLoughlin reported receiving "...from York Factory a bushel of spring wheat, a bushel oats, a bushel barley, a bushel Indian corn and a quart of timothy, and all of which was sown in proper time, and which produced well except the Indian corn, for which the ground was too poor and the nights rather cool, and continued extending our improvements." [76] This seed, he later noted, was of" poor quality," having been damaged in transit. In all, two hundred barrels of potatoes--apparently seed potatoes from the spring crop, the nine and one-half bushels of seed peas from the spring planting, and two bushels of barley, and one bushel each of oats and Indian corn, plus a quart of timothy were planted. J.W.M. Harvey stated "a small bag full" of wheat was imported in the spring of 1826 via the Company express and was "sown in a small field, about 50 feet square." [77] The potato crop "failed" that year, yielding only six hundred barrels, and the Indian corn failed to produce more than one and one-half bushels. The wheat, oats, barley and peas, "The finest I ever saw in any Country," produced well, McLoughlin said. Of the twenty-seven bushels of barley harvested, McLoughlin saved one-half for seed, and used part of the rest in a beer making experiment. Captain Simpson told his missionary acquaintance in Hawaii, Henry Bingham, that the Company expected to export beer from Fort Vancouver. [78]

In 1827 seeds--red wheat, white wheat, oats and barley--arrived from London on the William and Ann in late April; they were planted too late and many did not sprout. Harvest figures are not available, although McLoughlin reported before harvest that he expected a yield of 150 bushels of wheat, 500 to 600 bushels of peas, 300 bushels of barley and 50 bushels of oats. But it was this year--a drought year--that McLoughlin sent all spare hands out of the fort to hunt during the winter; he also sent a Company ship to California and Hawaii to buy provisions in case of a crop failure in 1828. [79]

It is not clear where the additional fields of wheat, barley, Indian corn, peas and so forth, were located in 1826 and '27. However, in February of 1828 Edward Ermatinger, then a clerk at Fort Vancouver, reported that "large timber [was] cleared" and new ground ploughed. [80] The number of bushels planted of various crops increased dramatically:

seventy-six bushels of wheat, eighteen "grey pease," seven "early pease," thirty barley, twenty-two oats, and three Indian corn. [81] Reports of the harvest vary somewhat, although both Simpson and McLoughlin considered it abundant Jedediah Smith, who arrived towards the end of the year, reported the crop included 700 bushels of wheat, "...the grain full and plump, and making good flour; fourteen acres of corn, the same number of acres in peas, eight acres of oats, four or five acres of barley," which gives some sense of the amount of acreage in production that year. [82] The 1828 crop was, according to McLoughlin, "...sufficient to enable us to dispense with the importation of flour, etc."

At present, it is unclear when crops were first planted on Fort Plain; the 1825 map does not indicate any cultivated fields below the bluff. Fort Plain may first have been cultivated during the expansion reported by Ermatinger in 1828, the same year McLoughlin reported that imported flour was no longer necessary. By 1831, it was almost certainly in production, because a newly arrived clerk at the Fort, George T. Allan, wrote to a firm in London in 1832 that "On the east side of the Fort [1828-29 fort] there is a beautiful plain, great part of which is under cultivation...". [83] If a "great part" of the plain was under cultivation by that time, it seems likely that its development occurred over time, possibly dating back to the spring of 1828, or at least to the spring of 1829, when construction of the new stockade on Fort Plain was underway.

Livestock

Cattle and horses were located on the plain below the fort in 1825, according to Scouler, shown as "Low Ground" on the 1825 map. Between seventeen and thirty-odd head of cattle came from Fort George, probably descendents of cattle purchased in Monterey in 1814. [84] Adhering to a policy of increasing herd size, McLoughlin reported in March of 1826 "...we have not killed a single calf, and have a stock at present of twenty-seven cows, five three year old heifers--two this spring calves, and we expect this fall to have between eighty and ninety head of cattle of all sizes. .." [85] There were, in addition, the two oxen reported to have hauled water to the stockade. [86] In February of 1827 Edward Ermatinger noted in his journal: "Cows calving in every direction." [87] Late in 1828 Simpson reported the herd "...now Exceeds 150 head." [88] Of the 150 horses Scouler saw, 73 arrived with clerk Tom McKay in April of 1825, probably from Fort George. The main source for horses were the Indians, particularly the Nez Perce who ranged to the east of Fort Vancouver, and who have been recorded as suppliers of horses to the Company in various journals and reports. [89]

The farm also had hogs, which were apparently allowed to range free on the upper prairie or the plain below, because in 1826 McLoughlin reported four died from eating a "kind of poisonous Camas." [90] The hogs were brought from Fort George, but had originally come from the Hawaiian Islands, according to Scouler. [91] John Work, in charge of moving materials from Fort George to Fort Vancouver in March and April of 1825, noted in his journal on April 14 that "It [the weather] faired up a little in the evening when we got all the boats loaded except the pigs which will be embarked in the morning." [92] In 1826 McLoughlin requested pumpkin seeds to grow the squash for winter feed for the hogs. The seeds were not received the following year, and McLoughlin complained that it was too bad, since pumpkins "...would enable us to feed our pigs, in house all Winter they would thrive better and none would be devoured by Wolves." [93] By 1828 McLoughlin was reporting the hogs numbered over 200, "...besides the consumption of the Establishment of fresh Pork and about 6000 lb Salted Pork." [94] At some point a piggery was established below Old Fort Hill on the north edge of Fort Plain: it is noted on the 1845 Vavasour map, but is not listed in an 1846-47 inventory of Fort Vancouver buildings made by the Company. One structure is indicated on the map; no known reference to it exists in the literature. If it were an older structure, associated with the first stockade on Old Fort Hill, perhaps it was in such poor shape that it was not considered in the later inventory.

By 1828, fifty head of goats were at Fort Vancouver, although, it is not noted where they were kept. [95] There is some confusion regarding when sheep arrived at the post; not, apparently, until after the new stockade was built in 1828-29.

Sawmill

In the winter of 1828-29, the Company built its first sawmill at the post, about seven miles east of the fort. The exact date of construction is not clear: Jedediah Smith, who arrived at Fort Vancouver at the end of 1828, and spent the 1828-29 winter there, reported that the Company had a "good" sawmill on the river above the fort in 1830; J.W.M. Harvey says the mill was built in 1829. The construction period of the mill coincides with the move of the original fort to Fort Plain. Details regarding it are discussed in the following section covering the 1829-46 historic period. [96]