Lewis and Clark trail: Fort Clatsop

On December 5, William Clark wrote that Captain Lewis had found a suitable location for their winter quarters with “Elk Suffient to winter on.” The men soon set to work building their home, a fortification measuring just 50’ x 50’. On Christmas Day, Joseph Whitehouse wrote, “We all moved into our new Garrison or Fort, which our Officers named after a nation of Indians who resided near us, called the Clatsop Nation; Fort Clatsop.” On on March 23, 1806, the Corps gave the Fort to Clatsop Chief Coboway and began their journey home.