By Bob Van Leer

  (ASTORIA, OREGON, April 22, 2005) - Lewis and Clark spent Dec. 7, 1805, to March 23, 1806, in a fort the Corps of Discovery built a few miles south of Astoria. One of their complaints was the near-constant rain. Of the 106 days the corps spent at Fort Clatsop, it rained all but 12 days, and the sun shown on only six days.

  We anchored at Astoria this morning to tour the area, stopping first at the fort. A replica was built at the original site from plans drawn by Clark.  The fort was 50 feet by 50 feet with a 20 feet wide open court. There were 31 men in the corps plus their interpreter, his wife and baby. They were mostly on a meat diet. During their stay they killed more than 130 elk, 20 deer and many small animals and fowl. They were even able to get part of a dead whale that washed ashore. The fort became part of the U. S. claim to the Pacific Northwest, otherwise Oregon might be part of British Columbia. 

   Another stop was at the Astoria Column. The column was the final monument in a series of 12 historical monuments erected in the early 1900s between St. Paul, Minnesota and Astoria. They were the pet project of a railroad baron. He wanted to salute Astoria's explorers and early settlers for their critical role in the U. S. stretching to the Pacific coast. The column is 125 feet high on a 600 feet high hill overlooking the Columbia. There is an interior stairway of 164 steps for the adventurous. A series of panels commemorating historic events winds up the column in a spiral.

  Our last stop was the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which is located very near where our ship, the Queen of the West, is berthed. The museum is extremely well done, and worth a visit if you are in Astoria. It is divided into sections for commercial fishing, life saving and shipping. Outside in the water is the last lightship, the Columbia, retired in 1979. From 1892 to that date a light ship was anchored 5.3 miles off the Columbia as a navigation aid. Lights are much less needed now with modern navigation tools. Inside the light ship is cozy, but livable for a crew that had to spend weeks at a time anchored in one spot.

   Visible from almost anywhere here is the Astoria-Megler Bridge that carries Highway 101 across the Columbia. It was finished in the '60s, replacing a ferry. The bridge was part of a deal in which bonds were sold to replace the two major bottlenecks on the coast, the crossing of the Columbia and the antique road between Gold Beach and Brookings. Tonight is the Captain's Farewell Dinner for which we have to dress up for a change. During the night we will sail back to Portland and disembark in the morning. It has been a most interesting cruise and we can recommend it.