West to Fort Nisqually. . .

Guard Tower with fireweed (2013)

Fort Nisqually here in Washington is a living history museum. But once it was a trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company, and part of the setting for the next book I'm just beginning to research.

Here we can wander, imagining what life was like back in 1850, when we could tell how close we are to the end of summer by how many blossoms yet appear on that hardy wildflower, Fireweed. 

Notice the guard tower and the small cabin in the small cabin above. Here single men slept on one side, with married men on the other. Or so the guide told our friend who brought me these pictures. 

The guide wore clothing of a typical 'country wife' of the 1840s and 1850s, a woman of mixed blood, valuable to the traders for her links to Native American families and her skills for survival in the wilderness.

We can easily see class distinctions in the housing that remains true to the period -- the Commandant with every luxury of the 19th Century, a formal parlour, perhaps even a European wife. 

Officers and gentlemen lived in separate quarters, and the workers in a homely barracks. Notice those Hudson Bay blankets.

While relations with Native Americans at this point were mostly friendly, wooden walls surround the Fort Nisqually compound, with stock and gardens inside. 

Herbs and staples -- corn, tomatoes, squash -- supplemented fresh venison and beef. Even speckled chickens -- true to the period -- scrabble in their pens for food.

Goods, rum, mail, and news drew people to the fort's store, trappers and emigrants alike. Here at the store, people could buy or trade for kettles and pots, hats, bolts of fabric, dishes, blankets, and maybe some tobacco in a twist or maple candy. 

Perhaps one day soon, we'll wander around Fort Nisqually to watch the trader use a fur press or the blacksmith hammer out new shoes for horses. We'll admire the rich traditions of the Native American, Scottish, Hawaiian, French-Canadian, and English people who lived here and who came to this fort built in 1833 on the Puget Sound.

We'll gather around the campfire at Fort Nisqually and listen to the tales of life over 100 years ago, far from the comforts of the 21st Century.

Click on any picture to see a larger version.

For more information, visit the Fort Nisqually site HERE or Wikipedia for a bit more history.

Planning for a Sea Change . . .

Later in August, we'll be traveling for just a week to 10 days. A little camping to try out the new tent. And if it's too hot, we'll stay in air conditioned hotels. At this point, we're swinging down through Washington to visit friends in Portland, maybe over to the Olympic Peninsula, then back up to Seattle, maybe to see a Mariner's game by August 25. That's pretty specific.

 This time, the stops along the way are my job. As I finish the summer by finishing up two major writing projects, the next book beckons. Set some time between 1842-1845, the characters from the McDonnell clan will come to the Pacific Northwest, just as the first wagon train arrives in Oregon. Just as British and American interests collide. So my list of places to stop so far include:

•  Fort Vancouver National Historical Site (Oregon and Washington), the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company where English and Chinook jargon were the primary languages, where the McDonnell saga began so long ago when I saw a sign saying Scots, Hawaiians and Native Americans worked here.
• Fort Nisqually (DuPont, Washington, near Tacoma), the first trading post on the Puget Sound, where John Flett emigrated in 1841 from the Red River settlement in Manitoba (too late for this exhibit).
• Fort Astoria on the Lower Columbia (Astoria, Oregon), used between 1830-1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as a salmon fishery. Tight ties here between Hawaiians, Americans, and Brits. Excellent background here on early history. Maybe camping at Fort Stevens State Park or at Fort Columbia (both part of Lewis & Clark historic sites).
• Fort Langley and Fort Victoria, both in British Columbia, probably not possible this trip.
• Fort Spokane. A small museum and camping here, just 32 miles west of Spokane, near Davenport.
• Sequim. I still remember our last visit here, found a great Thai restaurant, Sawadee Thai Cuisine, with traditional black rice pudding.
• Olympic Peninsula. What could be better on such a trip than hiking in the Olympic Peninsula? Hre's a resource page on Native Americans and the Olympic Peninsula.

Also useful:

Anything related to artist Paul Kane who, with the permission of the Hudson's Bay Company, traveled to Fort Vancouver and Fort Victoria from 1846-1848. I'm fascinated by his painting of Mt. St. Helens, which erupted in 1847. See this wonderful book, Paul Kane's Great Nor' West by Diane Eaton and Sheila Urbanek -- and an online gallery of his paintings/sketches.

Night Eruption, Mt St Helens (Paul Kane, 1847)

Native Peoples of Oregon Need much more here. I'm remembering a special performance somewhere along the coast that we attended about a decade ago thanks to Sandy and Peter Jensen that featured story telling and dancing. Maybe the Tillicum Cruise out of Seattle would work as a start. And there's the University of Oregon Museum in Eugene. Here's an exceptionally helpful travel guide to Native Americans in Washington State. 

Northwest Coast Hawaiians and the Hudson's Bay Company and this useful timeline showing Hawaiian presence on the Pacific Northwest coast. Found a reference to Fort Spokane and Hawaiians! Exciting conclusion to this morning's research: Downloaded James Ho's Untold Fragments of Hawaii's History. 

Festivals this summer in Washington Parks and in Tacoma on August 11, the 7th annual "In the Spirit: Northwest Native American Arts Festival" (Washington State History Museum).  

So much for trip planning. I think it's easier to throw things in a suitcase, get a list of used book stores, grab the camera, and hit the road.

So, do you have any suggestions for our trip?

May your own traveling this summer go well.