Cape Disappointment is a headland of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, located at the extreme southwestern corner of Washington, United States, on the north side of the Columbia River bar (across from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

) and just west of Baker Bay. The point of the cape is located on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in Washington's Pacific County, approximately two miles (3.2 km) southwest of the town of Ilwaco. Cape Disappointment sees about 2,552 hours of

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

a year, which is the equivalent of 106 days—making it one of the foggiest places in the U.S.

History

The cape was named on July 6, 1788, by British

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r John Meares, who was sailing south from Nootka Island, Canada, in search of trade. He mistook the mouth of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

for a bay, which the ship could not enter due to a shallow

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

. Just missing the discovery of the river mentioned by

Francisco Antonio Mourelle Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa (July 17, 1750 – May 24, 1820) was a Spanish Galician naval officer and explorer serving the Spanish crown. He was born in 1750 at San Adrián de Corme (Corme Aldea, Ponteceso), near A Coruña, Gali ...

, he named them Cape Disappointment and Deception Bay.

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

credits John Meares in his account when he saw Cape Disappointment on April 27, 1792.

Tourism

Cape Disappointment State Park Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) is a public recreation area on Cape Disappointment, located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington, on the bottom end of Long Beach Peninsula, the northern headlands where the Columbia ...

is located on the cape, as is the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Station Cape Disappointment is situated on the river near the state park. The station's crewmembers respond to 300–400 calls for assistance every year. The State Park is an affiliate site of

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (including the former Fort Clatsop National Memorial), located in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia River, commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Administration of the park, which includ ...

Gallery

File:Cape Disappointment and Cape Disappointment Light.jpg, South side of Cape Disappointment File:North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment.jpg, North Head Light File:Cape Disappointment Lighthouse & outbuilding.jpg, Cape Disappointment Light File:Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Cape Disappointment.jpg, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

References

External links

* Landforms of Pacific County, Washington Disappointment {{PacificCountyWA-geo-stub