Fort Cascades was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

fort constructed in 1855 to protect the

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

road around the final section of the

Cascades Rapids The Cascades Rapids (sometimes called Cascade Falls or Cascades of the Columbia) were an area of rapids along North America's Columbia River, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. Through a stretch approximately wide, the river dr ...

, known as the "lower cascades." It was built on the

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

side 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 ...

, between the present site of North Bonneville and the

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Ore ...

Skamania County Skamania County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,036. The county seat and largest incorporated city is Stevenson, although the Carson River Valley CDP is more populous. Ska ...

History

Fort Cascades first began in 1850, burned in 1856, and was eventually vacated by the army in 1861. A small community, Cascades, was formed around the fort and during its peak, was home to 130 residents. Harvesting fish from the Columbia, as well as rail work, were the primary economic forces in the small town. Cascades served as the county seat of Skamania County prior to 1893, when the county records were moved to

Stevenson Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...

; the records were reported as not being moved voluntarily as they were stolen during a night break-in at the Cascades courthouse. The largest flood of the Columbia River in recorded history passed over both the townsite and the fort site in 1894; the town was never rebuilt. In 1867, decades before the disastrous floods, famed photographer Carleton Eugene Watkins arrived on the scene. Watkins took a commission from the Oregon Steam Ship Navigation Company to document areas of the Columbia River, with "Cascades" featuring prominently in his Pacific Coast stereoviews collection. Approximately 50 Watkins stereoscopic images of the Cascades area are known to exist, ranging from serials 1250-1302. Labeled "Upper Cascades," "Cascades" and "Lower Cascades," these photographs feature river view landscapes as well as images of the town and fort

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s. Aside from capturing scenery, Watkins documents saw mills, as well as train and riverboat traffic vital to the local economy at that time. A few of the images provide a glimpse of salmon fishing before the rapids were submerged by the construction of the

. Although his negatives were destroyed in the great

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

, many of his printed images can be found in museums and private collections around the world. The grounds of Fort Cascades was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987. In 1998, the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

(USACE) began a $28.8 million build of a

fish passage A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, Lock (water transport), locks and waterfalls) to facilitate Fish migration#Classification ...

through the original fort location. The work, meant to ferry juvenile

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

around the Bonneville Dam, was approved by the Washington State Historic Preservation Office; some of the rail tracks were demolished and the grounds where the fort's jail was located was destroyed. A looped trail courses through the remain of the fort and townsite. There is also a replica of a rock covered with

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s that was originally located at the site but has since been moved to Stevenson. Fort Cascades is one of several forts built to protect the portage around the Cascade Rapids. Others are Fort Raines and Fort Lugenbeel.

References

External links

Lewis and Clark's Columbia River - Fort Cascades
*
Fort Cascades
- Fort Wiki with photos and information
History and directions from Friends of the Columbia River Gorge
{{Coord, 45.6404268, N, 121.9640766, W, display=title Columbia River Gorge Former installations of the United States Army Protected areas of Skamania County, Washington Cascades Buildings and structures in Skamania County, Washington Cascades 1855 establishments in Washington Territory National Register of Historic Places in Skamania County, Washington