Crown Point at Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
(© JPL Designs/Shutterstock)
On this day in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived near this spot. Believing they had finally reached the Pacific, William Clark wrote in his journal “Ocian [sic] in View! O the joy." But this is the Columbia River Gorge and estuary, and it would be another 17 days before they made camp at the Pacific coast.
If you retrace the famous expedition’s steps along the Columbia, make sure to spend some time in the Crown Point Scenic Corridor, an Oregon state park, seen here on the right side of the photo. The park offers stunning views of the mighty Columbia, which marks the state border with Washington. And the Vista House (perched atop a bluff) offers a bit of shelter if the weather’s not cooperating. Built in 1917, the observatory came more than a century too late for the weary Lewis and Clark team.
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