The 18 days Lewis and Clark spent here with what they called their Corps of Discovery included some of the most momentous events in American history.

Leading authorities say historical sites here are comparable in importance with the Gettysburg Battlefield and Independence Hall.

So what happened on the Discovery Coast?

First, on Nov. 15, 1805, the expedition established Station Camp just east of what is now Fort Columbia State Park and the Chinook tunnel.

It was here that the captains considered they achieved the primary mission set out for them by President Thomas Jefferson, to explore and chart a river-based route to the Pacific Ocean.

Second, as tearfully described by Lewis and Clark authority Dayton Duncan, it was here that the captains took the extraordinary leap of extending democratic principles by including an Indian woman (Sacajawea) and an African-American slave (York) in the informal voting process that decided where the explorers would spend the winter. In 1805, this pre-dated emancipation by nearly 60 years and women’s suffrage by 115 years, setting the stage for the inclusive society we have become.

Standing along our Columbia shoreline is something like being able to visit Tranquillity Base on the moon. Things haven’t changed much. You can see what heroic explorers saw, stand where they stood, and share what they felt.

Along the way, perhaps you’ll rediscover what it’s all about to be an American.

“The Lewis and Clark campsite of November 1805 near little McGowan, Washington, ‘Camp Columbia,’ can be thought of as the Independence Hall of the American West. This site is not merely an important Lewis and Clark site, though it is that. It is one of the most important historic places of any description in our entire nation.”

-David Nicandri

Executive Director of the Washington State Historical Society