Lewis and Clark's Fort Clatsop replica burns to the
ground
Longview Daily News October 3, 2005
The Associated Press Oct 4,
2005
WARRENTON,
Ore. – Fort Clatsop, a replica of where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent
the soggy winter of 1805-1806 after reaching the Pacific, was destroyed by
fire, park superintendent Chip Jenkins said today.
Volunteer
firefighters worked for hours Monday night to try to save the fort at the Lewis
and Clark National Historic Park, Jenkins said, but "half of the fort was
burned up, and the other half is essentially a loss."
A cause
for the fire has not yet been determined. Fire investigators began looking for
the cause of the blaze this morning.
The
fire happened just 40 days before a Lewis and Clark Bicentennial event was
scheduled to be held at the fort, the culmination of a two-year, national
celebration of the explorers' journey West.
"We
will rebuild," Jenkins said. "The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial events
will go on through the winter."
There
was no electricity or gas source in the fort, Jenkins said.
"It
is essentially a log shell," he said.
The
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park is among the newest of the nation's
388 national parks and the second one in Oregon. It is made up of several sites
in Oregon and Washington tied to the westward end of the Lewis and Clark
expedition of 1804-1806.
The
park covers 10,000 acres, including a six-mile trail under construction that
traces the route the explorers used to get from Fort Clatsop, south of Astoria,
to the sea.
Fort Clatsop contained a replica of the explorers' winter quarters, based on drawings and descriptions in the journals of William Clark and Meriwether Lewis. There were regular demonstrations of weaponry and of skills the explorers relied on, such as tanning elk hides and making clothing.
