Historic Object Conservation at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

In April 2023, National Park Service Conservator Fran Ritchie provided conservation treatment for several historic objects in the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site museum collection.

NPS Photo

In April 2023, Fort Vancouver National Historic Sited hosted a professional conservator from the National Park Service's Harper's Ferry Center Museum Conservation Services. For two weeks, Conservator Fran Ritchie worked in Fort Vancouver NHS' Archaeology Lab cleaning several select historical objects from the park's museum collection.

Many of the items she conserved were part of the collection associated with the McLoughlin House Unit of Fort Vancouver NHS. This collection helps tell the story of the McLoughlin family, a leading family of Fort Vancouver. The family later lived in Oregon City, Oregon, in a historic home now known as the McLoughlin House.

Conservation treatment removes decades of dirt, residue, and grime from historic objects, allowing us to better preserve them into the future and display them in exhibits. Read on to learn more about some of the historic objects that received conservation treatment as part of this project, and take a look at views of the objects before and after treatment!

Learn more about the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site museum collection here.

John Rae's Dagger

Left image
John Rae's Dagger (Before)
Credit: NPS Photo

Right image
John Rae's Dagger (After)
Credit: NPS Photo

John Rae was born at Fort Vancouver in 1839. His mother was Eloisa McLoughlin Rae, the daughter of the fort's Chief Factor. His father was William Glen Rae, one of the fort's clerks, who originally came to North American from Scotland. John's father died when John was young. John Rae had family ties to Scotland on both his father's and his mother's sides. Later in his life, he visited and lived in Scotland for some time before returning to the Northwest to be with his aging mother. 

This dagger, small knife, and fork are part of a traditional Scottish gentleman's regalia owned by John Rae. While the conservator found that these items were in good condition, they were heavily tarnished and had some slight abrasions on their leather accents and handles. The conservator polished and applied a protective coating to the silver, and cleaned the wood, leather, and "gems."

John McLoughlin's Horticultural Medal

Left image
Horticultural Medal (before)
Credit: NPS Photo

Right image
Horticultural Medal (after)
Credit: NPS Photo

On May 11, 1826, Dr. John McLoughlin was awarded this large silver medal from the Royal Horticultural Society of London. According to Society records, it was awarded "for the assistance rendered to Mr. David Douglas, whilst making his collections in the countries belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company." Douglas was a Scottish botanist who had been commissioned by the Society to collect plants throughout western North America, and attempt to introduce them to British gardens.

The conservator noted that the medal was tarnished and had accumulations of dull, white particulates in the deep crevices of the "heads" side (pictured here). She cleaned the surfaces of the medallion, reduced old polishing residue, lightly polished the surface using a calcium carbonate slurry, and applied a protective resin coating to help prevent future tarnishing.

Candlesticks

Left image
Candlesticks (before)
Credit: NPS Photo

Right image
Candlesticks (after)
Credit: NPS Photo

This pair of silver candlesticks was owned by the McLoughlin family.

The conservator removed wax buildup leftover in the candle holders, reduced old polishing residue using wooden picks and solvent, used a calcium carbonate slurry to lightly polish and reduce tarnish on the candlesticks' surface, and, finally, applied a protective resin coating to help prevent future tarnishing.

North West Company Seal

Left image
North West Company Seal (before)
Credit: NPS Photo

Right image
North West Company Seal (after)
Credit: NPS Photo

Before he worked for the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, Dr. John McLoughlin was employed by the North West Company, a rival Canadian fur trade company. During his time as a clerk for the North West Company, McLoughlin would have used this small seal to stamp wax envelope seals.

The conservator used cotton swabs dampened by mineral spirits to gently remove wax and overall grime from this object. Then, she polished it using a calcium carbonate and water slurry and applied a protective coating of acrylic resin and microcrystalline wax.