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Contact: Bob Cromwell, Chief of Interpretation, (360) 816-6253
Contact: Scott Irvine, Park Guide, (360) 816-6243
On September 8, 2018, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will host Campfires & Candlelight, the national park's largest living history event of the year. Campfires & Candlelight features costumed reenactors who will recreate several time periods in the region’s history.Beginning at 4 pm, the event's Timeline of History will extend from East 5th Street to the fort gates. The experience will begin with a large World War II encampment, hosted by reenactors from Living History Group NorthWest. As visitors make their way towards Fort Vancouver, they will walk back in time. Other encampments will highlight during World War I, the Spanish American War, the Oregon Trail, and the Hudson's Bay Company employee Village, a diverse community that was located at Fort Vancouver in the 1830s and 1840s. Visitors to the Timeline of History can also enjoy period music provided by the Vancouver Community Concert Band.
At 5 pm, the gates of Fort Vancouver will open. Inside the fort, visitors will be transported 172 years back in time, to the night of September 13, 1846. Costumed volunteers will recreate a night at Fort Vancouver, when the Hudson’s Bay Company was preparing a rescue party for the shipwrecked crew of the US Navy’s schooner, the USS Shark. The USS Shark had spent nearly a month at Fort Vancouver, its officers and crew visiting with Americans newly arrived in the Willamette Valley who had just come over the Oregon Trail. The Shark was lost attempting to cross the Columbia River bar on September 10, 1846, and word of the disaster arrived at Fort Vancouver on September 13, 1846. While pulling together rescue supplies for the shipwrecked crew, the many re-enactors inside the fort will discuss the most important topic of the day: the dispute between Great Britain and the United States over competing claims to the Pacific Northwest.
Reflecting Great Britain’s interest in Fort Vancouver and the Oregon Country, the British Sloop of War HMS Modeste was anchored at Fort Vancouver throughout much of 1846. The peaceful presence of warships from the United States and Great Britain during that summer at Fort Vancouver was followed by the signing of the Oregon Treaty in the summer of 1846, designating the Oregon Country as United States territory and avoiding another potentially costly war between the two countries.
"Campfires & Candlelight is always one of the year's most special events at this national park," said Fort Vancouver National Historic Site's Chief of Interpretation Bob Cromwell. "By bringing this moment in Northwest history to life, we are hoping to remind visitors of a critical time when the international boundary was not yet settled. Campfires & Candlelight is a unique community tradition, and a wonderful, immersive way to learn about our local history."
What: Campfires & Candlelight at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
When: Saturday, September 8, 2018. Timeline of History opens at 4 pm. The reconstructed Fort Vancouver opens at 5 pm. The event ends at 10 pm.
Where: The reconstructed fort at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1001 East 5th Street, Vancouver, WA 98661
Cost: Free
Parking: Free parking is available on E 5th Street, with 45 degree angle parking. E 5th Street will become a one way road, with traffic flowing from west to east, starting at 4 pm that afternoon, until 10 pm that night. Visitors will have to walk from their vehicles to the event.
Please note: This event offers a special way to experience the park: at night, with the historic ambiance of candlelight and campfires. We ask that visitors please be considerate of others and refrain from using smartphone flashlight applications while attending the event. This year, to increase fire and circulation safety, we will be supplementing with LED lights in some locations.
Last updated: August 29, 2018