Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Recommendations

a. The southwest gate, situated in the stockade wall of late 1845 (the inner south wall as revealed by archeological excavations) should be located about 190 to 195 feet east of the 1845 southwest stockade corner. If further archeological excavations do not produce remains of this gate to show the exact site, the gate should be located so that it can be joined to the storehouses (buildings nos. 7 and 8 on "Summary Sheet, Archeological Excavations") as shown on the Vavasour "Plan of Fort Vancouver" (plate VI).

b. Lacking archeological data, the southwest gate should be made the same width as that found in the north wall, i.e., 12 feet between gate post centers. The gate posts should be about 13 inches in diameter as were those found in the outer south wall.

c. An archeological search should be made along the entire length of the inner and outer south walls in an effort to find the remains of the several successive southeast gates. Interpretation of these findings should permit a precise location of this gate as it stood in 1845-1846. If no traces of the gate are found, the restored southeast entrance should be about 205 to 208 feet west of the 1845 southeast stockade corner.

d. The north gate should be located as revealed by the 1966 archeological excavations. The distance between gate post centers should be 12 feet.

e. The gates should be eight feet high, with widths as given in the preceding section.

f. Each gate should have two leaves, opening inward.

g. Each gate leaf should be constructed of two thickness of three-inch planking, the planks to run vertically on the outer face and horizontally on the inner.

h. Hardware and heavy studding nails should follow the pattern used at Fort York, Canada.

i. One leaf in each gate should contain a postern door patterned after that at Fort York.

j. The palisade sections over one gate should be removable to permit entry of trucks during reconstruction of buildings within the stockade.