Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

1. Gray, History of Oregon, 150; testimony of W. H. Gray, in Br. & Am. Joint Comm., Papers, [VIII], 184.

2. For a detailed discussion of the locations of the manager's residence see Chapter IX on the Big House.

3. Belcher, Narrative, I, 294.

4. Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 (5 vols., Philadelphia, 15 , IV, 331.

5. On the Covington map the southeast gate appears to have shifted to the east a few feet, but this map, which has no scale, is so far out of proportion that attempts at measurement can give no precise results.

6. This shift is confirmed by comparing the position of the gate in relation to the two large storehouses north of it as shown on the Vavasour plan with that depicted on the Summary Sheet Archeological Excavations. The Covington map of 1846 is too small in scale to throw any certain light upon the question of when this shift might have been made.

7. Caywood, Final Report, 25.

8. John Minto, "Reminiscences of Experiences on the Oregon Trail in 1844-II," in OHQ, II (September, 1901), 245.

9. The Emmons plan, having no scale, is of little assistance in precisely locating this gate. However, there is no major incompatability in this regard between the Emmons and the Vavasour maps.

10. Caywood, Final Report, 25.

11. Combes, A Report, 4.

12. Combes, op. cit., 5. See plate XXXIX for a diagram of this gate as excavated in 1966.

13. A drawing of Fort Vancouver from the north made by George Gibbs in 1851 distinctly shows the north gate situated farther to the west, seemingly near the granary or wheat store (see plate XVIII). No other certain representation of a gate in this location has been found.

14. Compton, Forts and Fort Life in New Caledonia, MS, 7.

15. Emil Teichmann, A Journey to Alaska in the Year 1868: Being a Diary of the Late Emil Teichmann (New York; Argosy-Antiquarian Ltd., 1963), 105-106.

16. Br. & Am. Joint Comm., Papers, [VIII], 180-181. Gray also said that "the greater portion of each gate was of only a single thickness of planks, but with battens. Apparently this atypical construction resulted from a scarcity of timber and from the fact that these particular gates were made by American emigrants stopping at Fort Walla Walla. Ibid., 181, 268.

17. In general, the gate hardware at Hudson's Bay posts which have been reconstructed in recent years is rather light. For examples see plates XLI and XLII.

18. The Fort Nisqually journal for March 19, 1849, contains the following sentence: "Wren fixing padlocks on Fort gates." Victor J. Farrar, ed., "The Nisqually Journal," in Washington Historical Quarterly, X (July, 1919), 207.