Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

a. Well No. 1. The Vavasour map shows this well as a rectangle which according to the scales on two different versions of the plan measures between 25 and 28 feet on one side and between 18 and 20 feet on the other (see plates VI and VIII). The inventory of the Hudson's Bay Company property made during the winter of 1846-1847 listed "one well house, 24 x 18 feet." [13] Almost certainly these data refer to the same structure. Unfortunately, there seems to be no known picture of this building which stood over Well No. 1, nor has any archeological evidence concerning its dimensions or construction yet been uncovered.

Much more information is available concerning the well itself. It was partially excavated by the National Park Service in 1952. Under the site of the well house as shown by the Vavasour plan was found a pit about 15 feet deep and roughly 15 feet square, with rounded corners. In the lower third of the pit were found many artifacts dating from the Hudson's Bay Company period. The upper portion of the pit was filled with dirt, rocks, and trash. Objects recovered here seemed to date from about 1870 to 1900. There was no evidence of walls or other structural elements on the sides of the pit.

At the bottom of the pit, 15 feet below present ground level, the well shaft was discovered. It measured slightly less than five feet square and was cribbed with 6-inch by 8-inch timbers which interlocked at the corners. The shaft was opened to a depth of about eight feet but, due to the danger of cave-in, the exploration was abandoned before the bottom of the well was reached. The well was then backfilled, but an excellent diagram in Mr. Caywood's report preserves a record of the cribbing construction (see plate LVI). [14]

As Mr. Caywood so aptly states, if the cribbing had originally extended to the ground surface, there is now no way of knowing it, since the large 15' x 15' pit, if dug at a date after the well had been constructed, would have obliterated all evidence. Mr. Caywood suggests that the space between the ground surface and the cribbing -- the 15' x 15' pit, 15' deep — may have been used for the storage of perishable foods, but no archeological evidence of its use, "other than as well and deposit for refuse," was discovered. [15]

One object found during the excavation tends to support the view that the cribbing did not extend to the ground surface. Mr. Caywood's description of this discovery is as follows:

During the excavation of Well No. 1, a windlass, complete with iron ferrules and crank handles, was found across the top of the cribbed well shaft. The drum had been made of a fir log and was still in a good state of preservation. The windlass was found in place and would substantiate the theory that water was drawn from the lower level, some twelve to fourteen feet below the [1845?] ground level. The larger excavation above the well shaft must have been used as a "spring house" or cooling room for perishables. [16]

b. Well No. 2. During the 1952 excavations a search was made for this well by running a trench over the site as shown on the Vavasour ground plan. At a depth of about four feet an area of gravel fill was encountered which, on exploration, proved to measure about 24' x 21'. Near the center of this fill area a number of large bounders were found. When these were cleared away a circle of stones forming the top of the well was revealed. There were 15 rocks, averaging about 13 inches in thickness, in this circle. The shaft opening was 5.2 feet in diameter.

The well was filled with large stream boulders, some of which were believed to have weighed between 300 and 400 pounds. These were removed and the well cleared down to water level, 25.6 feet below the collar and 29.8 feet below the present ground surface. As far as it was excavated, the circular shaft was lined with boulders.

Mr. Caywood, who directed the uncovering of the well, made some interesting speculations concerning the method of its original construction:

When the Hudson's Bay Company dug the well, they probably made an excavation nearly 17 feet square. This is indicated by the gravel fill area round the well. Then, from the bottom of this excavation they began to lay the stone well lining, thus building it up towards ground level. At the same time, they refilled behind the lining with clean gravel. When they were through, they had stone lined well shaft only 5.2 feet across and over 25 feet deep. The lining is still as sturdy today as it was then. [17]

Early in 1971 additional archeological testing was conducted in the vicinity of Well No. 2. The complete report on this work is not yet available, but Mr. J. J. Hoffman, in charge of the excavations, believes that earlier conclusions concerning the structural details of this well will have to be altered. "We now know," he reported on February 1, 1971, "that strangely shaped masonry structures lay deeply buried around the well shaft." [18]

No picture has yet been found that shows the aboveground structure of Well No. 2; neither were any remains reported as the result of the archeological explorations. Any reconstruction, therefore, will have to be based upon typical wells at other Hudson's Bay Company posts. Unfortunately, information on this subject seems scanty.

It was noted that in 1876 Fort Ellice possessed a "fine well" which was located near the chief factor's house. The only structural information given about this well, however, was that it had "the proverbial oaken bucket attached to a rope and chain." [19]