Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

a. Dimensions and footings. As has been seem, James Douglas told Governor Simpson on March 5, 1839, that a two-story Granary, fifty by forty feet, was under construction at that time. On one of the original copies of Vavasour's plan of 1845, the Wheat Store appears to scale out to about fifty-two by forty feet (Plate VI, vol. I); on the other it seems to measure about fifty-two by forty-three feet (Plate VII, vol. I). The 1846-47 inventory made by the Company lists the structure as "1 Granary, 50 x 40 [feet]." [34] In 1849 Major D. H. Vinton, U.S.A., judged it to be fifty by fifty feet. [35]

Archeologists in 1950 and 1952 found all four corner footings of the Wheat Store as well as most of those along the north, east, and west walls. The south wall was not completely excavated. According to Mr. Louis R. Caywood, who supervised the work, "east and west the corner footings were 52 feet from center to center," while "north and south the measurement was 40.5 feet." But on the detailed excavation plans the dimensions of the building appear to be shown as about fifty by forty-one feet. [36]

In view of this apparent, though not necessarily actual, conflict, a careful examination of the original field drawings might be in order. Probably the exteriors of the walls extended somewhat beyond the centers of the footings, so that an outside measurement of about fifty-two by forty-one feet for the Wheat Store would not have been unlikely.

As revealed by the archeological excavations the footings under the sills were spaced approximately ten feet apart on centers--the typical pattern for Canadian-type construction. Although the footings were not described in detail in the archeological report, they appear from the drawings to have been wooden slabs identical in size and spacing to those found on the sites of most other structures at Fort Vancouver.

b. General construction. The underlying structure of the Wheat Store is not visible in available pictures due to the board sheathing that completely covered the exteriors of the walls. On the basis of the footings and of precedent--the original Hudson's Bay Company granary at Fort Nisqually still survives (see Plate CXI, vol. I)--one might be inclined to assume that the building was constructed in the usual Canadian or post-on-sill fashion. However, in 1841 Lieutenant Wilkes was taken into the Wheat Store by James Douglas and seemingly examined it quite carefully. The Granary, he wrote, was "a frame building of two stories, and the only one, the rest being of logs." [37]

At several places throughout this study, notice has been taken of testimony by one or two other witnesses who also stated, generally erroneously it would appear, that certain structures were not built of squared timbers. But Wilkes is the only person known to have said that the Wheat Store was not constructed in the usual Canadian style. His words cannot be taken lightly, because he was a trained observer and made a particular point of explaining that the Granary was not built of logs. It must be admitted, however, that the general configuration appears to be that of a post-on-sill structure, but seemingly there is no way to be certain (see Plate LXIII).

Under these circumstances, a compromise may prove to be the best course for reconstruction, and actually it may turn out to be not far from the fact if the real structure is ever determined. A frame might be erected in the usual fashion with heavy sills, massive upright timbers, and plates, but the uprights would not be grooved. Additional bracing timbers, both horizontal and diagonal, would be required to provide the rigidity ordinarily supplied by the infill timbers. Knee braces, such as those found on wooden ships, were sometimes employed at eastern posts in place of diagonal bracing, which was little used in Hudson's Bay Company construction. Oak knee braces employed in this manner may be observed in the blockhouse at Fort Nisqually in Tacoma, but because this building is a reconstruction it is not absolutely certain that this technique was used in the original bastion. The roof would be framed in the same manner as those of the other warehouses.

The outside of the frame would be covered by vertical planks, possibly double thickness. There do not appear to be battens over the joints as the Wheat Store is pictured in the 1860 photograph, but it seems impossible to be entirely certain on this point. Evidently the walls were not lined on the inside, because otherwise Wilkes probably would not have been impressed by the type of framing.

Parts of the Wheat Store are visible in several drawings of Fort Vancouver in addition to the 1860 photograph (for examples see Plates XIV, XV, XVI, XVIII, XX-XXI, and XXVI, vol. I). All show the structure as a rather tall, box-like building with a hipped roof, the ridge of which ran east and west. It obviously was a full two stories in height.

Walls. The type of wall construction most likely used in building the Wheat Store has been described in the preceding section. If this style was actually employed, there undoubtedly was a major upright timber over each of the six footings (counting the corners) in the east-west walls. The pattern would have been different in the north south walls, however. There the centered doors and windows on the east and west sides of the Wheat Store would have precluded the use of center posts, although archeology has shown that there was a center footing under at least the east wall.

The walls evidently were about twenty feet high from the tops of the sills to the tops of the plates, but once architects have determined the heights of the door and window openings it will be possible to estimate the wall height more precisely. As shown by the ramp leading to the east entry, the sills probably were raised on wooden blocks slightly above ground level, but the outer board sheathing extended to the ground (except perhaps on the east and west; see Plate LXIII). Probably the main wall timbers were hand hewn.

Roof. The design of the hipped roof is perfectly evident from the 1860 photograph. The basic framing and construction undoubtedly were the same as those employed for the other large warehouses in the fort. Almost certainly there was solid horizontal plank sheathing immediately over the rafters.

Both the 1860 photograph (Plate LXIII) and archeological evidence prove conclusively that the Wheat Store roof was covered with interlocking metal shingles. During excavations in 1950 and 1952 archeologists found "a mass of iron sheets" on the site of this structure. "These," reported Mr. Caywood, "had been fastened to wood by the use of small, well-made, square nails about an inch in length. Many of these metal sheets were still interlocked." [38] Unfortunately, the salvaged shingles have since been lost, and thus additional excavation to recover enough examples to provide guidance for reproductions is virtually essential. Meanwhile, however, the data on metal shingles provided in Chapter III on the Powder Magazine should suffice for planning purposes.

No gutters are visible in the 1860 photograph, except for a short one placed close under the eaves over the east window and door. Although it is impossible to be positive, the photograph seems to indicate that this gutter was of metal. It dipped slightly toward the south, and some of the water running from it hit the siding as it fell and stained the boards. Probably there was a similar gutter at the west end of the building. There were no chimneys in the Wheat Store.

Doors. The Emmons ground plan of 1841 (Plate III, vol. I) depicts the "Grainery" as having two doors, one centered in both the east and west walls. [39] In the 1860 photograph only the eastern door is visible, but undoubtedly that on the west was its exact duplicate. Very probably the Wheat Store was planned to permit carts to drive in one end, load or unload, and then drive out the other end.

As pictured in the photograph (Plate LXIII) the east door was a large, double-leaved affair with an arched top. It undoubtedly was constructed of heavy planks. The design of this type of door has already been adequately discussed in the chapters on the warehouses and Blacksmith's Shop. It should be noted, however, that very faint indications of what may be paneling on the doors seem to be evident in the 1860 photograph, perhaps pointing to a different type of door than the usual one made of vertical planks. If at all possible, an enlargement should be obtained directly from the original glass negative in England with a view to bringing out the maximum amount of detail in regard to this special point.

The photograph further shows that the east door, at least, was fronted by a heavy plank and timber ramp that permitted vehicles to surmount the heavy sill. Probably the west door was approached on a similar structure.

Windows. Only one window is visible in the 1860 photograph, and it was on the second floor, centered over the door in the east wall. The south wall clearly had no windows whatever. An assumption that the west wall had a single window identical to that on the east end of the building is supported by several drawings of the 1840s and 1850s in which such an opening is visible (see Plates XIV, XVIII, XX-XXI, and XXVI, vol. I). [40]

The north wall presents more of a problem. At least two later drawings (Plates XXI and XXVI, vol. I) appear to show two windows on the north side of the Wheat Store. Neither of these views is notable for accuracy in small details, however, and the writer is inclined to follow the highly reliable Gibbs drawing of 1851 (Plate XVIII, vol. I) in which no windows are visible on the north side of the Granary. In other words, the north wall probably was a duplicate of the south wall.

The design of the east-wall window is not easily determined from the 1860 photograph. To a degree it appears to be a double-hung window with twelve panes in the upper section and eight in the lower, but it also could have been a side-hung window of twenty panes. Windows of the former type were not unusual at Hudson's Bay Company posts (see Plate LX), but the latter type was also used (see Plate LIX).

It is difficult to understand the apparent paucity of windows in the Wheat Store. One of the basic principles of good granary management in the nineteenth century was that adequate ventilation should be provided. In British granaries, wrote a leading authority of the period, "every apartment is also furnished with windows, which are opened in dry weather, for the benefit of ventilation." [41] If any other means of ventilation than the two doors and the two known windows was provided at Fort Vancouver, its nature is not yet evident.

Exterior finish. The exterior siding on the Wheat Store has already been discussed. The 1847-48 painting of Fort Vancouver by an unknown artist clearly shows that by that date the Wheat Store was painted white (Plate XV, vol. I). By 1860 most of this decorative coat apparently had worn off, but enough remained to demonstrate that the door frames, at least, were white. Apparently the window frames and sash were also white. The doors themselves were a very dark color, probably Spanish brown.

c. Interior finish and arrangement. Nothing in the available historical record provides any specific information about the interior of the Wheat Store beyond the fact that there were two stories and that there were bins. And as has been pointed out, the evidence tends to indicate that the interior was unlined. All else must be designed on the basis of comparative data, and thus far little has surfaced.

The placement of the doors would appear to indicate the presence of a wide center aisle running the entire length of the building on the ground floor. If standard British granary construction was employed at Fort Vancouver, a departure from ordinary fur trade building practice was involved, in that there were upright posts supporting the ceiling beams. While describing a typical English grain store, A. Edlin in his 1805 Treatise on the Art of Bread-Making stated that "to support the great extent of the floor, and such a weight of grain, there are several very large and solid wooden pillars placed in every room, which pass from top to bottom." [42] If such "pillars" existed at Fort Vancouver, they probably were positioned on each side of the center aisle. The bins perhaps were also ranged on each side of center aisles, both downstairs and up.

According to Edlin, fresh grain was only stored in layers about six inches deep for the first two months, being turned about twice a week during that period. Thereafter the depth was gradually increased, while the turning became less frequent. After a year it could be "laid" 2-1/2 or 3 feet deep and turned over only about once a month. Evidently this depth was about the maximum employed, but the turning could be reduced to once in two months after two years. [43] These facts would appear to indicate that the bins were relatively shallow.

What little is known about grain bins at Hudson's Bay Company posts would appear to support such a conclusion. The granary at Fort Nisqually still survives, though it was moved from its original location and partly reconstructed. Whether the bins now in the building are originals or reconstructions the writer has not ascertained. At any rate, the original bins could not have been much over three feet deep because the windows, which are in the exterior bin walls, were only about that height from the floor. [44]

Unfortunately the Historic American Buildings Survey measured drawings of the Fort Nisqually granary provide no useful information on the construction of the bins. A reexamination of this building by an architect knowledgeable in Hudson's Bay Company construction techniques would be desirable.

The floors at both levels were undoubtedly the same heavy, three inch planks used in the other warehouses. In this instance, however, they may have been tongued and grooved and possibly more smoothly finished than those employed elsewhere. Otherwise considerable quantities of grain would have been lost through the open cracks that sooner or later developed in the usual warehouse floors. Also, the process of cleaning the grain as it was received in the Wheat Store evidently involved tossing the kernels with shovels back and forth across considerable distances of open floor, the dust and other impurities falling out in the process. [45] It would seem that a floor capable of being swept clean would be a requirement for such an operation.

Because no provisions for hauling sacks of grain up to the second story are visible on the outside of the building, it probably should be assumed that this process was conducted inside. The usual open-tread stairs, trapdoors, and bracing for block and tackle assemblies were most likely present.