Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

a. Dimensions and footings. As has already been seen, both the Vavasour plan of 1845 and the Company's building inventory of 1846-47 agree in giving the dimensions of the Harness Shop as twenty-five by forty feet. There seems to be no reason why these measurements should not be accepted, particularly because archeological excavations in 1952 and 1971 uncovered no corner footings that would have proved the dimensions without a doubt.

In 1952 Archeologist Louis R. Caywood unearthed two blocks of wood, each measuring about one by two feet and oriented east-west, a few feet south of a stone foundation. Because they were situated on the same east-west line and spaced about 12-1/2 feet apart, it was assumed that they represented footings of the Harness Shop. [13] When the site was reexcavated in 1971 these blocks had disappeared. Messrs. Hoffman and Ross were aware of Mr. Caywood's find and believed the two blocks were "near the southern edge of the Harness Shop position." [14]

This writer accepts the assumption that these pieces of wood represented footings, but he wishes to advance the hypothesis that they were near the northern wall of the Harness Shop and represented either interior footings of that structure or footings of one of the smaller buildings that may have been erected later on the Harness Shop site. The reasons for this theory are twofold:

(1) If one examines the original versions of the very accurate Vavasour plan of 1845 (Plates VI and VII, vol. I) he notes that the north wall of the Harness Shop was approximately fifteen feet south of the north stockade line, while the south wall of the shop was about forty feet south of the pickets and about on a line with the north end of the Big House. This measurement is as would be expected for a structure twenty-five feet wide.

Now, if one turns to Mr. Caywood's excavation drawings, sheet 9, one quickly observes that the two footings were between twenty-two and twenty-five feet south of the stockade, depending upon which line of pickets is used as a base. In other words, the footings were from seven to ten feet south of where they might have been expected to have been found had they been footings of the north wall of the Harness Shop.

(2) If one extends the north end of the Big House, as shown on Mr. Caywood's drawings, eastward across the Harness Shop site, one finds that this line is about forty-two to forty-four feet south of the stockade, again depending on which line of pickets is used as a base. This distance corresponds reasonably well with the distance of forty feet given by Vavasour for the south wall of the Harness Shop.

Now, if one measures northward twenty-five feet from this assumed south wall site, one establishes a hypothetical north Harness Shop wall that is roughly sixteen to eighteen feet south of the stockade. Switching now to Figure 1 in Hoffman and Ross, Fort Vancouver Excavations--III, one sees that a line 16-1/2 feet south of the center of the re constructed stockade marks the southern limit of the oven foundations as excavated in 1971 In other words, it would appear that the northern wall of the Harness Shop and the southern end of the oven complex were both, after allowing for a small percentage of error, equidistant from the stockade wall and that that distance was very close to that pictured by Vavasour.

This condition is exactly what one would expect. It will be remembered that from about 1836 to 1844 the Harness Shop structure served as a bakery. Company practice, as proved by archeological evidence on the site of the 1844-60 Bakery and by H.B.C. bakeries at other posts, was to build bake ovens outside of, but abutting, the bakehouse structures proper. The ovens were not shown jutting from the north wall of the Harness Shop on the Vavasour map of 1845 or on the "Line of Fire" map of September 1844, because by those dates, as will be recalled, the bricks had been removed for use in the new bakery.

Having thus suggested the locations of the north and south walls of the 1845 Harness Shop, it seems reasonable to speculate on the positions of the other two walls. It has been seen that the Vavasour plan placed the west wall about twenty-five feet east of the 1845 Big House Kitchen and the east wall about thirty-five to forty feet west of the 1845 "Bake House." Unfortunately, these measurements could not have been correct, because the distance between the 1845 Kitchen and the Bakery was closer to 125 feet than to 105 feet.

Nevertheless, the east-west position can be established within fairly close limits. On the east, archeologists have uncovered two privy pits situated along the west side of the northern end of the east stockade as it stood in 1841 (line CF on Plate I, vol. I). These privy pits appear to have been about sixteen to seventeen feet east of the ca. 1836-44 oven complex unearthed in 1971. Because the east wall of the ca. 1836 Bakery (later Harness Shop) must have stood at least five feet west of these privies, the north wall of the structure could not have extended more than about eleven or twelve feet east of the oven complex. Allowing eleven feet for the width of the oven complex as reported by Messrs. Hoffman and Ross, the north wall of the Harness Shop must have extended about seventeen or eighteen feet west of the ovens (in order to make a total length of forty feet). [15]

A west wall standing seventeen or eighteen feet west of the oven com plex would have meant that the hearth area found both in 1952 and 1971 lay outside the confines of the Harness Shop. Such a conclusion coincides with the findings of Messrs Hoffman and Ross, who have shown, on the basis of the type of bricks found about the hearth and its adjacent fallen chimney, that these features were associated with the post-1852 Kitchen that closely neighbored the Harness Shop on the west. [16]

It would appear, then, that the oven complex was not centered on the north wall of the ca. 1836 Bakery. Perhaps supporting such a conclusion is the fact that Emmons in 1841 depicted the only door to this structure as not centered on the south wall but placed about one-third of the wall length from the west end (see Plate III, vol. I).

b. General construction. Because no footings that can positively be related to exterior walls were found, there are no physical clues as to the type of construction. Undoubtedly, however, the usual Canadian-style, squared-log technique was employed. In fact the Harness Shop probably was built in much the same manner as the 1845 Bakery (which has already been described in considerable detail in this report) except that it may have been better finished, because it was described in the 1846-47 inventory as being "lined and sided." [17]

The roof and the gable ends of the Harness Shop are visible in several paintings and drawings of Fort Vancouver made between 1846 and 1854 (see Plates XIV-XV, XVIII, and XX, vol. I). These views show the Harness Shop as an unusually low structure for Fort Vancouver, with the ridge of the gabled roof running parallel to the north stockade wall. Perhaps the clearest picture is that drawn by the talented and versatile George Gibbs on July 2, 1851 (Plate XX, vol. I). He depicts the roof of the Harness Shop as barely rising above the pickets between the Kitchen and the Bakery. The eave line was well below the top of the stockade, and the roof evidently was covered by vertical boards. From the height of the building it must have been a one-story affair; or, if there was a garret, it must have been very low.

Chimney. In none of the pictures showing the roof of the Harness Shop can a chimney be discerned. The archeologists who excavated the oven foundations of the ca. 1836-44 Bakery in 1971 found fragments of locally made bricks, apparently dating from about 1844 and later, associated with the oven foundations, leading them to conclude that there may have been "possible reuse of the oven foundation during the period of the Harness Shop; that is after 1844." [18]

In view of the absence of all pictorial evidence of a chimney in connection with the Harness Shop, however, this writer is inclined toward the view that no metalworking or other operation requiring fire was conducted in that structure after the bakery was transferred to a new building. This hypothesis seems strengthened by the fact that the inventory of articles in use in the "Saddlers Shop," reproduced later in this chapter, lists no items associated with forges, stoves, or fires of any sort. In the opinion of the writer, therefore, the ovens were dismantled in 1844, and thereafter there was no provision for heating or smithing in the Harness Shop.

Door. It has already been mentioned that the Emmons plan of 1841 shows only one door in the ca. 1836-44 Bakery, and there is no good reason to assume that the situation changed when the building was con verted to a saddler's shop. This door was situated in the south wall, about one-third of the entire wall distance from the west end (see Plate III, vol. I).

Probably this door was made of tongued and grooved beaded planks in the same manner as the warehouse and shop doors already described in this report. It should be noted, however, that archeologists in 1971 recovered hinges, hasps, keyhole plates, padlock parts, and other hardware from the Harness Shop site. These should be carefully studied by the architects making the construction drawings.

While on the subject of hardware, it might be well to note that, while there were tapered wood screws at Fort Vancouver during the 1840s, it appears to have been general Company practice to affix hardware, particularly exterior hinges, hasps, etc., with nails. For hardware such as hinge butts, these nails were hand forged, with tapered heads to match the countersunk holes in butt hinges. In fact, one such nail was found on or near the Harness Shop site still in its hinge. [19] For large hinges, such as on gates or powder magazine doors, however, heavy, hand-forged, rosette-headed nails were generally used.

Windows. No thing is known about the windows in the Harness Shop. No windows are discernable in the gable ends in any of the available views, and there are no known pictures that show the lower part of this structure. It can be assumed that there were several rather small windows in each wall, probably centered in the bays.

Exterior finish. Because the building was described as having been "sided," it is probable that it was weatherboarded on the outside. The same type of siding probably was used in the gables, although vertical boards were quite as likely to have been used above the plates.

Probably this building was finished in much the same manner as was the Old Office, with unpainted or very thinly painted siding; Spanish brown door, door trim, and window trim; and white sash.

c. Interior finish and arrangement. Aside from the fact that the Harness Shop was "lined," the historical evidence throws no light upon the interior. It can only be guessed that the building was a single large room without interior supports. The walls almost certainly were lined with vertical tongued and grooved dressed boards. The joints probably were beaded. In view of the information in one version of the 1846-47 inventory, the room probably was also ceiled with boards. Because no evidence of a hard-packed earth floor was found by archeologists, it can safely be assumed that this structure had a wooden floor. [20] In fact, in view of the evident attention given to detail in this building, the floor planks may even have been planed. The interior undoubtedly was unpainted.