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Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Sighting The Beacon Rock On A Stormy Autumn Day, Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail

A stormy, autumn view of Oregon on the left, the Columbia River, Ives Island, and Beacon Rock along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

In the autumn of 1805, while on the Columbia River, William Clark spotted this eroded volcanic plug and named it Beacon Rock. This is the area where he first noticed the tidal influence of the Pacific Ocean on the river. Given several monikers over time, the name "Beacon Rock" was finally restored and the land around and including this landmark was made into a Washington state park along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Rebecca Latson

A View Upriver From Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail

An upriver view of the Columbia River on an overcast day, with Washington state on the left side and Oregon on the right side, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

One of the trails at Horsethief Butte leads the hiker around the basalt outcrop to a terminus with a panoramic view of the Columbia River, Oregon, and Washington state at Columbia Hills Historical State Park along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Rebecca Latson

Photography In The National Parks: Lewis And Clark National Historical Park’s Fort Clatsop

If you are ever near the port town of Astoria, Oregon, you should take a little time for a side trip to Fort Clatsop, at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. Contributing photographer Rebecca Latson visited during her exploration of the Pacific Northwest portion of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and returns with a little history as well as ideas for capturing photos of what you might see during your own visit.

A Basalt Butte With A View: Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail

The tiny figures of three people standing atop the basalt outcrop of Horsethief Butte on an overcast day at Columbia Hills Historical State Park along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Horsethief Butte is a basalt outcrop popular with climbers and hikers. This butte was so named by workers developing the site because the area landscape looked much like the horsethief hideouts popular in western movies. During autumn 1805, Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery camped near this outcrop during their trek along the Columbia River toward the Pacific Ocean.

Rebecca Latson

A Grassy Trail To Horsethief Butte At Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail

A grassy trail between a basalt outcrop known as Horsethief Butte on an overcast, autumn day at Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

During the autumn of 1805, Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery camped very near the basalt outcrop now named Horsethief Butte, a site in Columbia Hills Historical State Park along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. This butte is popular with climbers and a couple of trails, including the one pictured in this image, lead to portions of the outcrop more for climbers than hikers.

Rebecca Latson

Oregon On The Left, Washington On The Right, Distant Horsethief Butte, And The Mighty Columbia River, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

A downriver view of the Columbia River, with Oregon on the left, Washington state on the right, and Horsethief Butte in the far center right all along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Between 1804 - 1806, a band of 33 hunters, scouts, and translators (including Sacagawea, her French-Canadian husbant Toussaint Charbonneau. and their infant son) and one Newfoundland dog named Seaman, collectively known as the Corps of Discovery and led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, traveled approximately 4,900 miles over 16 states to the Pacific Ocean.

Rebecca Latson

Beaverhead Rock Beneath A Wide Open Sky, Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail

Beaverhead Rock behind a golden field and underneath a wide open sky, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

"On August 8, 1805, Sacagawea saw Beaverhead Rock and knew she was home. According to Lewis, '[T]his hill she says her nation calls the beaver's head from a conceived remblance of it's figure to the head of that animal. she assures us that we shall either find her people on this river or on the river immediately west of it's source; which from it's present size cannot be very distant.'"

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