NU. 8 DRAWINGS BY GEORGE GIBBS BUSHNELL I3 



A concise description of Fort A'ancouver, printed in 1840," 

 explains many of the details of the drawings. To quote (pp. 19-20) : 



On the north side of the Columbia, and a quarter of a mile from it, stands 

 Fort Vancouver, the principal establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 west of the Rocky Mountains. It consists of a number of wooden buildings 

 within a stockade, serving as dwelling-houses, stores, magazines, and work- 

 shops ; and near it are other small buildings inhabited by the laborers, together 

 with a saw-mill and grist-mill. The whole number of residents at the place 

 is about eight hundred, of whom a large proportion are Indians or half-breeds. 

 Several hundred acres of land near the fort are under cultivation, producing 

 wheat, barley, oats, pease, potatoes, &c., in abundance; and the stock of cattle 

 is also considerable. 



It was a place of great activity, surrounded by many tribes who 



spoke diiTerent languages and had strange manners and ways of life. 



Maj. Osborne Cross mentioned Fort Vancouver in his journal:^'* 



Fort Vancouver, which is the head(|uarters of the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 is on the right bank of the river. It is situated on a beautiful plain, about five 

 miles long, and probably is three quarters of a mile wide. The country gradually 

 rises, and runs back for ten or fifteen miles, passing through several plains, 

 some of which are cultivated. On one of these plains there is an excellent 

 seminary, where the children from the fort and the neighborhood are educated. 



Immediately in rear of the fort, and on the rising ground, the company of 

 artillery under Brevet Major Hatheway have put up temporary quarters, and 

 have made themselves very comfortable. 



The latter became Columbia Barracks, and the temporary quarters 

 were soon replaced by others of a more permanent nature. The 

 Officers' Quarters at the barracks, as they appeared 2 years later, 

 were sketched by Gibbs July 2, 185 1 (pi. 11, fig. 3). At that time 

 they formed an attractive group of buildings facing Fort Vancouver, 

 with the Columbia beyond, while a short distance in the rear was 

 the edge of the forest which extended olif to the north. 



Gibbs did not remain many days in the vicinity of the fort, but 

 turned southward to California where he joined the McKee party 

 and soon set out to explore the northwestern part of the State and 

 to visit the many native tribes some of whom may never before 

 have come in contact with the white man. 



IN NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA, 1851 



The journal of the expedition into northwestern California, pre- 

 pared by Gibbs and later mentioned by McKee in his letter of March 



" Greenhow, Robert, Alemoir, historical and political, on the Northwest coast 

 of North America . . . 26th Congr., ist Sess., Senate Doc. 174. Washington, 

 1840. 



'" Op. cit., p. 228. 



