Last updated: November 27, 2020
Place
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Quick Facts
MANAGED BY:
Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums
This map shows a range of features associated with the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which commemorates the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The trail spans a large portion of the North American continent, from the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. The trail is comprised of the historic route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, an auto tour route, high potential historic sites (shown in black), visitor centers (shown in orange), and pivotal places (shown in green). These features can be selected on the map to reveal additional information. Also shown is a base map displaying state boundaries, cities, rivers, and highways. The map conveys how a significant area of the North American continent was traversed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition and indicates the many places where visitors can learn about their journey and experience the landscape through which they traveled.
On the evening of November 4, 1805, the Corps of Discovery camped in the vicinity of today’s Post Office Lake. Clark recounted, “I could not Sleep for the noise kept by the Swans, Geese, white & black brant, Ducks &c. on a opposit base, & Sand hill Crane, they were emensely numerous and their noise horrid.” The following day they passed through a broad, channeled floodplain “covered with cotton wood, maple, and the like kinds of wood” and bounded by ridges “closely covered with spruce timber.” An abundance of wildlife included a variety of birds “flying in every direction,” sea otters, snakes, and deer. There were “a great many Indian camps, their lodges made chiefly of poles and cedar bark.” Particularly notable was the Chinookan village of Cathlapotle, which Clark described as “a large village, the front of which occupies nearly ¼ of a mile fronting the Chanel, and closely Connected, [with] 14 houses in front.” During the return journey, the Corps stopped to visit the village on March 29, 1806. They delayed for about three hours, bartering and purchasing goods. Clark “gave a Medal of the Small Size to the principal Chief” before they departed.
The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, which includes Post Office Lake, was established in 1965 to provide a habitat for wildlife – particularly wintering waterfowl. The 5,300-acre refuge also preserves numerous archeological sites that span over 2,000 years of occupation, including Cathlapotle. A full-scale Chinookan plankhouse, based on evidence found at the Cathlapotle archeological site, was constructed in 2005 to interpret the refuge’s natural and cultural history.