Why you'd want to live in Washougal
HISTORY This small community is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River, with its lowlands and famous prairie situated on the west entrance to the scenic Columbia River Gorge. Motorists who approach Washougal from the west on the Lewis and Clark Highway are impressed with the majestic display of Mount Hood rising above the Cascade Mountains, framed by the columnar cliffs that signal the gateway of the Gorge and the great Columbia River that reflects its view. This setting of natural beauty has inspired many an explorer, both old and new. CROSSROADS OF DISCOVERY GRAY, VANCOUVER & BROUGHTON It can be accurately stated that Washougal is the "crossroads to discovery" in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after Captain Robert Gray, a Boston fur trader, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River in May of 1792, the famed British explorer George Vancouver traveled to the region to verify Gray's discovery. In October of 1792, Vancouver directed a young Lieutenant named William Broughton to lead a party of men in a long boat up the Columbia to explore its head waters. Broughton came as far as present day Washougal and landed near the east end of Reed Island. He named Mount Hood after a British admiral and Point Vancouver after his commanding officer. Broughton incorrectly assumed the head waters of the Columbia originated from Mount Hood. In reality, the river originates some 1,000 miles to the north and east in Canada, but it would be 18 years later before the entire river was charted by another famed British explorer named David Thompson. Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia opened trade between Europeans and Chinook Indians who lived along the lower Columbia between the Cascade region and the river's mouth. U.S, British, Spanish, and Russian fur traders bartered for sea otter and beaver skins in the late 1700s. Then, another important group of explorers visited the region in 1805 and 1806, but this group came from the east, which marked the first cross-continental expedition. via City of Washougal website
