Fort Colvile, Stevens/Ferry County, Washington.  Map
In 1825 the British-based Hudson's Bay Company established a fur trading fort, Fort Colville, just above the Kettle Falls. Although the fort was in what is now Stevens County, its influence spread across a broad area. Some of the company's retired French-Canadian employees were probably Ferry County's first permanent European residents. They married into local Indian families and many of their descendants still live in the county.

Fort George, Clatsop, Oregon.  Map
"Wednesday May 1, 1833.  Ft. George seen from off Pt. Ellice where the Ganymede lay at anchor did not much resemble its namesake in Scotland, a few cottages perched on a green knoll close to beach with a small triangular space behind cleared -- except the stumps -- & all around a trackless forest. . .  The fort is built on a rising ground at the head of a small creek or bay - along the margin of which there are about 1/2 a dozen miserable looking wooden huts inhabited by Indians - about a gun shot from this are about the same number of comfortable looking cottages which constitute Ft. George." ⁽¹⁾

Astoria was the first permanent Euro-American settlement west of the Missouri River. It was founded by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company in April, 1811. Fort Astoria was the headquarters and was later named Fort George after it was bought by British traders who dominated the area until American farmers settled there in the 1840’s. Perhaps the oldest gravemarker in the Northwest is behind Fort George, for Donald McTavish. Donald McTavish brought Jane Barnes, the first white woman to land on the Pacific Coast, to Astoria from Great Britain in 1814. Her blonde hair and blue eyes caused quite a stir among the natives. The son of Chief Concomly wanted to marry her and she refused, almost causing a war. The Indians even tried to kidnap her. Jane Barnes Day is celebrated annually in Astoria.

Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Map
Fort Langley is located on the Fraser River in lower British Columbia. Construction of the first Fort Langley commenced on August 1, 1827. Fort Langley was part of a network of trading posts established by the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific Slope in the early nineteenth century. Though its trade in furs was initially profitable, its main role became a supportive one including varied economic activities. It operated a large scale farm, initiated the famous west coast salmon packing industry and began B.C.'s foreign commerce. Fort Langley also blazed the first useable all-Canadian route from the coast to the interior and with its sister posts helped preserve British/Canadian interests west of the Rockies.

Fort McLoughlin, Milbank Sound, British Columbia, Canada.
William Frasier Tolmie, December 24, 1833:  the Fort -- it is 150 in one direction & 140 in the opposite -- the inequalities of the surface preventing its being an equilateral -- the houses are built of strong & massive materials & make those a Nusqually seem flimsy in my view -- but Mr. Heron's ho. will bear comparison with any of them for point of neatness & the accuracy with which the logs are adapted to each other." "Fort McLoughlin, established in May 1833, was an HBC trading post in McLoughlin Bay on Campbell Island, about 520 km north of Vancouver along the Inside Passage. Named for Dr John McLoughlin, it was built in the territory of the Bella Bella, now the Heiltsuk, people; they acted as intermediaries in the fur trade with groups up and down the coast and deep into the Interior. With the arrival of the steamship Beaver on the coast, George Simpson, an HBC governor, decided that northern trade could be conducted by boat and in 1843 the fort closed. The community that grew up around the post was called Bella Bella."
 

Fort Nisqually, Pierce County, Washington.  Map
Fort Nisqually - Two forts by this name were built by Hudson's Bay Company on different sites two miles apart. They were near the present town of DuPont in northwest Pierce County. The first was built in 1833 on Nisqually Reach near the water's edge, directly south of Sequalitchew Creek. The post was moved northeast about two miles in 1843.

Fort of the Lakes, British Columbia, Canada. 
By the late 1830s, the HBC had built a satellite of Fort Colvile, called "Mckay's House" or "Fort of the Lakes", in the vicinity of Arrowhead at the upper end of Upper Arrow Lake. Another HBC post, Fort Shepherd, was built in 1856-1857 on the west side of the Columbia River about 1.6 km north of the international boundary. This was done to allow the HBC to continue their trade in this region, as it was anticipated that Fort Colvile would be closed by American authorities.

Hudson Bay Company Forts - Pacific Northwest Map

Marion County, Oregon. map
Then called Champoick, was created in 1843 by the Provisional Government Legislative Committee 16 years before Oregon gained statehood on February 14, 1859. In 1849 the name was changed to Marion honoring American Revolutionary General Francis Marion.

St. Louis, Marion County, Oregon. map
Located about three miles NW of Gervais, St. Louis is one of the old settlements in the Willamette Valley. In 1844, a Jesuit missionary, the Reverend Aloysius Verecuysee, visited the early settlers and in 1845 he built a log church at St. Louis. In November 1847, the parish was first organized with a resident priest, the Rev. B. Delorme. The parish was named for Saint Louis, King of France. 1860 St. Louis post office established Oct 26, 1860 with S.C. Matthieu as first post master. This office was in operation, for the most part, until 1901 when it was closed to Gervais. The remains of Madame Marie Dorion, famous member of the Astor overland party, are buried at St. Louis Church.

Woodburn, Marion County, Oregon. map

View of Woodburn, Oregon, 1893

This is the view of Woodburn, Oregon from the water tower showing the railroad, the depot, and the buildings from Front Street west. Identified are the Remmington house in the foreground, the Maria Bradley house, and the Millinery store.

1.  The Journals of William Fraser Tolmie  Physician & Fur Trader, Mitchell Press Limited, Vancouver Canada, 1963.  Pg 165 - 166.