Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/53

Rh per Astoria. They were erected by the first Receiver of Customs for Oregon; but the old custom-house and wharf are rapidly going to decay. Directly back of this place, begins a "military road" to the State Capital, on which was supposed to be expended, in the years 1855–6, an appropriation of $80,000. It was never fit for use, and is now quite choked up with fallen timber and a now growth of trees.

Following the curving and beautifully wooded shore back to the Astoria of to-day, we naturally inquire for the site of the Astor establishment of 1811. This is it, just back of the little bay before mentioned, where you see a long, one-storied house in a state of decay. There was built the fort of Mr. Aster's company. It consisted of a square, inclosing ninety by a hundred feet of ground, with palisades in front and rear, one of the sides protected by the warehouse fronting on a ravine, and the other by the dwelling-house and shops, with a bastion at each corner, north and south, on which were mounted four small cannon. As all the buildings were constructed of hewn logs, roofed with cedar-bark, they constituted a very good defense against the Indian arrows, especially as they were made formidable by the four small cannon.

On the 2Gth of September, 1811, the buildings inside the fort were completed. The dwelling-house contained a sitting-room and dining-room, with sleeping apartments for the officers and men. The warehouse and smiths' shops were also there ready for occupation. In the following year a hospital was erected; and these constituted the improvements of the Pacific Fur Company, if we except their garden, where nothing came to maturity the first year, except the radishes, turnips, and potatoes.