We visited on a special day, which was lucky because we got to stay late and explore the fort by campfire & candlelight!

When We Visited: September 13, 2014

Ages of Kids: 8, 7, 4

Tips From Mom: They had to scrounge some Jr. Ranger Books for us as the event runs from 4-10pm, the visitor’s center close at 5pm and we didn’t get there until 5:30 or 6pm. I’m just happy they found us some and allowed us to do it! We talked to a few volunteers about how they should put together a special book for the event (its been going on for 30+ years) similar to the Cherry Blossom Festival. She liked the idea and said she’d look in to it! Until then, maybe plan to show up and do the book BEFORE the event starts, although finding out about James Douglas by asking HIM was pretty awesome.

The volunteers were pretending to be British citizens helping American sailors who crashed in the nearby Colombia River. We watched them eat, cook dinner in the kitchen and hardtack in the bakery, visit the doctor, and make tools in the blacksmith shop. That was our favorite part!

In the fur warehouse, we watched people smash the furs together and bundle them up to ship overseas to England. We learned the British turned many of the furs into hats! We liked the black bear fur and the fox fur the best!

Later the evening we watched the soldiers fire their guns and even a cannon! It was SO LOUD!!! The canon was Cara’s favorite part of the night.

In the fort we got to see the old well, which now has ferns and spiderwebs growing inside. I guess they don’t use it anymore. We liked talking to the characters that were at the fort. They stayed in character and called us “the Americans” quite a lot! I guess they didn’t realize that the United States was going to take over the area.

We really enjoyed visiting, learning about the fort, and earning our Jr. Ranger Badges. We even got sworn in by candlelight!