HISTORY LESSON

Did you know that dogs aren’t allowed in many places. Pretty much all we can do is walk around the neighborhood and go back to the motor home. Not so with the humans, they can everywhere.

They started the day in the park at another historic site. Apparently, there are still many more bunkers all over the place that they hadn’t seen. After a quick tour of the visitors center they explored the area where several bunkers and mounds were still visible. There are even underground World War II gun batteries which they were able investigate. The original fort was completed in 1865 and was built to protect the mouth of the Columbia River until it was decommissioned in 1947.

There were several large guns which both Warren and Jim found interesting. There was a replica of a 6 ten-inch disappearing rifles that were the primary weapons with strategic locations on the river. The 10-inch, 617-pound shells were designed to penetrate the armor of enemy ships.

Later in the afternoon they toured the Coast Guard Floating Lighthouse, Columbia. The ship was once anchored at the mouth of the Columbia river, as a floating lighthouse with a light beacon, foghorn, and radio beacon. They toured the ship and engine room of the ship which is now anchored on the dock behind the Maritime Museum. Here’s a shipwreck that happened in 1909 on the very treacherous Columbia River.