Rock Fort deeded to city

The transfer was initiated June 21 for the site that is located along the Columbia River west of the Union Street underpass off Bargeway Road in The Dalles.

“I think this agreement just shows the good partnership the county has with the city,” said Runyon.

The city agreed to take over Rock Fort in exchange for the county deeding over property to accommodate a commercial dock at the foot of Union Street.

“It (Rock Fort) has just been on the back burner for a couple of years while the city developed a master plan for it,” said Tyler Stone, county administrative officer.

Julie Krueger, city manager, said of the deal: “We are happy to have the deed transferring ownership in process. The city will do light maintenance, weeding, garbage removal, etc., but mostly keep it as a rustic site.”

The Corps of Discovery camped at the fort-like outcropping along the Columbia in the fall of 1805, after the expedition negotiated rapids on the Columbia. Lewis and Clark liked the spot dubbed “Rock Fort” so much, the group stayed in the same location, which offered natural fortification, on the return journey the following spring.

Hunting parties followed Mill Creek, which Lewis and Clark named “Quenett,” after the name given it by local tribes, into the foothills of the Cascade Range. There, they reportedly found the first game to vary the expedition’s diet of fish since entering the territory that would become Oregon.

While at Rock Fort, the expedition was visited by chiefs of the Chinookan tribes from the Washington side of the Columbia.

During the first stop at Rock Fort, the expedition took advantage of good weather to dry their river-soaked supplies, caulk battered canoes and take celestial observations.

The site along the Riverfront Trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Vandals and squatters have trashed some of the historical markers over the years.