Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

WATCHMAN'S HOUSE

History and location

Shortly after the ringing of the 6:00 P.M. bell, which marked the close of business on workdays, the stockade gates at Fort Vancouver were drawn shut, and, except under unusual conditions, remained locked until 9:00 A.M., at which time the shops opened. [1] This measure was taken primarily to safeguard the furs and goods on deposit, but there were many reasons for restricting free access to the fort during the night hours. [2]

Further security for the depot--fire was also a dreaded danger--was provided by a watchman or "sentinel" who called out "All's well" every half hour through the night. At one period, evidently the late 1840s or early 1850s, the watchman was a Hawaiian who patroled the fort but had some difficulty pronouncing the words of his call. [3]

But while the gates remained shut from about 6:00 P.M. until about 9:00 A.M., there was a certain amount of traffic that had to enter and leave the fort enclosure during those hours. The flow must have been particularly heavy shortly before 6:00 A.M., when the laborers and tradesmen, along with the schoolchildren, entered to take up their daily occupations. Also, many of the servants and even some Indians were admitted in the evenings to attend church services and to receive religious instruction as well as to attend occasional social events.

Such ingress and egress ordinarily must have been accomplished by means of the postern or small door cut into one leaf of the large gates. W. H. Gray, when he visited Fort Vancouver for the first time in 1836, noted that there was a "guard stationed over the gate," which locked from the inside. [4] Evidently the guard screened the visitors who entered through the postern.

Gaining entrance to the fort at night was not always easy. About three o'clock on the morning of May 4, 1833, Dr. W. F. Tolmie and Dr. M. Gairdner, two physicians arriving from England to take up their duties in the Columbia District, reached Fort Vancouver by canoe and knocked on the gate. Only "after some delay" was the entrance opened by "a gardner," who turned out to be "a Celt." [5] Lieutenant George Foster Emmons of the United States Navy was not so fortunate. Arriving before the depot at night during 1841, he found it "too late to gain admittance" and was forced to sleep in his canoe. [6] One wonders if watchmen were on duty at those times.

It may be significant that the earliest indication encountered by this writer of a watchman's house at Fort Vancouver dates from 1849. Lloyd Brooke, an employee of the United States Army, later testified that in that year there was a "little hut at the gate, which had been a blacksmith shop." [7] This structure was identified by Dr. H. A. Tuzo as a "watchman's house." He said it was standing when he arrived at the post in 1853. [8]

Although not labeled, this "watchman's house" can be observed on the careful survey of the Fort Vancouver Military Reservation made under the direction of Colonel B. L. E. Bonneville in 1854 (Plate XIX vol. I). The structure is shown as a small oblong situated a few yards northeast of the southeast stockade gate. It lay directly west of the southwest corner of the Indian Trade Shop. As far as is known, the Bonneville survey is the first map to delineate this "porter's lodge," as the building was also called.

It should be noted that not one of the very detailed plans of Fort Vancouver drawn prior to 1849--those by Emmons (1841), Vavasour (1845), and Covington (1846), and the "Line of Fire" map of 1844--shows any structure near a gate that could possibly be identified as a gatekeeper's or watchman's house. One is left to speculate, therefore, on the possibility that there may not have been such a structure inside the fort prior to about 1847-49.

Regardless of when the porter's lodge was constructed near, or moved near, the southeast gate, there is ample evidence of its continued existence during the period from 1854 to mid-1860. The view of Fort Vancouver drawn by Gustavus Sohon in 1854 shows a small, low, gable-roofed building between that gate and the Indian shop that could be nothing else than the gatehouse (Plate XXI, vol. I). The view drawn by Richard Covington and dated 1855 shows what is obviously the same structure, except that it seems to be situated west of the gate and quite close to the flagpole. Seemingly Covington was in error in this particular.

The building continued to be shown on maps of the fort area, especially on the survey made under the direction of Capt. George Thom in 1859 (Plate XXIV, vol. I). That plan clearly shows a small structure east of the gate and very close to it. The identity of the building is clinched by the diagram made by the board of army officers that appraised the structures within the fort on June 15, 1860. That map depicts a small, almost square building nearly adjoining the gate on the northeast and names it the "Porter's lodge" (Plate XXX, vol. I).

This appraisal contains the last known mention of the Watchman's House. Apparently it disappeared shortly thereafter with the rest of the fort buildings.

No physical evidence of this building has yet been found during archeological explorations. Its site is not numbered or indicated on the site plan of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

Construction details

It appears impossible to make an accurate estimate of the dimensions of the Watchman's House. Not only are the maps on which it is shown of small scale, but the shape and size of the building vary from plan to plan. About all that seems certain is that the east-west dimension was longer than the north-south one. If the writer were to make a guess, however, based on comparisons with other structures of known dimensions, he would say that the porter's lodge measured about fifteen by twenty-two feet.

All that is known of the structure and appearance of the building comes from the Sohon view of 1854 (Plate XXI, vol. I). That drawing shows the Watchman's House as a small, low, one-story building with a gable roof, the ridge of which runs east and west. One window or door is visible in the west wall and there was another opening of some type on the north side.

If, as one witness stated, the gatehouse had once been a black smith's shop, it undoubtedly was built in the Canadian fashion, with rough floors and no lining on the inside.

Recommendations

a. Apparently the site of the Watchman's House has not yet been excavated, although recent and still unreported work along the south stockade line may have covered the area. If not, exploration on the site may produce additional information concerning the building's physical structure.

b. Because of its uncertain erection date and the dearth of structural data, it is recommended that the Watchman's House not be rebuilt unless administrative requirements, such as the need for an entrance station to collect fees, make the construction of a building in its location imperative.

LATRINES

History and location

Official Company correspondence, accounts by visitors, and reminiscences of employees generally maintain a polite silence concerning one of the most conspicuous elements of Fort Vancouver's physical structure--the facilities for the disposal of human waste. Only rarely, as when the querulous and fastidious Chaplain Beaver gave vent to his sense of outrage, was mention made of one of the less pleasant aspects of life at the Columbia depot. On March 19, 1838, the Reverend Mr. Beaver complained to the Deputy-Governor of the Company: "Above a dozen p_____s [are] in open view, and very close to, our windows." [9]

Most ground plans of the post simply ignore the existence of such conveniences, but at least three (Plates III, XIII, and XXIV, vol. I) depict a sufficient number to demonstrate that Chaplain Beaver did not exaggerate. Archeological excavations in recent decades have uncovered evidence of numerous outhouses.

Beaver's protest proves that the term "privies" was at least one name for these facilities used in common parlance about the fort. In written records such as post journals, however, the old term "necessaries" appears to have been more frequently employed throughout the district. [10]

During the existence of Fort Vancouver, the usual, but not universal, location for the outhouses was directly against the inside faces of the stockade walls. Archeological evidence indicates that as these walls were moved from time to time, the associated privies were shifted also. [11]

During the 1947-52 series of excavations, about eighteen trash pits (excluding two wells and one or two other "depressions") were uncovered. While Mr. Caywood found that some of these pits had been used almost exclusively as outdoor toilets, he noted that "in the main" they had served also as places for the disposal of garbage, trash, and the "dregs from chamer [sic] pots." A few seemed to be entirely for trash. Mr. Caywood found that, on the whole, the "combination" toilet and trash pits and the pits exclusively for trash were marked by plank covers " showing that the intended use was for the disposal of garbage and trash." The privy pits, on the other hand, sometimes showed evidence of flooring, indicating that they had underlain small structures. [12]

During the more than two decades since 1952 several additional archeological projects have been conducted at Fort Vancouver, and one, the most comprehensive of all, is still in progress as this report is being written. Until all of the results are in, it would be futile to attempt to give the total number and the locations of the privy and trash pits within the stockade or to try to determine which outhouses might have been standing during Outfit 1845.

Construction details

As might be expected, archeological excavations have produced quite a bit of information about the pit portions of the necessaries. Mr. Caywood found that the trash pits and the "combination" pits had been originally dug with rounded corners. At least one, directly north of the Bakery, was described as "board-lined." This last hole was three feet wide, seven feet ten inches long, and six feet seven inches deep. Another toilet excavation near the north stockade behind the Jail was two feet five inches wide, nine feet long, and two feet eight inches deep. Building "footings" at this last pit indicated that the surmounting outhouse measured seven by ten feet. [13]

During 1970 and 1971 the pit directly north of the Bakery was reexcavated and a second one about eight feet still farther north was dug for the first time. Because these privies were set against the outer most position of the eastern palisade wall there can be little doubt that they were constructed between about 1841 and 1844, or possibly a bit later, and therefore must have been a part of the fort scene during Outfit 1.845, the period to which the post is to be reconstructed.

The more southerly of the two pits north of the Bakery had been considerably disturbed subsequent to its examination by Mr. Caywood. The bottom of the pit was found to be 2.5 feet wide and from 5.5 to 6.5 feet long, while the depth was only 4.05 feet. It will be recognized that these measurements were smaller than those reported by Mr. Caywood. Only remnants of the wooden lining, in the form of "erect wooden slabs, each about 0.3 by 0.5 feet," were found at the base of the pit's north wall.

The northerly pit had also been much disturbed, so the width of 3.0 feet and the length of 7.3 feet were considered to be only approximate. On the other hand, the depth of 4.95 feet was believed to represent the original dimension. No evidence of a wooden lining was found. No remains of foundations or superstructures were discovered at either pit. [14]

Except for what can be deduced from the dimensions of the pits and of the few bits of foundations found--pits about seven feet long obviously were for "two-holers"--archeological excavations un fortunately can tell little about the design of the superstructures. As far as can be determined from the few available pictures bearing upon the subject, privies at Hudson's Bay Company posts were of two principal types--gable-roofed and shed-roofed. [15] Had it not been for the detachment of Royal Engineers that visited Fort Vancouver during the spring of 1860, the type employed at the Columbia depot might be unknown today. Thanks to the picture of the Big House taken by these pioneer Pacific Northwest photographers, it is possible to state positively that the two privies north of the Bakery, at least, had shed roofs.

In fact, the photograph tells a good deal more about the out houses than the slant of the roofs. Unfortunately when the picture was reproduced as Plate XXIX in volume I of this report, evidently the right side was trimmed off to such an extent that only a small portion of the northern privy can be discerned. In the full original print the north end of the southern privy and most of the northern one can be seen through the gap between the Big House and the Bachelors' Quarters. Both backed against the east stockade wall. In Figure 7 in their impressive report Fort Vancouver Excavations--I, Messrs. J. J. Hoffman and Lester A. Ross have presented an enlarged portion of the photograph to bring out the construction details of the two privies, and reconstruction architects are referred to that figure or to the original print submitted with volume I of this report.

As the picture is interpreted by Messrs. Hoffman and Ross, each latrine was a 'two-holer," about six feet high, eight feet long, and six feet wide. The front or west ends were still higher, so that the roofs slanted rather sharply toward the stockade. The two archeologists believe the north and south walls were made of vertical "puncheons, " while the west wall was of "horizontally laid poles about half the diameters of the puncheons " and apparently set into the corner puncheons. They thought it possible that there was no rear wall other than the palisade.

Each privy had two doors in front. Messrs. Hoffman and Ross estimate that these doors were about five feet high. What appears to be a square vent or air hole is centered above each door. The archeologists find that "between the door tops and the airhole bottoms are . . . short board rain deflectors angled slightly downwards." Messrs. Hoffman and Ross speculate that the outhouses, as "two holers," may have had internal compartments. [16]

With these very sound conclusions this writer cannot take issue. However, from an examination of an extremely sharp print of the 1860 photograph he is willing to venture several suggested refinements:

a. The north and south sides of the privies appear to be made of wide, vertical, partly rounded slabs representing the portions of logs discarded at the Company's sawmill during the lumber-sawing process. Such slabs were much used for construction of employees' homes in the nearby village. (It must also be confessed, however, that if one looks at the picture long enough one can almost see board and batten siding!) There was no trim board under the roof on the sides.

b. To the eye of this writer, the front walls of the privies definitely appear to be covered with horizontal, lapped weatherboards.

c. In the very clear print, the angled rain deflectors noted by Messrs. Hoffman and Ross do not appear distinctly. Rather, it would seem that rain drip from the ventilating holes stained the weather board beneath them, making the board on each side of the stain appear lighter and, hence, slanted outward. In the opinion of the writer there were no drip boards over the doors.

d. The shed roof projected a few inches (perhaps five or six inches) in front and on the sides to provide protection from drip.

e. This writer would estimate the doors the privies to have been about six feet high. four weatherboards, or perhaps twenty inches, as well as the rear of The front walls were higher.

f. The ventilating holes on the northern privy appear not to have been exactly the same size. The one to the north seems to have been wider than that to the south. They were about a weatherboard and-a-half high and apparently about the same distance wide.

Furnishings

Probably the National Park Service would not wish to conduct research into such an indelicate subject, and almost certainly it would not desire to present the matter in any interpretive media, yet the findings of archeologists raise a most interesting question concerning a topic that is a mystery to most present-day members of Western civilization.

When excavating the privy pit directly north of the Bakery, Mr. Caywood found with the human waste " many smooth oval stones measuring about three inches in length by one inch in width and a half inch in thickness." [17] Mr. Hoffman speculated upon the possible use of these stones and came up with an interesting "working hypothesis." [18] If his theory should prove to be correct, a pile of these stones in a reconstructed outhouse might start some visitors to pondering upon the benefits of living in an age in which paper is plentiful and cheap.

Recommendations

a. It is suggested that the final report upon the present series of archeological excavations contain a list giving descriptions and locations of all privy pits discovered since 1947. If possible, those which probably were standing in 1845-46 should be identified.

b. It is recommended that a reasonable number, about ten or twelve, of the 1845-46 outhouses be reconstructed as a part of the actual historic scene. The 1860 photograph would be the best guide as to the design and type of construction. [19]

c. It is suggested that one or two of the reconstructed necessaries be left open for exhibit purposes. If this were done, it probably would be best to lock the doors open during visiting hours.

d. It might be instructive, somewhere in the interpretive program, to point out the close proximity of the wells to the outhouses and to relate how the water in the wells rose and fell with the river, the water coming at times to within a few feet of the ground surface. The possible relationship of this situation to the frequent epidemics that laid low much of the fort's population might then be mentioned as a subject for thought.

1. One visitor in 1851 noted that the gates closed "at sunset, when all business ceases," but other sources show that the usual hour of ending work was 6:00 P.M. Oliver Jennings, "The Journal of Oliver Jennings, Detailing An Overland Trip from Oregon City to Vancouver & via the Columbia River & Blue Mountains to Fort Boise, Fort Hall & Great Salt Lake City, March 5-May 22, 1851," original MS and typed transcript, in Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, p. 7 of transcript. For the time of opening in the morning, see Minto, "Reminiscences," pp. 234-35, 245. Because the work of the laborers and tradesmen started at 6:00 A.M., however, the gates probably were frequently opened before 9:00 A.M. to let the carts and other vehicles pass.

2. Notices & Voyages, p. 26.

3. Anderson, "Fort Vancouver, Oregon," p. 1; Jennings, "Journal," pp. 6-7; For a mention of the watchman and his call at Fort Colvile in 1848, see Drury, First White Women, 2:340.

4. Gray, A History of Oregon, p. 150.

5. Tolmie, Journals of William Fraser Tolmie, p. 170.

6. Emmons, "Journal," 3: entry for August 25, 1841.

7. Br. & Am. Joint Comm., Papers, [8:]128.

8. Ibid., [2:]176-77

9. Beaver, Reports and Letters, p. 73.

10. For an example, see Farrar, "The Nisqually Journal," Washington Historical Quarterly 13 (January, 1922): 61.

11. See Summary Sheet, Archeological Excavations, Fort Vancouver National Monument [1947-1952], in Caywood, Final Report, map no. 11 (reproduced as Plate I, vol. I of this report). Mr. Caywood believed that certain of the "trash pits" were along the outside (west side) of the west wall of the 1829-ca. 1836 stockade (line BE), but it subsequently has been shown that the 1828-ca. 1836 fort was actually the western portion of the post-1836 fort. Thus these pits were on the inside of the east wall of the earlier fort. Caywood, ibid., p. 23.

12. Ibid., pp. 20, 22-25.

13. Ibid., p. 23 and fig. 4.

14. Hoffman and Ross, Fort Vancouver Excavations--I, pp. 12-13 and fig. 4.

15. For pictures showing the gable-roofed type see the view, "Fort Qu'Appelle in 1867," in Cowie, Company of Adventurers, opp. p. 202; and the primitive drawing of Rocky Mountain House in 1873 published in The Beaver Outfit 279 (December, 1949): 55.

16. Hoffman and Ross, Fort Vancouver Excavations--I, pp. 12-13, 84.

17. Caywood, Final Report, p. 23.

18. Hoffman and Ross, Fort Vancouver Excavations--I, p. 82.

19. As will be seen by reference to the illustrations cited in fn. 15 earlier, however, a post and horizontal fill type of construction was also used for latrines at H.B.C. establishments. In such cases, the posts probably rested on a light sill or may even have been sunk in the ground. The upright posts were grooved, and the infill slabs or perhaps puncheons were inserted as in the heavier timber construction.