We had no difficulty keeping our site for another night since there was a mass exodus from the CG when the weekenders left. Not so sure we’ll do as well on July 4th weekend.
The Fort Stevens Military Reservation guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from the Civil War through World War II. Fort Stevens was named for territorial Governor General Isaac Ingalls Stevens who was killed in Chantilly, Virginia, in 1862. The fort was constructed during the Civil War and remained active until shortly after World War II. From 1897 to 1904, the fort experienced ongoing development, including the construction of eight gun batteries. All the guns have been removed but nearly all of the batteries remain. After the army coast artillery abandoned Fort Stevens, many of the buildings were demolished.
Our first stop was at the Museum/War Games Building. The building was used for several different purposes over the years but now houses the Military Museum’s collection of photos and displays portraying various eras of the fort. There is a huge diorama in one room that is replica of the fort when it was in full use.
We took a tour on a WWII Army Truck around the fort. The narrated tour was extremely interesting.
Fort Stevens is the only fort on American soil that was attacked by a Japanese submarine during WWII. The commanding officer refused to fire back for two reasons. He did not want to let the attacking submarine know that they were there and also that the firepower at the fort could not reach the submarine 10 miles out in the Columbia.
Following our first tour we opted to take the guided tour through Battery Mishler. Our tour guides were retired from the Army and were well versed on all things military.
The most interesting feature of Battery Mishler is that it was different from the Lewis and Walker batteries in that it had circular gun pits with 360-degree fields of fire. The two guns had remained in the battery as a curiosity during the years of lax security between the wars.
At the beginning of WWII the pits were covered over and it wasn’t until the end of the war that the guns were removed. At the same time interior tunnels were transformed into the harbor entrance control post for all military forces at the mouth of the Columbia River. Battery Mishler is the only facility of its kind open to the public in the United States
We enjoyed the private tour we had and learned a lot about forts including the fact that the same template was used for all the forts in the country as I had suspected.
Back at the CG we had dinner, a campfire and planned our next move.
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