Clatsop
The Clatsop were a Chinookan-speaking people who lived on the south side of the Columbia River estuary and along the northern Oregon coast, in the vicinity of present-day Astoria. The Corps of Discovery established Fort Clatsop in December 1805 in their territory, naming the winter encampment after them, and maintained close relations with the Clatsop throughout the wet, difficult winter of 1805–1806. The Clatsop provided valuable geographic information, traded food (particularly fish, berries, and roots), and alerted the expedition to a beached whale on the coast. Like other Lower Chinookan peoples, the Clatsop practiced cranial modification, lived in cedar longhouses, and depended heavily on salmon, though their population was already declining from exposure to diseases introduced by European and American maritime traders.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia: Clatsop (Tsin-is-tum)
Most Mentioned in Clatsop-tagged Entries
People
- Drouillard (45)
- Collins (23)
- Shannon (18)
- Nathaniel Pryor (18)
- Willard (17)
- Capt Lewis (17)
- Patrick Gass (14)
- Joseph Field (13)
- Reubin Field (12)
- Gibson (11)
Places
- Fort Clatsop (45)
- Columbia River (45)
- Rocky Mountains (23)
- Missouri River (19)
- Netul (15)
- Point Adams (11)
- point Adams (6)
- Netul river (6)
- Pacific Ocean (6)
- United States (5)
Biography
The Clatsop were a Chinookan-speaking people who lived on the south shore of the Columbia River estuary, near present-day Astoria, Oregon. The expedition built Fort Clatsop in their territory and maintained a generally positive relationship during the winter of 1805-1806.
The Clatsop traded fish, roots, and other provisions with the expedition, and their chief Coboway visited the fort regularly. The expedition named their winter quarters “Fort Clatsop” in honor of this relationship.
When the expedition departed in March 1806, they gave the fort to Coboway. The Clatsop later suffered severe population decline from introduced diseases and were eventually absorbed into the broader Chinookan cultural sphere. Today the Chinook Indian Nation (which includes Clatsop descendants) continues to seek federal recognition.
Territory & Encounter Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 4 months (May 16, 1806 → Sep 18, 1806). No journal entries during that window were explicitly tagged with this nation.
Treaties (1)
Tent of Many Voices (5)
56:28
49:01
52:16
47:26
50:21
Journal Entries (135)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Clatsop — showing 24 of the most recent matches.
Cows Roots, Sweat Lodges, and a Squawling Bird: Four Voices at Camp Chopunnish
On a single May day at Camp Chopunnish, four expedition journalists record the same returns of hunters and root-gatherers—but diverge sharply in…
Deer Island: Four Narrators, One Snake-Covered Camp
On a rainy stop to repair leaking canoes, four expedition journalists describe the same Deer Island camp — but each fixes on…
The Shawnee Nation in the Lewis & Clark Record
Though the Corps of Discovery did not encounter the Shawnee homeland during their westward journey, the Shawnee people occupied a notable place…
A Pirogue Lost, a Portage Won: Four Voices on the Cascades
On April 12, 1806, the expedition lost a pirogue to the Columbia's current and hauled their baggage up a rain-soaked portage. Four…
Windbound Below the Cascades: Four Voices on a Day of Forced Delay
On April 8, 1806, violent northeast winds pinned the expedition against the Columbia's bank. Four narrators record the same gale — but…
The Missing River: Four Journals Reckon with a Geographic Puzzle
On a hunting day above Fort Clatsop, the captains interrogate Native informants about Quicksand River and conclude a major southern tributary of…
A Deserted Village and the Shrinking of the Quicksand
On the return passage past the mouth of the Quicksand River, four expedition journalists record the same encounter with Shah-ha-la informants —…
Departing Fort Clatsop: Four Voices Ascend the Columbia
On the first full day of the homeward journey, four expedition journalists record the same passage past Wappato Island in strikingly different…
Four Voices on the Skillute Welcome: Hospitality, Ethnography, and the Cowlitz River
On the homeward leg up the Columbia, the expedition halted at a Skillute village whose hospitality drew strikingly different responses from its…
Tobacco Running Short, Eagles in Hand: Four Voices on the Columbia’s Return
On the second full day of the homeward voyage, four expedition journalists record the same diplomatic gift, the same dwindling tobacco supply,…
Four Pens, One Sturgeon Camp: Ascending the Columbia
On the second day after leaving Fort Clatsop, four expedition journalists record the same wind-bound progress, the same Cathlahmah fishing lodge, and…
Shells Mistaken for Teeth: Four Voices Leaving Fort Clatsop
On the first full day ascending the Columbia after departing Fort Clatsop, four expedition journalists record the same Cathlahmah village with strikingly…
Departure from Fort Clatsop: Two Sergeants Watch the Canoes Push Off
Sergeants Gass and Ordway both record the expedition's departure from Fort Clatsop after 106 days of coastal winter. Their parallel entries reveal…
Last Hours at Fort Clatsop: Four Pens on the Eve of Departure
On the rainy final day at Fort Clatsop, four expedition journalists record the same events with revealing differences. Lewis notes spring's first…
Four Pens, Four Registers: A Day of Hunger and Visitors at Fort Clatsop
On the eve of departure from Fort Clatsop, four expedition journalists record the same day in strikingly different registers — from Lewis…
Storm-Bound at Fort Clatsop: Four Ledgers of a Winter’s End
On a rain-lashed day that delayed the expedition's departure, four narrators tally what the winter cost and yielded — elk carcasses, moccasin…
Three Pens at Fort Clatsop: Weather, Gratitude, and an Ethnographic Set Piece
On a hail-lashed March day at Fort Clatsop, Ordway logs the storm in a single line while Lewis and Clark produce nearly…
Four Pens at Fort Clatsop: Departure Lists, Stolen Canoes, and a Sick Hunter
On the eve of leaving Fort Clatsop, the captains posted certificates of their transcontinental passage while their men quietly appropriated a Clatsop…
A Uniform Coat for a Canoe: Departure Preparations at Fort Clatsop
On the eve of leaving Fort Clatsop, three narrators record the same transactions in markedly different registers — a captain's coat traded…
A Scant Dependence: Dwindling Trade Goods and a New Fish at Fort Clatsop
On a rainy Sunday at Fort Clatsop, four narrators record the same day in radically different registers — from Ordway's terse boredom…
Four Elk, a Lost Foresight, and an Unwelcome Return at Fort Clatsop
On a damp March Saturday at Fort Clatsop, four narrators record the same hunters' return, the same Chinook visitors, and the same…
An Indifferent Canoe and a Laced Uniform Coat: Trade, Game, and Salmon Trout at Fort Clatsop
On March 14, 1806, four expedition journalists record the same day at Fort Clatsop with strikingly different priorities — from elk meat…
Moccasins, Salmon, and a Lost Pirogue: Four Voices at Fort Clatsop
On a rare fair day at Fort Clatsop, four expedition narrators record the same hunting returns and canoe search — but only…
Four Pens at Fort Clatsop: Routine Labor and the Calamet Eagle
On a clearing March day at Fort Clatsop, four expedition journalists record the same lost canoe and unsuccessful hunt — but diverge…
From Heacock's Writings
11 mirrored articles by Robert Heacock that mention Clatsop.
The Wahkiakums
The Salt Works
Making salt from ocean water
Alcohol Rations
Ardent spirits on the expedition
A Solitary Hero
Excerpt from River of Promise
January 8, 1806
A night at Ecola
February 8, 1806
Bringing in the elk
December 30, 1805
Fair morning
January 3, 1806
An agreeable food
April 3, 1806
Mapping the Willamette River
November 27, 1805
Sheltering at Tongue Point
March 27, 1806
Generous Skilloots
