Cathlamet
A historic community overlooking the Columbia River,
this small Washington town is infused with history
L
Looking for a pleas-
ant drive and a bit of
history? Cross the As-
toria Bridge, turn right,
Bradley House,
and take Washington
61 Main St., 360-795-3030
State Routes 401 and
then 4 east to the village
Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center, 35 Butler St.
of Cathlamet. The town,
River Rat Tap, 90 Broadway
which has had a popula-
Wahkiakum Historical Museum,
tion of 500, more or less,
for well over a century,
65 River St.
still looks much as it
River Mile 38 Brewery,
did in the 19th century.
285 Third St., by Elochoman Marina,
A historic community
open 4 to 8 p.m. Friday & Saturday
built on the steep slopes
rising above the Colum-
bia River, the life of the
town centers on the river, as it always
KDVDORWRIKLVWRU\KDVÀRZHGE\DQG
through Cathlamet.
On Nov. 11, 1805 the wind was,
“very high from the S.W., with most
tremendous waves breaking with great
violence against the shores. Rain falling
in torrents, we are all wet as usual and
Today Bradley House is a bed and breakfast owned by Paige and Steven Lake.
our situation is truly a disagreeable one.”
Welcome to Cathlamet, Capt. Clark.
One of the largest native settlements
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Timber mogul Henry Armstrong built one of
on the Columbia west of the Cascades
foods to the river travelers these in 1907. This large Craftsman eventually
was on the site of what is now Cathlamet.
on their way to Astoria; became the home of Blanche Heron Bradley, who
l
There, Lewis and Clark met a canoe with
soon others began to set- donated it to the city to become a library. Today
ca
ri
to
County His ing
gg
¿YH :DKNLDNXP QDWLYHV ZKRP &ODUN Outside the Wahkiakum
tle in Cathlamet.
Bradley House is a bed and breakfast owned by
lo
”
ot
Sp
-ton “Six
called, “the best canoe navigators I ever Museum sits the 70
James Birnie’s sister Steven and Paige Lake. The house is a prominent
VDZ´ ,W ZDV QRW WKH ¿UVW FRQWDFW RI WKHVH locomotive.
became Wahkiakum downtown landmark, and the interior has hardly
indigenous peoples with Europeans; Clark
&RXQW\¶V¿UVWVFKRROWHDFKHU6KHPDUULHGDIRU changed since Armstrong built it. Even the original
noted that, “One of those men had on a sailor’s mer Hudson Bay clerk, George Roberts, and in 1857 heavy curtains survived the 14 years that the house
jacket and pantaloons.”
they built a home. Now the Julia Butler Hansen Her- served as a public library.
Further contact was not advantageous to the itage Center, it is the oldest building in Cathlamet.
The most infamous waterfront landmark was,
Wahkiakum people, bringing as it did disease and
6KRUWO\DIWHU%LUQLHDUULYHGWKH¿UVWRIDVHULHV until 2010, the River Rat Tap tavern. The build-
alcohol. The last speakers of the language they of lumber mills was built in the area, followed by ing and the sign remain, but the building currently
shared with the Kathlamet people across the river ¿VKLQJDQGFDQQLQJ'XHWRWKHWRZQ¶VLVRODWLRQ houses a food bank. Once used for scenes in the
died in the 1930s.
IDUPLQJZDVDQHFHVVDU\LIYHU\GLI¿FXOWHQWHUSULVH movies “Man of Honor” and “Snow Falling on Ce-
In 1846 James Birnie, a retired Hudson Bay As logging camps dwindled, the need for farms di- dars,” the River Rat is for sale ($125,000), waiting
&RPSDQ\HPSOR\HHZDVWKH¿UVWQRQQDWLYHWRVHW minished, and few remain today.
for a lover of waterfront taverns to revive it again.
tle in what is now Cathlamet. His wife, Charlotte,
What does remain is a picturesque town out of
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had Kootenai and French Canadian ancestry, and the WLPH7KHGRFNVRQFHXVHGE\FRPPHUFLDO¿VKHU chor Brewery — or the brewery that was once
couple had 12 children. Birnie established a trading men are now use by tugboats and recreational boat- NQRZQDV'URS$QFKRU6HHPVWKDW$QFKRU%UHZ
post called Birnie’s Retreat, and the family became HUV 2Q 0DLQ 6WUHHW \RX¶OO ¿QG DQ DQWLTXH VKRS ing of San Francisco thought that this small craft
a part of the village of several hundred natives. restaurants, and all the other small town offerings. EUHZHU\ZDVLQIULQJLQJRQLWVWUDGHPDUN6R'URS
Birnie’s Retreat soon became a thriving business, <RX¶OODOVR¿QGKLVWRULFKRPHV
Anchor is now known as River Mile 38 Brewery.
Built in 1907
by timber
mogul Henry
Armstrong,
Bradley
House is now
a bed and
breakfast in
Cathlamet,
Washington.
If you visit
Cathlamet’s small craft brewery changed its name from Drop An-
chor Brewery to River Mile 38 Brewery after Anchor Brewing of San
Francisco contacted it about trademark infringement concerns.
Same beer. Try the coffee porter or pale ale, and
have a taco from the stand outside.
)LYH PLQXWHV IURP 5LYHU 0LOH \RX¶OO ¿QG
the Wahkiakum County Historical Museum, where
the collection contains stone tools used by the Chi-
nooks, horse seining equipment, and a lot of other
historical displays and information. Outside the
museum is the 70-ton “Six Spot” logging locomo-
tive used where other engines couldn’t be: up steep
grades, around tight curves, and across trestles
bridging forest canyons.
From Cathlamet, take the bridge to Puget Island
and spend some time among its misty farms before
crossing on the new Oscar B ferry to Westport, and
then driving U.S. Highway 30 back to the coast.
travel
Story and photos by DWIGHT CASWELL
August 6, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9