Friends of Fort Vancouver Blog

A featured book in our on-line sales is Days with Chief Joseph by Erskine Wood. In the archives of General John Gibbon, preserved by the Pennsylvania Historical Society in Philadelphia, we found a handwritten letter by young Erskine Wood in 1893. Erskine was 14 years old and wrote this letter to his great-uncle General John Gibbon, then Commander o...

Meet Native artists, learn to make corn husk dolls, and enjoy Native dance and music at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center on November 2, 2019. This new event, hosted by the Friends of Fort Vancouver and sponsored by Pendleton, will feature regional Native artists and their works, activities for children, books, dance and music."Novem...

Visit the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center to see an exhibit of nine contemporary masks inspired by beings from traditional stories of Chinookan peoples. The masks represent She Who Watches, Raven, Yuhlma, The Darkness One, Coyote, Salmon, Swallowing Monster, Wind, and Atathlia. They were created by Artist Bill Rutherford. For Chinookan peoples along ...

Army wife, mother, and pioneer In 1879, Nanny Moale Wood and with her new husband Lieutenant C.E.S. Wood honeymooned across the country by transcontinental rail and caught steamboats headed north and up the river to their home at Vancouver Barracks. They lived for a short time with General and Mrs. O.O. Howard until their new house was finished on ...

"Architect, Teacher & Roman Catholic Nun" This story highlights Mother Joseph of the Sisters of Providence who was born Esther Pariseau in Laval Canada in 1823. At age 20, she entered the order of Sisters of Charity of Providence and took the name "Joseph" in honor of her father. He was a carpenter and his daughter sooner became an accomplished...