Vancouver Washington has seen a lot of pioneer and military history in its 190 years since Europeans arrived to settle. Starting with the Hudson’s Bay Company fur trapping fort established in 1825, continuing through the arrival of the US Army in 1849 to establish Vancouver Barracks the primary military post in the Pacific Northwest in the second half of the 19th Century and Indian wars. Then during WWI, the demand for Sitka Spruce for aircraft caused the Army to build the world’s largest cut up mill in 1918 that was served by the SP&S Ry. See a detailed 36’ x 8’ HO model of the cutup mill and then walk over to the Park Service’s reconstruction of the Hudson’s Bay fort and see evidence of the few physical remnants of the mill remaining as well as some buildings remaining from the time the Barracks and mill were served by the SP&S. You’ll also tour the fur trapping fort itself and see how beaver and other pelts were stored, bailed and shipped to Asia and Europe to serve the fashion demands of the 19th Century.