Bring a sack or picnic lunch and enjoy the view at the site of the Parker's Landing. On a clear day you can see Vista House at Crown Point in the distance.Parker's Landing was part of a Donation Land Claim, originally settled by David Clark Parker, his wife Ann and their four children.
The Parker family had left their home in Missouri in 1844, traveling west in a wagon train to Oregon with their wagons and a hundred head of cattle. The hardships of the trail took its toll, and when they arrived at The Dalles they had only one horse and one ox remaining. They stayed at the stockade where their son George was born before continuing on down the Columbia River.
The Indians had called it Wash-shaga, Land of Peace and Plenty.
Soon after locating a claim in 1845 and building a log cabin, David built a boat landing which was later known as Parker's Landing and started a ferry business between Parker's Landing and Sandy (now Troutdale) on the opposite shore. The ferry carried passengers, cattle and produce. It became an important depot for the sternwheelers plying their trade on the Columbia River.
The land was a working homestead. David cleared a quarter of an acre and planted it with seed potatoes purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company. The Parkers lived in a wilderness of river and trees.
Most significant, the Parker homestead is the site of the first permanent American settlement on the north shore of the Columbia River. Since 1824, Hudson's Bay Company tried to discourage settlement on the north side of the Columbia River. The early pioneers used Parker's riverfront homestead to come ashore, traveling north by backwood trails, and thus skirting the British outpost.
David (b. 1804) died at age 54 on December 14, 1858. He was buried on his land claim on Woodburn Hill in sight of the Columbia River. Let me know if you know the location of his grave.
When the Hudson's Bay Company left Vancouver, it was David's son, John Bates Parker (b. 1833), who climbed the flagpole and replaced the British flag with that of the United States.
Instructions for logging waymark: visit Parker's Landing. Log your impressions. A photograph is required of the Parker's Landing Historical Park sign with you and/or your GPSr in the picture.