Cowlitz Prairie

Cowlitz Prairie is in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The natural prairie roughly lies along the west side of the Cowlitz River, north of Toledo, east of Interstate 5 in Washington, and South of U.S. Route 12.[1] The Lower Cowlitz tribal group's traditional territory includes Cowlitz Prairie. Early 19th century visitors noticed an area mainly cleared of trees and assessed its dimensions from 4 to 6 miles long, 1 to 2 miles wide, adding up to nearly 6000 acres.[2]

The geographical area holds numerous historical locations in what is now the U.S. state of Washington, such as the Simon Plamondon original settler property after being adopted by the Lower Cowlitz people (1826),[3] the Hudson's Bay Company Cowlitz Farm (1839), the Saint Francis Xavier Mission (1839), the first Catholic mission in the state[4] and the nearby Cowlitz Landing location where a first convention was held (1851), leading to the creation of a new territory.[5] Cowlitz Prairie is also known as an early Pacific Northwest mixed ancestry settlement, sometimes referred as a French Canadian or a Métis settlement.[6]

  1. ^ "GNIS Search Results". geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  2. ^ "The Columbia River – Cowlitz Prairie, Cowlitz Farm, and the Cowlitz Mission". columbiariverimages.com. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  3. ^ "The Spirit of the Cowlitz: Simon Plomondon". www.hometowndebate.com. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  4. ^ Pearson, Arnold; Pearson, Esther (1980). Early Churches of Washington State. University of Washington Press. p. 3. ISBN 0295957131.
  5. ^ "Cowlitz convention responsible for splitting Washington from Oregon". MyNorthwest.com. 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  6. ^ Robert Foxcurran, Michel Bouchard, Sébastien Malette. Songs Upon The Rivers. Baraka Books. Montreal 2016. p. 46