Fort William (Oregon)

Fort William
Fur Trade Outpost
Constructed:1834
Built for:Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth
Location:Sauvie Island, Oregon
Continent:North America
Later Ownership:Hudson's Bay Company
Abandoned:unknown
Fort William (Oregon)

Fort William was a fur trading outpost built in 1834 by the American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, a Boston merchant, backed by American investors. It was located on the Columbia River on Wappatoo Island near the future Portland, Oregon. After a few years, in 1837 Wyeth sold the post to the British Hudson's Bay Company, which had much more power in the region from its base at Fort Vancouver on the north side of the Columbia River near Fort William.

In 1835, the fort settlement was the site of a murder and the first European American trial to be held in what is now the state of Oregon.