Bit of HiStory
That Time
:
T
By Pat Jollota
H
the President H Visited Vancouver
To date, the United States of America has had 45 presidents. Several have visited our nook of the Pacific Northwest, but it took a long time for the very first to grace us with his presence. In honor of Presidents’ Day this month, let’s take a walk back in time through the presidential visits Clark County has received. America was over a hundred years old before the first of our presidents visited Vancouver or Clark County. When it did happen, it was Rutherford B. Hayes who, on Saturday, October 2, 1880, stayed overnight at what we now call the O.O. Howard house on Officers Row. President Hayes got up early, and attended church at the Methodist Church that was then at 8th and Washington. On Monday he sailed upriver, past the settlements at Parker’s Landing and Washougal. When he returned to Vancouver on October 7, schoolchildren were at the wharf waiting for him. He came ashore to meet with the children and assorted dignitaries of the town.
continued on page 12
President Theodore Roosevelt in a rarely seen photo from his “whistle-stop” campaign in Vancouver.
10
Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • February 2018
Photo courtesy Pat Jollota
“Wait!” I hear you cry, “What about Ulysses S. Grant? Wasn’t he here, twice, before Hayes?” Well, yes, he was, but he wasn’t president either time. Grant was assigned to Vancouver Barracks as a quartermaster, arriving on September 20, 1852. After winning the Civil War, and serving two terms as president, he came back for a visit in October, 1879. Troops met him at the Government Dock and lined the route to the Grant House with torches. However, he turned right and showed where his house really had been. The Old Apple Tree (planted in 1826 on