The Stevenson area has been home to Native American settlements for thousands of years.[1] Their villages were focal points for commerce and social gatherings as they came to trade and fish along the riverbanks.[1] Some of the first explorers and missionaries in the area included Lewis & Clark, David Thompson and Dr. Spaulding.[1] They used the Columbia River to get through the Cascade Mountains on their way to the Pacific Ocean.[1] In 1843, the Oregon Trail brought the first settlers there.[1] Pioneers portaged around the Cascade Rapids on their way to the Willamette Valley.[1] Some of these pioneering families chose to stay there.[1] The Stevenson family, who settled there in the 1800s from Missouri, founded the town of Stevenson on the old Shepard donation land claim.[1] Under the supervision of the Stevenson Land Company, George Stevenson purchased the original town site for $24,000 in 1893, building the town along the lower flat near the river.[1] Settlers expanded the original dock to serve the daily arrivals of sternwheelers unloading passengers, cargo and loading logs.[1]
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