Fort Vancouver National Historic Site: Scope of Collection Statement

Langford, Theresa

The mission of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA) is to preserve for the inspiration, education and benefit of the public, the historic sites, structures and objects and the historic scene associated with Fort Vancouver and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), Vancouver Barracks and Pearson Field, and the McLoughlin House unit in Oregon City, Oregon. This Scope of Collection Statement serves to guide FOVA in the acquisition and preservation of museum objects that contribute directly to the understanding and interpretation of the park's interpretive themes and resources as well as those objects that the Service is legally mandated to preserve. Fort Vancouver National Monument was authorized by an Act of Congress on June 19, 1948 (S2 Stat. 532), "to protect and maintain the site of the original Hudson's Bay stockade and sufficient surrounding land to preserve the historical features of the area for the benefit of the people." The Department of the Interior's report on the same legislation concurred, stating that the lands so dedicated should fulfill "two essential requirements - the preservation of the historic stockade . . . and the preservation of the historic parade ground of the later United States Army post." Thus, the purpose is to maintain the site of this primary center of early economic, cultural, and military development in the Pacific Northwest and to interpret the important part played in our nation's westward expansion by the fur trade and other activities carried on at the fort. To improve the conditions for achieving this goal, Congress passed the act of June 30, 1961 (75 Stat. 196), enlarging the boundaries of Fort Vancouver and redesignating the monument a national historic site. In 1996, Congress authorized the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, a 366-acre are of adjacent historical properties. The management of the Reserve is a partnership between the National Park Service, the State of Washington, the City of Vancouver, and the U.S. Army. The National Park Service has been designated as the lead agency for intepretion and cultural resources management for all venues under the Reserve, including Fort Vancouver, Vancouver Barracks (including Officers’ Row and the Parade Ground), Pearson Air Museum and Pearson Field, and the Columbia River waterfront. In 2003, the McLoughlin House site was authorized as a part of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The unit includes two historic homes: the McLoughlin House, the retirement home of Dr. John McLoughlin and his family, and the Barclay House, the home of Dr. Forbes Barclay and his family. The museum collection associated with the McLoughlin House was donated to the park by the McLoughlin Memorial Association that same year. FOVA is classified principally under "the Fur Trade", a sub-theme of the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings Theme XV, "Westward Expansion and the Extension of the National Boundaries to the Pacific, 1830-1898. The Department of the Interior mandate to acquire and preserve museum property appears in the following laws and regulations: Federal Property Management Regulations (41 CFR 101) (FPMR); Interior Property Management Regulations (410 Departmental Manual 114-60) (IPMR); DOI Interim Standards for Documentation, Preservation and Protection of Museum Property; Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, (16 USC 470aa-mm) as amended; 43 CFR Part 7.13, "Custody of Archaeological Resources": an Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities, June 8, 1906 (16 USC 431-433); 36 CFR Part 79, "Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological Collections"; National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, (16 USC 470-470t, sec. 110) as amended; 36 CFR Part 1228, "Disposition of Federal Records"; Preservation, Arrangement Duplication, Exhibition of Records (44 USC 2109); Archaeological Salvage Act of 1960 (16 USC 469-469); Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, (25 USC 3001-13); Disposal of Re