A Bit of Oregon Coast Time Travel: Event Re-Enacts Lewis 'n Clark at Seaside

Published 09/06/2026 at 6:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Seaside, Oregon) – A little over 200 years ago, Seaside had its first extended stay. But it was no vacation.

It was really akin to the astronauts that went to the moon: one group of explorers had set out into an absolute undiscovered country, ending up on the Washington and Oregon coast. At least the Apollo trips had Mission Control in their ears. Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery had a big dog.

Part of the expedition was spent in Seaside, and the town celebrates that as it hosts a weekend demonstration of the Lewis and Clark Saltmakers on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13. The Seaside Museum and Historical Society is presenting the event with support from a City of Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee grant.

Members of the Pacific Northwest Living Historians will recreate the salt-making camp established by the Lewis and Clark expedition during the winter of 1806 on what is now Seaside beach. Interpreters will boil seawater over a fire and demonstrate how the explorers produced salt to preserve food for their return journey to St. Louis. Visitors will be able to walk into the camp, watch the process, and ask questions about the expedition and its work on the coast.

The program runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday on the beach west of Avenue U and the Prom.

“Parking is limited, so walking or carpooling Is encouraged,” said organizers. “Thanks to the City of Seaside’s Mobi-Mats, the beach walk is easy for those with mobility challenges or those with strollers or wagons.”

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Lewis and Clark Saltmakers is free and open to all ages. The project is funded by room-tax dollars through the City of Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee. Additional support comes from the Seaside Museum, City of Seaside Public Works, First Interstate Bank, Sandy Cove Inn, and Oregon State Parks and Recreation.

Here and at Fort Clatsop near Astoria, the troupe endured a miserable, soggy winter – the type that Oregon coast visitors are now used to. At one point, Clark, Sacagewea and a few others trekked down this way, met briefly with the men at the proto-Seaside camp, and then cut their own path over a completely rugged and untouched Tillamook Head to get to a stream on the other side.

That other side was Ecola Creek at current Cannon Beach,, and the reason for the visit was to snag some whale parts from a beached whale the local tribe were cutting up. Ecola is the native name for “whale.”

Those at Seaside stayed until near the end of February, returning to Fort Clatsop close to when the entire Corps of Discovery left in early March of 1806.

The Seaside Museum and Historical Society, founded in 1974, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of Seaside and the surrounding region. The museum is located at 570 Necanicum Drive and is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Assistant Director Emily Halverson during museum hours.

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