Dismal Nitch

Dismal Nitch[1] is the name of a cove along the lower Columbia River in Washington state, notable as the Lewis and Clark Expedition's last campsite before sighting the Pacific Ocean.

On November 10, 1805, a severe winter storm struck the area, forcing them off the river for six days and preventing them from meeting the supply ships.

The group landed in a cove on the north bank of the river that Captain William Clark called in his journals "that dismal little nitch".

With no more fresh food and their soaked clothes literally rotting away, he wrote that "A feeling person would be distressed by our situation" and was concerned for the Corps safety for just the second time in the expedition, in danger of foundering just a few miles short.

While the official site is commemorated as being about 500 feet west of the rest area, some historians in recent years believe that the actual location of Lewis and Clark's camp may be 1/2 mile the opposite direction.