Fort Vancouver was an important Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur trading post that was established in 1824.

The treaty permitted the Hudson's Bay Company to continue to operate at Fort Vancouver, which was now within the Oregon Territory.

On June 14, 1860, Fort Vancouver was abandoned by the Hudson's Bay Company in favor of their stations in British Columbia, such as Fort Victoria.In 1849, the United States Army constructed the Vancouver Barracks adjacent to the British trading post; and took over the facility when it was abandoned.

A fire destroyed the Hudson's Bay Company fort in 1866, but the Army facility continued in operation in various forms until the present.

In 1908, the paper mill that owned the property wished to expand and the house was threatened with demolition, but preservationists saved it the next year, raising over $1,000 and overcoming a referendum.

In June 2018, National Park Service Volunteers completed work on a replica of Silas Christofferson's Curtis Pusher from scratch.

The original plane was flown from the roof of the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, OR to the location of the modern day Pearson airfield.

Exhibits at the museum also feature the US Army Spruce Production Division,[19] and the first transpolar flight which landed in 1937 on Pearson Field from Moscow, Russia.

[20] An earth-covered pedestrian land bridge was built over the Lewis and Clark Highway, as part of the Confluence Project, in 2007.

[21] Parts of the Vancouver Barracks were transferred to the National Park Service in 2012 when the US Army Reserve officially closed the post after its continuous occupation since 1849.

The area is expected to feature a community center, office buildings, restaurants, and retail in addition to a future museum space for the Vancouver Barracks operated by the National Park Service.