On August 19 th , 1818, Captain James Biddle and the USS Ontario arrived at the Columbia River
to claim the land under American control. The USS Ontario was too big to enter the Columbia
River so Captain Biddle took “three boats well-armed and manned with more than fifty officers
and seamen” into the river to Cape Disappointment. There he nailed a plate to a tree claiming the
territory on both sides of the Columbia river under American control. The rest of the day and into
the following morning, Captain Biddle visited nearby settlements inland and claimed more land
for the United States