"This area, once inhabited by either Skilloot or the Klatskanie people, was used for canoe burials (Coffin Island, offshore). The first record of white settlement comes in 1851 when John Fry and his wife settled 640 acres of land granted by the Donation Land Claim Act. Ironically, recorded land sales refer to part of their property as 'Coffin Rock Farm.'"

"COFFIN ROCK ... is a small promontory crowned with cedar and coniferous trees projecting into the river; here the Indians buried their dead in canoes. The canoes were placed high in the cottonwood trees, their sharp prows pointed to the west with every paddle in place. The deceased were wrapped in their robes and furs and their wealth in beads and trinkets was placed at their feet. They lay in the war canoes awaiting the flood of life which prophecy said would come in some day with the tide. The last of the canoes was seen about 1850."

Lyn Topinka, Columbia River Images.com: Coffin Rock, Oregon

In 1792 Lieutenant Broughton of the Captain George Vancouver Expedition, mentions Coffin Rock, calling it a "small rocky islet".

"... About six o'clock on Sunday morning, (October 28) Mr. Broughton continued to proceed against the stream, and soon passed a small rocky islet, about twenty feet above the surface of the water. Several canoes covered the top of this islet, in which dead bodies were deposited ..." [Broughton/Vancouver, October 28, 1792]

In 1805 and 1806 Lewis and Clark pass the area of Coffin Rock but make no mention of it.

According to "Oregon Geographic Names" (2003, McArthur and McArthur, Oregon Historical Society) the first use of the name "Coffin Rock" was January 11, 1814, by Elliot Coues in the Henry-Thompson Journals.

The 1825 map of the Hudson's Bay Company called "Columbia River, Surveyed 1825" (printed 1826), called the rock "Corpse Rock".

In 1841 Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition uses the "Coffin Rock" name.

"... On the 20th, we anchored again off Coffin Rock, near which we found a depth of twenty-five rathoms, which is the deepest water within the capes. This place is sixty miles from the mouth of the river, and eight miles above the confluence of the Cowlitz. The shores here are composed of trap and a conglomerate, the last of which is the same rock as that which occurs below, and has already been spoken of. The Coffin Rock, which is not more than sixty feet in diameter, and twelve feet above the water, appears to have been excluseively reserved for the burial of chiefs. ..." [Wilkes, September 20, 1841]

Alexander Ross in 1849 writes about Mount Coffin and Coffin Rock from a journey in 1811. While he calls Mount Coffin both Mount Coffin and Coffin Rock, he leaves todays Coffin Rock unnamed.

"... [July 23, 1811] ... On the 23rd, after a restlss night, we started, stemming a strong and almost irresistible current by daylight. Crossing to the north side, not far from our encampment, we passed a small rocky height, called Coffin Rock, or Mount Coffin, a receptacle for the dead: all over this rock --- top, sides, and bottom --- were placed canoes of all sorts and sizes, containing relics of the dead, the congregated dust of many ages.

"Not far from Mount Coffin, on the same side, was the mouth of a small river, called by the natives Cowlitz, near which was an isolated rock, covered also with canoes and dead bodies. This sepulchral rock has a ghastly appearance, in the middle of the stream, and we rowed by it in silence; then passing Deer's Island, we encamped at the mouth of the Wallamitte. ..."

The 1856 cadastral survey (tax survey) for T6N R2W shows "Coffin Rock" in Section 2, the "Gobal" homestead in Section 12, and "Sandy Isd." upstream of Goble in the middle of the Columbia River.

From "The New Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State" (1941, Writers' Program, Work Projects Administration):

"COFFIN ROCK (L), 63.6 m., is a small promontory crowned with cedar and coniferous trees projecting into the river; here the Indians buried their dead in canoes. The canoes were placed high in the cottonwood trees, their sharp prows pointed to the west with every paddle in place. The deceased were wrapped in their robes and furs and their wealth in beads and trinkets was placed at their feet. They lay in the war canoes awaiting the flood of life which prophecy said would come in some day with the tide. The last of the canoes was seen about 1850."

Links

ColumbiaRiverImages.com: Coffin Rock, Oregon

Includes … Coffin Rock … Coffin Rock Light …

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/coffin_rock.html

Recreating the Evergreen Highway: Coffin Rock, Washington

"It was a 225-foot mound of black basalt on the north bank of the Columbia River, three miles downstream from the mouth of the Cowlitz River. This rock had long been a landmark to the Indians of the area, and was noticed by the American and British explorers who first traveled the river."

https://sites.google.com/view/recreatingthecrh/washington-highway-8-14/coffin-rock-washingtion

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway