Cape Disappointment
Long Beach Peninsula, Washington Coast
July 2005

"A bold promontory of ancient basalt, Cape Disappointment rises from the shore of the largest ocean in the world. Around its base flows the mighty Columbia River. Cape Disappointment is the sentinel at the mouth of the Columbia and guards its gateway to the Pacific Northwest."

History:
In 1788, while in search of the Columbia River, English Captain John Meares missed the passage over the river bar and named the nearby headland Cape Disappointment for his failure in finding the river. In 1792, American Captain Robert Gray successfully crossed the river bar and named the river "Columbia" after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. Only a few years later, in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at Cape Disappointment.

The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was constructed in 1856 to warn seamen of the treacherous river bar known by then as "the graveyard of the Pacific." This is the oldest functioning lighthouse on the West Coast.

info from the Washington State Parks website