CAMPING
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BED & BREAKFAST INNS

HOTELS

EATERIES
BATTLE GROUND

RIDGEFIELD

VANCOUVER

WINERIES (By Proximity)
RIDGEFIELD

BATTLE GROUND

VANCOUVER

HISTORY of our Flight Area

Battle Ground, WA

Morning Star Balloon Co. calls Battle Ground, WA her home-base for hot air balloon flights.  Battle Ground is located in middle Clark County, WA between the East Fork of the Lewis River and Salmon Creek and has a most unique historical background.  The Battle Ground area was first occupied by groups of the Cathlapootle or Lewis River Indian tribe.  This tribe consisted of hunters and gathers who lived on fish from the nearby rivers and the streams, wild game, a tuber-like potato called wapato, huckleberries, blackberries and blueberries.  The origin of the City's name "Battle Ground" came from a battle that never took place.  The story goes in 1855 relations between white settlers and local Indian tribes were festering into deadly skirmishes in the Northwest.  A tribe of Klickitat Indians, who were in "protective custody", escaped Fort Vancouver along the Columbia River and traveled north 10 miles to the Battle Ground area.  Captain Strong headed an Army detail charged with bringing the Indians back in a peacemaking exercise.   After contacting the escaped tribe, Strong got the Indians to promise to return to the Fort.  One Indian brave was not satisfied with Chief Umtuch's decision to return and killed the Chief.  Strong allowed the Indians to perform a traditional burial of their dead leader while he returned to the Fort with their promise to return.    Upon the army's return without the Indians, the settlers at the Fort chided the solders for not waging a battled.  The Indians did return and for not forcefully bringing back the Indians Strong was presented a petticoat for "bravery and courage."  This area then became known as "Strong's Battle Ground."  

The amended Homestead Act of 1862 allowed urban homesteaders to own the land if improvements were made for a five year period.  In the 1870s a community had begun to form and regular mail service was established in 1871.  The first school was located at the entrance of Battle Ground Lake State Park.   The completion of the Vancouver, Klickitat, and Yakima Railroad took place in 1901 and created a surge of development.  In the 1900s a telegraph line linked Battle Ground with the rest of Clark County and Portland, OR. 

In 1903, the railroad finished construction of warehouses, storehouses, and a hotel. The town was first plotted in 1902-1903.  In 1904 Battle Ground boasted 101 in population including children and boarders.  By the 1920s, Battle Ground established several dairy cooperatives for processing milk and cheese, a cannery, grain elevator, and an ice plant.   Records show 1/3 of all dairy consumed by Portland came from this farming community.  By 1928  logging in northern Clark County was a way of life, as well as farming and improved transportation.  In 1942 incorporation was presented to the townspeople of Battle Ground and failed.  It was rekindled in 1950 and finally passed on May 28, 1951. 

Terrain in Battle Ground is relatively flat with few trees.  This is great for hot air ballooning and, since the landowners are so friendly, permission to launch and land is easy to acquire.  It is nestled at the foot of the Cascade Mountains with an elevation of 280' above sea level.  Average rainfall is 48 inches with mild to moderate winters averaging 42 degrees Fahrenheit.  Average summer temperatures are around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once a hot air balloon is above 2,000', the view is spectacular with Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens to the north, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood to the east, and The Three Sisters and Mt. Washington to the south.  If you fly high enough, and the air is clear, a view of the Pacific coast beaches can be seen to the west.

Ridgefield, WA

Morning Star Balloon Co. flies on the east side of the Ridgefield area.  The original inhabitants of the Ridgefield area were a Chinook tribe whose village was located along the banks of Lake River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the area twice, once in 1805 enroute to the Pacific Ocean and once in 1806 on the return voyage. The Chinook Indians stayed until 1876 when they relocated at the mouth of the Lewis River.  In 1840, a young Irish immigrant named James Carty filed the first Land Donation Claim in the area, a portion of which is in what is the present day northern part of Ridgefield's downtown. His nephew, James Carty, visited in 1860 and later settled in the area in 1872. History indicates that Mr. Carty was the only settler until 1853, when Frederick Shobert arrived to homestead 320 acres, which included in the southern portion of the city's current downtown. Most of this homestead was covered with heavy timber and family members say this was the reason that Mr. Shobert selected this land so that he could log the timber.   In the years that followed, more settlers were drawn to the gently sloping land extending from elevated highland to the banks of Lake River.

The original name of the community was Union Ridge due to the number of residents originating from the Union Ranks of the Civil War. The name was changed to Ridgefield in 1890 after S. P. Mackay successfully circulated a petition to rename the area.  The Post Office was established in the home of Asa Richardson on September 15, 1865.  Commerce came to Ridgefield in 1882 when Stephen Shobert and J.J. Thompson opened the first store.  In 1892 the first schoolhouse opened and in 1893 the first telephone was installed.  On January 6, 1911 a larger 8 room school building opened which is today known as View Ridge Middle School.  At a special election held on August 20, 1909 the people voted in favor of incorporation. Ridgefield State Bank opened on February 21, 1910.  On January 1916 the first electric service was established by Bratlie Lumber Company and by December 27 that same year the steamboat "City of Ridgefield" was launched for a Ridgefield-Portland run. 

Ridgefield's main crop was potatoes and on May 12, 1928 the Clark County Potato Growers Associated was organized.  Hence why the local high school mascot is a "Spudder".  Unfortunately a blight stole through the area and forced the potato growers to move their operation to dryer climate in Idaho.   To this day, landowners who dig deep will find red clay pipes used for irrigation.

In the fall of 1945, L.S. Schoen built the first U-Haul trailer in a tool shed at the Carty Ranch.  This was the official birthplace of U-haul.  On April 26, 1946, the Old Liberty Theater opened and is still in existence today orchestrating traveling musical groups and offering a place to sit a spell, have a hot drink, and reminisce with locals.  Ridgefield also boasts of having the largest sequoia in Washington State located along Main and in plain view (please don't walk on the neighbor's front yard for pictures).  Ridgefield is a quaint town with a few intersecting roads.  Every October, a bird festival is held for the sandhill cranes who travel south from Canada enroute for warmer climate. 

LaCenter, WA

North of the Morning Star Balloon Co. flight area is LaCenter, WA.  In the 1870s, La Center was a business center and head of navigation on the east fork of the Lewis River, a tributary of the Columbia River downriver from Vancouver, Washington. In late summer, the regular schedules of the steamers "Mascot" and "Walker", paddle-wheeling to Portland, were often interrupted by low water. Passengers and freight were transferred to scows, which were poled up the river or towed by horses along the bank.  Steamboat Mascot, built in 1890, rebuilt 1908, and burned in 1911.  In the early part of the 1900s, sternwheeler business was dominated by the Lewis River Transportation Company, in which a prominent businessman Jacob Kamm was interested. By 1904, Leona was brought on as an opposition boat.   In 1912, Leona burned on the Lewis river near what is now the modern town of La Center, Washington. The wreck of the Leona is still visible on the Lewis River at low water during July and August.  The wreck site is reported to be on the west side of the Lewis River bridge at La Center, Washington.  Pictured here is the Daisy Ainsworth very similar to the boats used up and down the Lewis River.  

ACTIVITIES & WALKABOUTS

There are a lot of things to do in our Flight area.  Go to the city pages for calendars of upcoming events and lots of stuff to do in Clark County.

See Also:

Amboy
Yacolt
Cougar
Hockinson
Brush Prairie
Vancouver

Clark County "Sleep Country"
Amphitheater

Clark County Event Center & Fairgrounds