Passbook

This passbook belonged to a vendor at the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair held in 1905 in Portland, Oregon. It displays the fair’s official seal depicting Lewis and Clark and “Lady” or “Miss Columbia.” With the motto “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way,” the fair marked the passage of 100 years since to arrival of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery on the Pacific Coast, but was mainly a commercial venture. In the style of a World’s Fair, exhibitions from 21 countries, 16 US states, as well as other groups, extolled cultural, technological, and natural resource achievements. For more than four and a half months, more than 1.6 million visitors enjoyed these attractions as well as amusement parks, concerts, and motion picture shows. The centennial year of 1905 also saw the first, and unsuccessful, attempt to seek a Congressional appropriation to purchase the site of the Corps of Discovery’s Fort Clatsop and establish a commemorative monument.