This sign is at west end of Cowlitz River Bridge on Wash. Hwy. 505 in Toledo.
Marker Name: Toledo - Earliest Settlement of Lewis County
Marker Text: Simon Plamondon, the son of a Royal Surveyor, was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1800. Losing his father at an early age, he learned to hunt, fish, and trap with neighboring Indian boys. At age 18, Plamondon traveled to the Pacific Northwest to trap for the British North West Company in Astoria, Oregon. He is recognized as the first non-Indian explorer of the Cowlitz River. Plamondon’s marriage to a Cowlitz Indian chief’s daughter provided an important alliance between the British company and Indians of the Cowlitz Corridor. Learning their languages, he worked to develop and maintain good relations with the tribes.
Plamondon established a 40-achre farm on the Cowlitz Prairie in 1835, near present-day Toledo. In 1836, the Hudson’s Bay Company sent him to explore the agricultural potential of the Cowlitz Portage. By 1839, Plamondon’s assessment led to the establishment of a 4,000 acre farm on Cowlitz Prairie, just north of present-day Toledo.
Simon Plamondon was elected to the Oregon Provisional Legislature in 1846, and during the next year, the Lewis County Court convened at his home. In addition to numerous political positions, Plamondon also served as Lewis County’s first Treasurer.
The years 1854 and 1855 were marked by stressful relations between white settlers and Indians. Plamondon remained on his farm during this period, providing supplies and protection to the Cowlitz Indians who risked extermination as a result of govenment policy.
Simon Plamondon died in 1900, three month before his 100th birthday. He is remembered as an adventurous and honest man. Some of Plamondon’s descendants still live on the Cowlitz Prairie.