Sand Island is an island in Baker Bay in the mouth of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, located in Clatsop County, Oregon. It is situated north of Fort Stevens State Park and the

Clatsop Spit Clatsop Spit is a giant sand spit on the Pacific coast along U.S. Route 101 between Astoria and the north end of Tillamook Head in Clatsop County, northwest Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Clatsop Spit was formed by Columbia River ...

, east of Cape Disappointment, and just south of

Ilwaco, Washington Ilwaco ( ) is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1890, the city was home to the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company along the Long Beach Peninsula, with its core economy ba ...

. Sand Island is also the northernmost point in the state of Oregon. Sand Island is physically situated closer to the Washington mainland than to the Oregon mainland, although the border between the two states traverses the Columbia River north of the island. It often changes position in the river, and was described by Captain

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

during his expedition but not by

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

. The island was formerly subject to a border dispute between Oregon and Washington; Oregon won possession in a 1908 Supreme Court case, ''Washington v. Oregon''.''Washington v. Oregon'', 211 U.S. 127 (1908)
/ref> According to an 1889 description in the ''Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington'': The island is covered in grass with a few small trees towards the center. East Sand Island, located nearby, is smaller and is home to thousands of nesting birds, who mostly avoid the larger Sand Island. File:Columbia River Mouth and Bar.jpg, A map of the Columbia River mouth, with Sand Island labeled

References

Islands of the Columbia River in Oregon Landforms of Clatsop County, Oregon Uninhabited islands of Oregon {{US-island-stub

See also

References