Coalpo

Coalpo was a Clatsop Chinookan leader alive in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He married a daughter of Comcomly, the most prominent Chinookan headman on the lower Columbia River.

In March 1811, the Pacific Fur Company vessel the Tonquin entered the Columbia River and established Fort Astoria. Founded by German-American merchant John Jacob Astor, the PFC was intended to create a string of fur trading stations along the Columbia and the interior eastwards towards the Rocky Mountains. Fort Astoria for much of its operations under the PFC was reliant upon various Chinookan headmen for substance. Diplomatic relationships with the Chinookan villages near the Columbia were critical for the viability of Fort Astoria. Scholars have affirmed that the American company and its "economic success depended on mutually beneficial economic exchanges with Indian groups... who controlled trade." Many of the settlements near the station were under the influence of headman Comcomly.

Coalpo was an important mediator between the newly arrived fur traders and various Indigenous cultures near the Columbia River, serving in additional capacities as a guide and interpreter. Reports were circulated in April 1811 by Chinookans to Fort Astoria of a trade post maintained by white men in the interior. This was correctly conjectured by PFC employees to be their NWC rivals, later found to be Spokane House.

Departing on 2 May, Alexander McKay led Robert Stuart, Gabriel Franchère, Ovide de Montigny and a number of voyageurs up the Columbia River to investigate these claims. The party passed Tongue Point and passed the night at Coalpo's village, "Wahkaykum." On the 4th of May, de Montigny and Mackay explored the Cowlitz River with Coalpo. While on the river, they encountered a large canoe force of Cowlitz warriors. McKay was able to negotiate with the armed force and create amicable relations. Members of the Cowlitz leadership explained they were in the middle of strife with a Chinookan Skilloot village nearby.

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