Columbus was founded by Amos Stark, who staked a claim here in 1852. He went off to the gold fields of California for awhile and returned in 1859 with livestock and supplies. He built a log cabin about 2 miles east of the present Maryhill Museum. By then other homesteaders were arriving. They earned a living by hauling cordwood from further north and selling it to steamboats along the Columbia River. The town was platted and named Columbus and recorded in 1878. In 25 years there were about 100 people. By 1868 a ferry was running between Columbus and Grant, Oregon.