This section of the of the website is an informal visitor's guide to the Columbia River Gorge. It includes pictures of some of the most popular sights in the Gorge and photos and information about other places off the beaten path. Let's start with some background information.
A Short History of
The Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is home to a score of fascinating stories. The themes of the stories are geology, Native American culture, European immigration, transportation, resource exploitation, scenery, conservation, private property rights, and recreation.
Geology
The Columbia River carved a sea level gorge through the mile high Cascade Mountain Range. During the Ice Age, thousand foot high floods swept through the Gorge. Layers of basalt thousands of feet thick are exposed in the Gorge, evidence of volcanic eruptions that flowed all the way from Idaho to the Pacific. In about 1450 AD, a huge landslide blocked the river channel and formed the legendary Bridge of the Gods.
Native Americans
For at least 10,000 years Native Americans lived, fished, and traded along the river. When Europeans introduced smallpox and other lethal diseases, 90 percent of the Native population died. Those that survived had their lands taken and were forced onto reservations. Their best traditional fishing sites were destroyed by dambuilding. In the 1960s they began to win back fishing rights and expand their political influence. Today, the Warm Springs tribes are re-establishing their presence in the Gorge through a controversial casino in Cascade Locks.
European Immigration
Lewis and Clark found their way to the Pacific through the Gorge and first described its wonders to Euro Americans, but the British were the first to govern the region. Pioneers on the Oregon Trail risked their lives and fortunes rafting its Cascades. Settlers farmed, logged, fished, and transported goods.
Transportation
Steamboats provided the first practical and safe public transportation through the Gorge. Locks were built to navigate the rapids that had stymied the pioneers. The first attempt to build a road through the Gorge came in 1872, an effort that failed within sight of its destination.
In 1882 the first railroad was completed on the Oregon side. A second line on the north bank was completed in 1908.
Visionaries built one of the world’s most beautiful highways in 1913 to 1916, a road which became obsolete in a decade. Shortsighted freeway engineers of the 1950s and 60s destroyed some of the finest elements of that Scenic Highway.
Logging
European settlers first started logging in the Gorge to build their homes and to fuel steamboats, which were the primary means of transportation until the first railroad was completed in 1882. As the regional population grew, logging for lumber expanded. Flumes carried old growth logs from the high country to sawmills at river level until the mountains were stripped bare.
Salmon
Before european settlers arrived, tens of millions of salmon migrated up the Columbia each year. Settlers used fish wheels, gill nets, and horse-drawn seines to harvest millions of fish annually. Canneries sprang up to package what probably seemed like an inexhaustable resource. Overfishing caused the runs to begin a long decline by the 1920s. Today, a few rotted pilings are the only momentos of the commercial fishing industry in the Gorge.
Salmon faced other challenges. Dambuilding blocked access to spawning grounds for some runs and disrupted migration patterns for others. Logging and road construction degraded habitat. Today, natural predators taking advantage of unnatural conditions in the river are exacting a further toll on the runs. Tomorrow's challenges for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River may come from invasive species and climate change.
Credit should be given to Native Americans, fisheries biologists, conservation groups, and sportfishing organizations who are all working to save and rebuild the Columbia River salmon runs.
Hydropower
Bonneville Dam, built during the Great Depression, flooded the rapids and the locks at Cascade Locks. The Dalles Dam, completed in the mid-fifties, flooded the Long Narrows at The Dalles, and the magnificent Celilo Falls. Cheap power from the dams enabled the construction of huge aluminum smelters, but a growing population and the costs of salmon mitigation drove up the cost of electricity. One by one, the smelter potlines shut down as power became more expensive.
Scenery
Multnomah Falls is one of the tallest and most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The cliffs on the Oregon side of the Gorge are majestic. Rock formations like Saint Peter’s Dome, Rooster Rock, and Beacon Rock provide punctuation and scale. The splendid hike up Eagle Creek to Punch Bowl Falls and eight more waterfalls is unsurpassed anywhere. Oneonta Gorge, Horsetail Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Shepperd’s Dell, and Latourell Falls are spectacular and accessible right at road level.
Some works of man have become part of the scenery. Vista House, Benson Bridge at Multnomah Falls, the pathway at Shepperd’s Dell, the Rowena Loops, and Multnomah Falls Lodge all show that, in his best works, man can enhance the landscape.
Conservation
Conservation has been an important force in the Gorge since the early part of the 20th century. It began with civic-minded landowners like Simon Benson (Multnomah Falls), George Shepperd (Shepperd’s Dell), and Henry J. Biddle (Beacon Rock) who donated their spectacular properties to the state for the enjoyment of all.
As the century passed, public pressure built to formally preserve the Gorge. Friends of the Gorge, led by Nancy Russell, was instrumental in passing legislation in Congress in 1986 to create the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (CRGNSA) and to create the Columbia River Gorge Commission and other statutory mechanisms to protect the Gorge from overdevelopment.
Private Property Rights
Management of the CRGNSA involves the USDA Forest Service, the states of Oregon and Washington, the six Gorge counties, and the Gorge Commission. The creation of the CRGNSA effectively limited landowners rights to develop their properties in certain ways. Many affected property owners have had difficulty accepting these limitations. Controversy and conflict is ongoing.
Recreation
Many forms of recreation are pursued in the Gorge. The most popular include:
Sightseeing
Hiking
Windsurfing
Kiting
Fishing
Mountainbiking
Kayaking
Rafting
Photography
Geocaching
Boating
Sailing
Waterskiing
