Print from a wood-engraving by N. Orr & Co., originally published in Frances Fuller Victor’s, The River of the West, circa 1870.
Early relationships between European newcomers and Native Americans living in the Pacific Northwest certainly went no better than in most other regions of the Americas. European supremacy became much easier through early introduction of disease, an actual prelude in many cases to actual ethnic introductions. Bad as the era directly before the two peoples came together face to face was, disease continued to inflict the Native populations, a factor leading directly to ill will and what became known as the “Cayuse War” in 1847.
Pillars of Hercules rise to the right of Cigar Rock.
Flying along Interstate 84, you might catch an ephemeral glance at a waterfall or two. If you know when to look. Traffic speeds along well above the speed limit of 65 mph. The number of cars and trucks seem to exponentially increase with the years. Pity the traveler who finds themselves stuck behind one of the giant propellors heading to the wind farms just south of the east end of the Columbia River Gorge. Road travel has come a long way since the first road was put in over 150 years ago. Basalt columns occur in many areas along the way. So, the columns and cliffs jutting up to the south of the freeway just west of the Bridal Veil exit – exit 44 – might not garner an extra glance from a speeding car. You have just missed noting the Pillars of Hercules.
On the old railbed of the Des Chutes Railroad with the river below.
Type in a query for ‘railroad wars’ and you will find three events under the Wikipedia entry for “railroad wars”. The last event was the “Deschutes Railroad War”. Of the three, this is the shortest entry. The entry focuses on the actual building difficulties of the two Deschutes railroads erected on either side of the river. But to really understand the real reason for the enmity between the competing rail companies, we need to go further back before the 1912 construction of the two lines.
Oregon & California lands given back to the federal government include much of the BLM lands – orange. These were part of the original land grants given to the O&C Rail Road.
Looking at maps showing Federal lands of the West, you quickly notice a checkerboard arrangement incongruously drawn without seeming reason. Certainly, no topographical purpose. You now see the result of the rail land grants – grabs – of the 19th century.
One of Abraham Lincoln’s main planks to his 1860 presidential campaign became realized by the 1862 Pacific Railway Act. This gave Congress the ability to grant land and low-cost loans to railway companies building lines across the West. Lincoln’s goal was a transcontinental line to unite California and the Pacific Coast to the rest of the country.
Union Station in Seattle – originally the Oregon & Washington Railroad Depot.
As rail travel in the western US continues to be a fade from the past, many people have forgotten several cities used to have more than one passenger terminal to use. Some of the multiple rail stations have survived in other guises. Some, simply gone.
Nestucca Spit – saved from realignment of US 101 by then Secretary of State Robert Straub.
US 101 is the main focus for would-be tourists to Oregon. The Oregon coastline is truly spectacular. The Oregon Coast Highway provides the main access for those wishing to see the magic. Driving the length of the magnificent road gives one an excellent window into the wildness, beauty and changeability of a unique environment.
Erosion continually reshapes the landscape at Cape Kiwanda.
The Oregon Coast spans some fantastically beautiful scenery. Driving along US 101 in the summer can be a bit frustrating at times stuck behind the travel trailers and rvs making their way north or south along the highway, but there is a reason so many are there. People ask me what the favorite spot I have along the long coastline. That is a lot like the question what your favorite travel place in the world is. There are simply too many. One recent spot I discovered was the mystical charms to be discovered atop the Great Dune of Cape Kiwanda.
As a child, road maps drew me in. The lines on the map fascinated me, linking places I had never been to or heard of together. Numbers linked with the lines created journeys for discovery. In 1926, the federal government came up with a plan to number highways to replace names – in this case, the Pacific Highway – in order to establish an integrated system of roads throughout the country. The so-called “Federal system” did not mean the federal government built or maintained the roads. That process remained the responsibility of local and state governments. Highways simply gained numbers and signs so auto drivers could determine their location.
Steel Bridge carries trains and pedestrians on the lower deck; light rail and auto traffic use the upper deck.
There are many articles – blog posts or otherwise – and even books about the bridges of Portland, Oregon. Of the twelve bridges along the Willamette River – four more on the Columbia – little space usually covers the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 or the rail portion of the Steel Bridge. If you exclude the new Tilikum Crossing Bridge, which carries light rail tracks and buses, the other rail bridges lack the grace of the St Johns or Fremont Bridges and the traffic of all of the other bridges – maybe the Steel excluded.
A recent post about the rail ferry at Kalama, Washington, some forty-five minutes north of the city, got me thinking about railroads and history. While at first glance, both are reasonably complicated, in the case of the main rail bridges in Portland, like the ferry at Kalama, it all comes down to James J. Hill.
Model of the rail-car ferry Tacoma of the Northern Pacific Railroad at the Port of Kalama Interpretive Center.
For years, Kalama meant the Northern Pacific. Kalama was the beginning of the Northern Pacific push from the west to create a third transcontinental rail line. Northern Pacific also used Kalama as a port for a rail ferry to cross over the Columbia River from.
A recent celebration with friends took us to the large McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge. The hotel-brewpub-restaurant complex is a brand-new development made in the appearance of a large Maui plantation. Maybe a bit incongruous along the banks of the Columbia River, the complex always appears popular driving past along I-5 judging from the number of cars in the parking lot.
And while, like with most McMenamins establishments, the Lodge is full of history and art laid out in the McMenamins way, right next door is another large building housing the Port of Kalama. The Port building features a large Interpretive Center on its east side housing several interesting exhibits dealing with issues the Port of Kalama has and does deal with. One of the Kalama themes deals with railroad history – Northern Pacific – and the port.
