Category Archives: History

BRICE DISQUE – WARDEN OF THE SPRUCE WORLD

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Brigadier General Brice P. Disque founder and leader of the Spruce Production Division.

A recent visit to the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site took me to the museum inside the former airplane hangar at Pearson Airfield. This, one of the early hubs of military aviation in the Pacific Northwest. Besides the airplanes on display, there is a magnificent model of what was the world’s largest sawmill in 1918. On the wall surrounding the model are panels explaining the unique story of the Spruce Production Division. This unit encompassed over 100,000 men by the end of WW1 in one of the lesser remembered episodes of the war. Hanging on the wall is the haunting portrait of the commander of the Division – one Brice Disque.

Brice Disque was one of the many officers seeing rapid advancements in rank during WW1. He moved from captain to brigadier general in a under a year.  After spending fourteen years as a captain, the rise dizzying. His energy and ability to accomplish extremely difficult tasks were equal to the meteoric journey.

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VANCOUVER CUT-UP PLANT – SPRUCE WINGS TO BEARD OLD BILL

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The sawmill portion of the Cut-up Plant at Vancouver Barracks.

SPRUCE FOR THE AIR, FIR FOR THE SEA

So went one of the mottos of the Spruce Production Division during World War 1 – “Bill” being Kaiser William. The huge Cut-up Plant was erected on the Polo Grounds at Vancouver Barracks to better provide the needed correct lumber for American and Allied airplane production. “Spruce for the air”. “Fir for the sea” was for shipbuilding, a secondary purpose of the huge plant.

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MOUNT HOOD LOOP – GEMS HIDDEN JUST OUT OF SIGHT

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Bridge over the Zig Zag River
Abandoned bridge over the Zig Zag River.

Chester Moores was a member of the first party to complete a loop around Mount Hood in an automobile in one day.  They did it as part of an expedition he wrote about in a wonderful article written in the 18 July 1915 edition of The Sunday Oregonian.  They spent eleven hours out on the roads, starting with the Columbia River Gorge Highway only completed in parts the year before.  Construction of that road in Hood River and Wasco Counties would not be completed for several years.  They ended up on earlier roads, much steeper and narrower.  He writes of encountering grades of 25 to 30%. The actual Mount Hood Loop would take longer.

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HARD TIMES, WALKABOUT ON THE LYLE CONVICT ROAD

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Ollie checks out the view over the river, the railroad and the current highway from the former roadbed built by Washington convicts in 1910-1911.
Ollie checks out the view over the river, the railroad and the current highway from the former roadbed built by Washington convicts in 1910-1911.

Oregon and Washington have used prison labor for various projects throughout their history.  Convicts have been working on a variety of projects from laundry to license plates to agriculture.  They also worked on convict road projects, though that only arose in the early 20th century.  Penitentiaries hoped to relieve overcrowding in the prisons while at the same time providing employment not conflicting with free labor.  They saw the employment also as a form of reward to their better behaving prisoners.  Prisoners had marks of degradation such as stripes, chains and shaven heads done away with.  Here, they gained a certain amount of freedom.  The work, done in the public good, was also seen as reformative.

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SHELLROCK MOUNTAIN – WAGONS AND CONVICTS HIDING IN THE SHALE

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One road above the other in the Columbia River Gorge; Ollie looking down from the 1876 wagon road on the late 1960 freeway.
One road above the other in the Columbia River Gorge; Ollie looking down from the 1876 wagon road on the late 1960 freeway.

Funds for The Dalles – Sandy Military Road gained appropriation from the Oregon legislature in 1872 – $50,000.  The road finally finished in 1876 after another $50,000 infusion.  The road suffers from memory – too windy and parts too steep (20 % grades!).  Much of the road was said to have been destroyed by the 1880 building of the railway through the Gorge.  Some areas remained to be incorporated into the subsequent Columbia River highway.  Other areas were abandoned, though only one section of the old wagon road – Shellrock Mountain – remains known from its day.

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STARVATION CREEK – UNCOVERING MAGIC IN THE MINIATURE WATERFALL ALLEY

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Wind Mountain stands across the river from Camp Benson Falls next to Shellrock Mountain.

The area around Starvation Creek along I-84 has undergone some changes with the recent restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway here in 2019.  For a long time, the site has been a rest area with a short trail leading to the drama of Starvation Creek Falls.  It is also the beginning of a couple of the hardest trails found in the Gorge, Starvation Ridge and Mount Defiance trails.  These trails entail a gain of 5,000 feet, with the latter trail doing it in under five miles.  But before going high there is a lot to discover down below.

In the short stretch between the rest area and Shellrock Mountain about two miles to the west, five waterfalls easily come into view; one other notable if it has rained hard recently and two or three others a bit harder to access – especially if you have to carry a 38-pound cogi.

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TWIN TUNNELS OF MOSIER; WINDOWS REVEAL MAGIC OF THE SYNCLINE

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Deep in the heart of the Twin Tunnels.
Deep in the heart of the Twin Tunnels.

To date, the Twin Tunnels of Mosier make up the most spectacular section of the Historic Columbia River Highway formerly lost, now restored. That honor will probably fall in a couple years, superseded when the Mitchell Point section comes back. From the viewpoint near the tunnels, you look out to the magnificence of the tilted synclines on both sides of the mighty river. Come in springtime and the floral display will be on to add to the magic.

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MIST FALLS – GAINING THE SECRETS OF THE GORGE’S DIAPHONOUS PRINCESS

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Mist Falls turned down - from Hartmann Pond in Benson State Park.
Mist Falls turned down – from Hartmann Pond in Benson State Park.

In Scott Cook’s wonderful round-up gem of places lesser known in the Columbia River Gorge, Curious Gorge, Mist Falls is uncovered and revealed. This waterfall moods changes dramatically with the seasons, from a solid waterfall after a rain to one with mists dancing in the wind. Mists never seeming to be in any hurry to settle back on the ground as they enjoy their brief moment of freedom. It sits as a nearby neighbor to the king, Multnomah Falls. The waterfall is most visible to the motorists ripping along Interstate 84. Those motorists – the drivers, anyway – only get a fleeting glance. Their attentions quickly focus on cars using the left-hand exit for the nearby huge parking lot at Multnomah. Mist Falls is a true overlooked gem in the midst of Waterfall Alley.

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LINNTON TRAIL – ASCENDING INTO THE PRIMEVAL MAGIC

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As Portland grew during the 19th and 20th centuries, smaller towns were annexed along the way.  Some of those towns were substantial, like East Portland.  Others were much smaller, like the little town of Linnton across the Willamette River from St Johns. The last post touched on the Lower Columbia River Highway. This time we will come back closer to the beginning of that road.

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LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER HIGHWAY – MAGIC IN THE REMAINS

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Dogs water in the plunge pool beneath Beaver Falls.
Dogs water in the plunge pool beneath Beaver Falls.

After posts on Samuel Hill, Samuel Lancaster, and Henry Bowlby it was time for me to revisit some of the projects they inspired and oversaw.  The Columbia River Highway remains the magic the three men. That magic best shared along the Upper Columbia River Highway, known today as the Historic Columbia River Highway.  A couple fine books have been written on this road.  And while in the future, I may hit upon some of the highlights (Shepperd’s Dell is one such case), today it is the Lower Columbia River Highway.

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