Category Archives: Pacific Northwest Outdoors

MCLOUGHLIN PROMENADE REVEALING MAGIC OF A NEW DAY

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The McLoughlin Promenade rambling atop the cliff rising above the old city-paper mill complex-Willamette Falls Legacy project.
The McLoughlin Promenade rambling atop the cliff rising above the old city-paper mill complex-Willamette Falls Legacy project.

Oregon City is packed full of history.  The first city of Oregon features two fine museums – Oregon Trail Museum and the Museum of the Oregon Territory – besides being home to the houses of two pioneers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, John McLoughlin and Forbes Barclay.  Beyond that, the dramatic power of the Willamette is on display from roadside vista points off Oregon Highway 99E and Interstate 205.  While the views are dramatic enough, that will change in the near future as the plans of the Grand Ronde Tribe come to fruition as the former industrial area reinvents itself to take advantage of the sheer magnificence of Willamette Falls.  Two other nearby sights are not as well known to those outside of Oregon City – Singer Falls and the McLoughlin Promenade.

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WILLAMETTE FALLS LOCKS – OPENING THE DOOR TO THE VALLEY

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Governor Grover transiting through Lock 3 in 1873. OHS

Willamette Landings was a book I originally read in the sixth or seventh grade a long time ago.  The book details the little settlements growing along the Willamette River in the mid to late 19th century when the river served to connect the Valley to each other and the outside world.  The book impressed me so much I was able to convince my parents to take a trip visiting some of the old sites, including rides on the three ferries remaining – still, today, as well – in operation crossing the river.  The key to being able to use the river as a transportation artery was the development of the Willamette Falls Locks in 1873.

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TURNING ON THE LIGHTS AT WILLAMETTE FALLS

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Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls from atop the former Hawley Mills power station foundation – site of observation point for the proposed Riverwalk.

Waterpower attracted the attention of the earliest Europeans to the site of Willamette Falls. John McLoughlin laid a claim to land at base of the Falls as early as 1829.  Listed as the second largest waterfall in North America based on water volume, in the Northwest, the falls only outdone by those at Celilo and Kettle on the Columbia.  Both of those waterfalls now drowned by reservoirs backed up behind dams – The Dalles Dam and Grand Coulee Dam.  Willamette Falls is also the site of the first hydroelectric plant built in the Northwest – 1888.  From here, transmission lines stretched north to Portland fourteen miles to the north.  These lines represented the first transmission of electricity in the United States.  At the time, about the only thing using the generated power consisted of streetlights in the city, but trolley systems quickly came into use.

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MCCLELLAN ON A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY IN THE NORTHWEST

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Sign noting McClellan's passage through the dense forests of the southern Cascades.
Sign noting McClellan’s passage through the dense forests of the southern Cascades.

As future generals for the Federal Army during the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant and Philip Sheridan are also remembered for their service in the Pacific Northwest during the 1850’s.  Another, George Brinton McClellan made a cameo appearance. He led a group tasked with identifying a possible rail route through the Cascades.  In addition, they potential were to build a military road across the mountain chain so emigrant wagons could more easily reach the Puget Sound of Washington Territory.  This reconnaissance gave McClellan his first extended period of independent command since graduating from West Point with the Class of 1846.

Before George McClellan became the leading Federal general in the early Civil War, he served in the wilds of Washington, surveying for railroad routes.

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REVISITING THE “CAYUSE WAR” – MURDER, REVENGE AND A NEW TERRITORY

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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.

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TWANOH CREEK – Magic and Renewal

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A big tiger-striped male chum salmon begins its spawning journey near the mouth of Twanoh Creek.

Twanoh Creek runs through a deep, forested canyon for about a mile coming north off the Mason County plateau above. The canyon feels primeval though outside of the State Park boundaries encompassing the canyon, the forests above demonstrate heavy logging. Beyond the primitive feeling one gets walking on trails deep in cedar forests is a truly magical splendor revealing itself in the waters of the little creek from late September until early December – the salmon have returned to complete their life cycles.

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PILLARS OF HERCULES – NEW WORLD TWIST ON AN OLD CLASSIC

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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.

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DESCHUTES RAILROADS FEUD DEEP IN THE CANYONS

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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.

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CORGIS ON PARADE – MAGIC IN THE COAST AIR

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Corgis mix it up in Ecola Creek at Cannon Beach Corgi Day.
Corgis mix it up in Ecola Creek at Cannon Beach Corgi Day.

My wife, our Corgi and I recently escaped the summer heat of the Willamette Valley for a day at the beach, Cannon Beach to be exact. Home of the annual Corgi Day at the Beach. It was an awesome day made more mystical by swirls of fog lying along the shore. Over 500 Corgis were running up and down through the sands.

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DEVELOPMENT – REALIGNMENT, US 101 ON EDGE OF OREGON

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Nestucca Spit - saved from realignment of US 101 by then Secretary of State Robert Straub.
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.

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