Sunday, September 16, 2018

Last Night

We walked along the Cascade Locks "lock" along Marine Park and through the Cascade Locks Historical Museum. The first locomotive on the first railroad in OR, the Oregon Pony, is housed here.  Beautiful views along the Columbia River here). 


Today/Plans

An easy morning in the "Church of the White Box."  We listened to a sermon from James Montgomery Boice (of the Bible Study Hour) on Psalm 74, Prayer Amid the Ruins of Jerusalem, a Psalm of faith that "reminds" God of His promises and His Covenant with His people. This was a rather powerful faith reminder since we all associate with friends or family members who struggle with major health issues, both physical and psychological. God never forgets his Covenant Promises!
Plans - We would like to visit the WA Interpretive Center, the Bonneville Dam and maybe Multnomah Falls.  This was one of the only days we've had rain during our trip and it really rained on and off the entire day.


Bridge of the Gods

From  our campsite we traveled over the Bridge of the Gods from OR to WA to our Washington destinations then back over again to our Oregon destinations.

Wilma pointing to our campsite across the Columbia
in Washington state.

Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, Stevenson, WA
Similar to what we saw in The Dalles, WA at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum, but with a bit more emphasis on the shipping, logging, fisheries, fish wheels and canneries. The history of the Gorge itself was vividly done with pictures and displays. 

The museum showed an excellent series of displays on that Lewis and Clark discovered at the Rapids and Falls here as well as the birds, fish, and animals they named.

Again, an excellent film on the history of the Gorge and how the river was "tamed." The average height of the Cascade Mountain range is 5,000 ft.  The Columbia River Gorge itself is about 75 miles long.  

The museum presented the biology and history of fires, both recent and past fires, and the effect on local economy and the environment itself.

Sturgeon caught in a Columbia River
fish wheel... 673 pounds in 1912.

Imagine that Lewis and Clark and the boys of the Corps had to "shute" these rapids as well as portage around the falls and/or lower their dugout canoes over them.  And the Indian cultures along the Columbia had been trading for centuries, so they were very difficult to trade with since the Corps had very little of any trade goods, medals and beads left to barter. 









Fort Cascades, Cascades, WA

Beacon Rock is about one mile down river from this Fort
Cascades site.

We then drove down Rt 14 to view the Bonneville Dam from the Washington state side and walked a short trail along Fort Cascade (1850) near the Bonneville Lock and Dam. The US Army built this fort to protect the portage around the Cascades Rapids.(1856-1861)


The Context to the Bonneville Dam and Lock, both in Washington State and Oregon Visits, WA and OR

Viewing the Columbia River from north (WA) to south (OR), is the Washington Shore Visitor Complex and 2nd powerhouse, Cascades Island, the Spillway, then Bradford Island Visitor Center and the 1st Power house.  And the largest Fish Hatchery in OR.

So after we walked a bit at Fort Cascades, we headed down Rt 14 to visit the Bonneville WA Visitors Center.

After we toured that excellent display, including live fish viewing under the water level of the fish ladders to see Salmon, Trout, Shad and Steelhead.  Real special.

So, back over the Bridge to the Gods into OR we then visited the Bonneville Lock and Dam 1st Powerhouse. A small but very well done L&C display *mostly leftover artifact copies that were used to celebrate their 200th anniversary 2003-2006. Again, viewed two films on the history and construction of the Bonneville Dam and the Locks.

The entire Dam and Spillway and Lock system is truly an Incredible engineering feat, build during the Depression within 4 years, 1934-1938. It is a National Historic Site, like so many of the sites we've visited.

The Cascades Falls.  Imagine the Indians fishing this way
for centuries harvesting tens of thousands of pounds of fish
for their winter food. The Bonneville Dam made lakes of
these falls and cascades.
Imagine Lewis and Clark portaging around them or going
down some of the smaller falls.

President FDR wanted to help the poor man "to transmit electricity"  and decided the Grand Coulee Dam and Bonneville Dams, both along the Columbia River, were necessary. There were 13 million unemployed in the early 1930s and so the WPA and CCC. The US Army Corps of Engineers (1824) went to work!  The Bonneville Dam required men and machines and business to support it all;  more than 3,000 men worked on the dam, most with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but wanting WORK.  They lived in tents, temporary trailers, makeshift huts, but the cold was brutal on them. But they got it done in four years.  

As the North West USA grew, so did their need for electricity, so they added a 2nd powerhouse in 1977 which took 10 years. They also needed to move major railroad tracks and routes to accommodate the dams. So now, there are 8 locks, including those at Bonneville Dam, the Snake River all the way to to Lewiston, ID. 

Here is what the Cascades looked like circa 1920s? 

Fish Hatchery
At the OR Fish Hatchery (Oregon's oldest, built 1909), they have acres of oxygenated open water tanks growing trout and salmon fingerlings.  

But we also saw Herman the Sturgeon, 60+ years old, 450 pounds and 10 ft long. Even William Reitsma might have some trouble getting this one into his raft or jetboat!

Hermon the Sturgeon.

Lewis and Clark's Beacon Rock, Stevenson, WA
We viewed Beacon Rock from the Bridge and the Bonneville Dam (picture below) where L&C camped on their way to the Pacific.

Beacon Rock seen from Bonneville Dam

We returned to camp at 3:30pm, just in time for a Sabboth V&T and early dinner in the white box before ice cream.