The Volcanoes of
Lewis and Clark
November 1, 1805
Columbia River Gorge - Cascade Locks to Bonneville - The Portage
 
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PREVIOUS

October 31
"Lower Falls of the Columbia", Cascade Locks - Preparing to Portage 		November 1

Columbia River Gorge,
Cascades Locks to Bonneville - The Portage

"Lower Falls of the Columbia" and Cascade Locks, Bridge of the Gods, Rapids below Bridge of the Gods, Bradford Island, Bonneville Dam, Fort Rains, Fort Cascades, and North Bonneville 		CONTINUE

November 2
Columbia River Gorge, Beacon Rock to Rooster Rock
 

On October 7, 1805, Lewis and Clark and the "Corps of Discovery" began their journey down the Clearwater River and into the volcanics of the Pacific Northwest. The Corps travelled from the Clearwater to the Snake and down the "Great Columbia", finally reaching the Pacific Ocean on November 15, 1805. Along the journey they encountered the lava flows of the Columbia Plateau, river channels carved by the great "Missoula Floods", and the awesome beauty of five Cascade Range volcanoes.

Map, Lewis and Clark in the Pacific Northwest, click for brief summary
[Click map for brief summary about the area]


 
To the Pacific - November 1805
Columbia River Gorge - Cascade Locks to Bonneville - The Portage
 

The Lewis and Clark camp of October 30 and 31, 1805, was on an island on the Washington side of the Columbia River, just north of today's Cascade Locks and Bridge of the Gods. The island is now under the waters of Bonneville Dam. The men spent March 31, 1805 preparing to portage around these "Lower Falls of the Columbia".

Friday, November 1, 1805
The morning was cool and the wind high from the northeast. The Indians who arrived last night, took their empty canoes on their shoulders and carried them below the great shoot ["Lower Falls of the Columbia", today the location of the Cascade Locks], where they put them in the water and brought them down the rapid, till at the distance of two and a half miles they stopped to take in their loading, which they had been afraid to trust in the last rapid, and had therefore carried by land from the head of the shoot.
"... Set all hands packing the loading over th portage which is below the Grand Shutes and is 940 yards of bad way over rocks & on Slipery hill Sides The Indians who came down in 2 Canoes last night packed their fish over a portage of 2 1/2 miles to avoid a 2d 'Shute'. four of them took their canoes over the 1st portage and run the 2d Shute ..." [Clark, November 1, 1805]


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Cascade Locks looking downstream, 2003

"Lower Falls of the Columbia" and Cascade Locks:
Lewis and Clark called the area around today's Cascades Locks "the Lower Falls of the Columbia" -- the Celilo Falls area was known as the "Great Falls of the Columbia". Throughout time, the area became known as the "Cascades", and in 1825, John Work of the Hudson's Bay Company was the first to record the place name, "Cascades," to describe these falls in the Columbia. Four and a half miles long, the Cascades of the Columbia were separated into two sections. The first made a bend around a rocky point on the Oregon shore, then went into a 2,000-foot-long pitch in the river and a 21-foot drop. This was called the Upper Cascade. The rest of the contracted waterway, the Lower Cascade, was a long three-and-a-half-mile pitch in the river. The total fall of the river from the head of Upper Cascade to the bottom of Lower Cascade was 45 feet at high water and 36 feet at low water. Lewis and Clark first portaged around the "Lower Falls of the Columbia" in 1805, on their journey to the Pacific. Forty years later the pioneers traveling the water route on the Oregon Trail made the same portage. In 1850 a road was built on the north side of the Columbia to portage around the rapids, and a small settlement developed to help travelers around the rapids, first by foot and then by mule-drawn rail cars. In 1864, the first steam engine in the Northwest carried passengers and freight past the rapids. In 1896 a 3,000-foot-long navigational canal with locks was completed and the modern-day town of Cascade Locks developed. The Cascades and the early locks were flooded by backwater from Bonneville Dam in 1937. -- "www.cascadelocks.net" Website, 2004, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy".


Map, 1814, Lower Falls of the Columbia, click to enlarge Map, 1854, Columbia River, Fort Vancouver area, click to enlarge Map, 1887, Cascade Locks vicinity, click to enlarge Map, 1911 USGS topo map of Cascade Locks to Bonneville area, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon, click to enlarge Stereo Image, 1867, near the Upper Cascaldes, click to enlarge Image, ca.1913, Columbia River at the Cascades, click to enlarge Image, ca.1913, Columbia River, Oregon banks, at Cascade Locks, click to enlarge Image, 1927, Cascade Locks, click to enlarge Image, 1929, Cascade Locks, click to enlarge Image, 1934, Cascades Rapids, click to enlarge Image, 2003, Cascade Locks looking downstream
  1. 1814 Map, Lower Falls of the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark. (Click to enlarge). This map is found in Travels to the source of the Missouri River and across the American continent to the Pacific Ocean : performed by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. Published from the official report, 1814. -- Washington State University Library Archives Website, 2002
  2. 1853-54 Map, Columbia River, including the Fort Vancouver area (section of original). (Click to enlarge). Includes Longview, Washington (Monticello), Coweeman River (Minter R.), Kalama River (Ca-la-ma R.), Lewis River (Cath-la-pootle R.), Willamette River, Fort Vancouver, Cape Horn, and "The Cascades". Vancouver Lake is depicted but not labeled. Original Map: "Rocky Mountains to Puget Sound : from explorations and surveys / made under the direction of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War by Isaac I. Stevens Governor of Washington Territory, 1853-4." Inset: (Supplementary sketch) Reconnaissance of the railroad route from Wallawalla to Seattle via Yak-e-mah River & Snoqualmie Pass. By A. W. Tinkham in January 1854. Drawn by J. R. P. Mechlin. 20 x 28 cm. Topographer, John Lambert, Published in Washington D.C., 1859, 1:1,200,000, Notes: From the U.S. War Department, Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, Topographical Maps, to Illustrate the Various Reports, U.S. Library of Congress American Memories Reference "LC Railroad Maps #156". -- U.S. Library of Congress, American Memories Website, 2004
  3. 1887 Map (section of original), Columbia River and the Cascade Locks vicinity. (Click to enlarge). Original Map: The Columbia River from Celilo to the mouth showing locations of the salmon fisheries, 1887. Scale ca. 1:375,000, Relief shown by hachures. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Office, G.P.O. 1888. University of Washington Archives #UW128. -- University of Washington Library Archives Website, 2002
  4. 1911 Map (section of original), from Mount Hood and Vicinity 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle. (Click to enlarge). Original map surveyed in 1907 and 1909-1911, contour interval of 100 feet. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  5. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Bonneville to The Dalles, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  6. 1867, Stereo view, near the Upper Cascades. (Click to enlarge). Caption on image: Islands in the Columbia from the Upper Cascades. Photographer: Carleton E. Watkins. Photo Date: 1867. University of Washington Sterocard Collection #STE043, Stereocard Collection No. 58. -- University of Washington Libraries Collection Website, 2003
  7. ca.1913, Columbia River at Cascade Locks. (Click to enlarge). Greenleaf Peak is visible in the distance. Photo by Albert Henry Barnes, ca.1913. University of Washington A.H. Barnes Collection #BAR020. -- University of Washington Library Archives, 2003
  8. ca.1913, Columbia River and Oregon banks, at Cascade Locks. (Click to enlarge). Photo by Albert Henry Barnes, ca.1913. University of Washington A.H. Barnes Collection #BAR038. -- University of Washington Library Archives, 2003
  9. 1927 aerial view, Cascade Locks. (Click to enlarge). A Burner from Wind River Mill entering Cascade Locks, Oregon. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archives #700-41. Photograph Date: August 1927. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2002
  10. 1929 aerial view, Cascade Locks. (Click to enlarge). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archives. Photograph Date: September 8, 1929. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2002
  11. 1934, Cascades Rapids. (Click to enlarge). From Bridge of the Gods showing the Cascade Rapids looking upstream. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Photograph #700-40. Photograph Date: March 29, 1934. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2002
  12. 2003, Cascade Locks looking downstream towards Bridge of the Gods. (Click to enlarge). Copyright © 2003 Lyn Topinka, private archives, used with permission.


After their example we carried our small canoe, and all the baggage across the slippery rocks, to the foot of the shoot. The four large canoes were next brought down, by slipping them along poles, placed from one rock to another, and in some places by using partially streams which escaped along side of the river. We were not, however, able to bring them across without three of them receiving injuries, which obliged us to stop at the end of the shoot to repair them [In 1926 the Bridge of the Gods was constructed at the base of the Cascade Locks area].


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Bridge of the Gods, 2003

Bridge of the Gods:
About 1100 A.D., the lava layers making up Table Mountain slid into the Gorge in a series of four landslides covering five square miles, and temporarily blocked the Columbia River. Native American legend tells of crossing the river on dry land, giving rise to the "Bridge of the Gods". Today's man-made Bridge of the Gods was completed in October 1926. The cantilever structure length is 1,131 feet long with overall bridge length of 1,858 feet. Its width is 35 feet. The bridge was raised in 1938 to accomodate the rising waters behind the Bonneville Dam, and today rises 135 feet above the Bonneville pool. In 1961 the Bridge of the Gods was purchased by the Port of Cascade Locks and has been operated and maintained by the Port since that time. The Bridge of the Gods is the third oldest bridge on the Columbia River and plays a major role in the Pacific Crest Trail by linking Oregon and Washington states. -- "www.cascadelocks.net" Website, 2004, and Swanson, et.al., 1989.


Map, 1814, Lower Falls of the Columbia, click to enlarge Map, 1929 USGS topo map of the Cascade Locks area showing Bridge of the Gods, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon, click to enlarge Image, 1926, Bridge of the Gods, click to enlarge Image, 1929, Cascade Locks, click to enlarge Image, 2003, Bridge of the Gods looking across at Bonneville Landslide
  1. 1814 Map, Lower Falls of the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark. (Click to enlarge). This map is found in Travels to the source of the Missouri River and across the American continent to the Pacific Ocean : performed by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. Published from the official report, 1814.
  2. 1929 Map (section of original), from Hood River 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle. (Click to enlarge). Original map surveyed in 1925-26, contour interval of 100 feet. This 1929 map shows a section of the 1911 map above (see Cascade Locks) with the location of the Bridge of the Gods. The Bridge of the Gods was built in 1926. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  3. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Bonneville to The Dalles, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  4. 1926, Bridge of the Gods. (Click to enlarge). This bridge takes its name from an Indian myth describing a large natural rock bridge over the Columbia River along the Oregon-Washington border. Built by the Wauna Toll Bridge Company of Walla Walla, Washington, the original bridge was 1,127 feet long. When the Bonneville Dam was constructed the structure was raised and lengthened to accommodate the rising water level. The bridge is significant not only as a fine example of cantilever technology and as a major crossing of the Columbia River, but also because of its location in the Columbia River Gorge. -- Oregon Department of Transportation Website, 2002
  5. 1929 aerial view looking downstream at Cascade Locks and Bridge of the Gods. (Click to enlarge). Washington State is on the right and Oregon is on the left. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Historical Archives. Photograph Date: September 8, 1929. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2002
  6. 2003, Bridge of the Gods, looking across towards the Bonneville Landslide, Washington State. (Click to enlarge). Copyright © 2003 Lyn Topinka, private archives, used with permission.


At this shoot we saw great numbers of sea-otters [seals]; but they are so shy that it is difficult to reach them with the musket: one of them that was wounded to-day sunk and was lost. Having by this portage avoided the rapid and shoot of four hundred yards in length, we re-embarked, passed at a mile and a half the bad rapid [below today's Bridge of the Gods] opposite to the old village on the right,


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Rapids below the Cascade Locks, 1912

Rapids below Bridge of the Gods:


Map, 1814, Lower Falls of the Columbia, click to enlarge Map, 1929 USGS topo map of the Cascade Locks area showing Bridge of the Gods, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon, click to enlarge Image, 1912, Rapids below Cascade Locks, click to enlarge
  1. 1814 Map, Lower Falls of the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark. (Click to enlarge). This map is found in Travels to the source of the Missouri River and across the American continent to the Pacific Ocean : performed by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. Published from the official report, 1814.
  2. 1929 Map (section of original), from Hood River 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle. (Click to enlarge). Original map surveyed in 1925-26, contour interval of 100 feet. This 1929 map shows a section of the 1911 map above (see Cascade Locks) with the location of the Bridge of the Gods. The Bridge of the Gods was built in 1926. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  3. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville to Cascade Locks, Oregon. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Bonneville to The Dalles, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  4. 1912, A steamboat on The Rapids below the Cascade Locks. (Click to enlarge). Original from: "Puget Sound and Western Washington Cities-Towns Scenery" by Robert A. Reid, Robert A. Reid Publisher, Seattle, 1912, p.192. Archival photograph by Steve Nicklas, NGS/RSD. Image from the NOAA Photo Archives Coastline Collection #line2185. -- NOAA Photo Archives Website, 2002


and making our way through the rocks, saw the house just below the end of the portage; the eight vaults near it; and at the distance of four miles from the head of the shoot, reached a high rock, which forms the upper part of an island [Bradford Island] near the left shore.


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Bradford Island

Bradford Island:
Bradford Island was once an old Indian burial ground in the middle of the Columbia River. The island now is part of the Bonneville Dam structure. Lewis and Clark called the island "Brant Island", and was so named because of the large flocks of Lesser Canadian Geese observed in the vicinity. Returning eastbound in 1806, the corps stopped on the island to dine prior to heading to the southern mainland to camp before attempting the portage of the "Grand Rapids." The south end of Bonneville Dam is presently on the island, now named for the Bradford brothers, who operated steamboats on the river. -- Center for Columbia River History Website, 2004, and Washington State Historical Society Website, 2004, "Lasting Legacy".


Map, 1814, Lower Falls of the Columbia, click to enlarge Map, 1911 USGS topo map of the Bonneville area, click to enlarge Map, 1948, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville Vicinity, click to enlarge Image, 1928, Columbia River and Hamilton and Bradford Islands, click to enlarge Image, 1937, Columbia River and Bradford Island, click to enlarge Image, Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking east, annotated, click to enlarge Image, Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking west, annotated, click to enlarge
  1. 1814 Map, Lower Falls of the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark. (Click to enlarge). Brant Island is in the location of Bradford Island. This map is found in Travels to the source of the Missouri River and across the American continent to the Pacific Ocean : performed by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. Published from the official report, 1814. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  2. 1911 Map (section of original), from Mount Hood and Vicinity 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle. (Click to enlarge). Original map surveyed in 1907 and 1909-1911, contour interval of 100 feet. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  3. 1948 Map (section of original), Bonneville area including Bonneville, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, and Bradford Island. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1948, Chart#6156, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  4. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville Vicinity, including Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, and Bonneville Dam. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  5. 1928, Columbia River, Hamilton and Bradford Islands, and vicinity, prior to the construction of the Bonneville Lock and Dam. (Click to enlarge). View is looking upstream with Washington State on the left and Oregon on the right. The Bonneville Landslide is prominent jutting into the Columbia River from the Washington side (upper third of photo). Hamilton Island is the big island in the foreground and Bradford Island is across from the Bonneville Landslide. U.S. Corps of Engineers Historical Archives #700-64. Photograph Date: April 11, 1928. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2002
  6. 1937, Bradford Island and the construction Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. (Click to enlarge). Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation #OHDM004. Photograph Date: April 1937, Photographer: Brubaker Aerial Surveys. -- Oregon State Archives Website, 2002
  7. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking east, annotated. (Click to enlarge). Washington State is on the left with a good view of the Bonneville Landslide jutting into the Columbia River. Oregon is on the right. Bradford Island is crossed by the Bonneville Dam. Hamilton Island is in the foreground. Annotation includes Columbia River, Bonneville Dam, Interstate 84, Bonneville Landslide, Hamilton Island, and Bradford Island. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003
  8. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking west, annotated. (Click to enlarge). Oregon is on the left and Washington State is on the right. Includes annotation for the Columbia River, Bonneville Dam, I-84, Bradford Island, Hamilton Island, Ives Island, Pierce Island, and Beacon Rock. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003


Between this island [Bradford Island] and the right shore we proceeded, leaving at the distance of a mile and a half, the village of four houses on our right, [today Bonneville Dam spans Bradford Island] and a mile and a half lower came to the head of a rapid near the village on the right.


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Bonneville Dam

Bonneville Dam:
Bonneville Lock and Dam and Lake Bonneville are in the Columbia River Gorge, one of the most scenic areas in the Pacific Northwest. The walls of the gorge rise 2,000 feet above Lake Bonneville in many places and can be seen from any of the 10 recreation areas around the reservoir. Bonneville Dam spans the Columbia River from Oregon to Washington, a distance of 1,100 feet. Bradford Island, an old Indian burial ground separating the river's two channels, is at the center of the mammoth barrier. Bonneville Dam was begun in 1933 and completed in 1938, and was the first of the major power dams on the Columbia. The dam is a 1,230-foot-long gravity-type, concrete spillway dam across the center channel of the Columbia River and measures 180 feet wide at its base. It has two 350-ton gantry cranes which operate from a service roadway 99 feet above the water, to regulate the 18 movable-crest steel gates. The project required 750,000 cubic of concrete. It cost $88.4 million to build the spillway dam on one side of Bradford Island, a powerhouse, and navigation locks on the other side of the island. The Bonneville Power Administration added a second powerhouse in the 1980s and dug a channel through Bradford Island. Bonneville Dam was named for Captain Benjamin de Bonneville. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2004, Oregon State Archives Website, 2002, and Center for Columbia River History Website, 2004


Map, 1814, Lower Falls of the Columbia, click to enlarge Map, 1887, Cascade Locks vicinity, click to enlarge Map, 1911 USGS topo map of the Bonneville area, click to enlarge Map, 1948, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville Vicinity, click to enlarge Image, ca.1913, Columbia River, Bonneville vicinity, click to enlarge Image, ca.1915, Columbia River at Bonneville, click to enlarge Image, 1938, Bonneville Dam, click to enlarge Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking east, click to enlarge Image, Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking east, annotated, click to enlarge Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking west, click to enlarge Image, Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, looking west, annotated, click to enlarge Aerial view, Bonneville Dam, first powerhouse, looking east, click to enlarge
  1. 1814 Map, Lower Falls of the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark. (Click to enlarge). This map is found in Travels to the source of the Missouri River and across the American continent to the Pacific Ocean : performed by order of the government of the United States, in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke. Published from the official report, 1814. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  2. 1887 Map (section of original), Columbia River and the Cascade Locks vicinity. (Click to enlarge). Original Map: The Columbia River from Celilo to the mouth showing locations of the salmon fisheries, 1887. Scale ca. 1:375,000, Relief shown by hachures. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Office, G.P.O. 1888. University of Washington Archives #UW128. -- University of Washington Library Archives Website, 2002
  3. 1911 Map (section of original), from Mount Hood and Vicinity 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle. (Click to enlarge). Original map surveyed in 1907 and 1909-1911, contour interval of 100 feet. -- University of Washington Library Collections Website, 2002
  4. 1948 Map (section of original), Bonneville area including Bonneville, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, and Bradford Island. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1948, Chart#6156, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  5. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville Vicinity, including Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, and Bonneville Dam. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  6. 1913, Columbia River, Bonneville vicinity, below the cascades. (Click to enlarge). Photo by Albert Henry Barnes, ca.1913. University of Washington A.H. Barnes Collection #BAR021. -- University of Washington Library Archives, 2003
  7. ca.1915, Columbia River at Bonneville. (Click to enlarge). Oregon State Archives, Oregon Water Resources Department #OWR0102, Photograph Date: ca. 1915, -- Oregon State Archives Website, 2002
  8. 1938, View of the spillway of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River forty miles east of Portland in Multnomah County. The view is of the churning water below the dam. (Click to enlarge). Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation #OHD0601. Photograph Date: ca. 1938. -- Oregon State Archives Website, 2002
  9. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking east. (Click to enlarge). Washington State is on the left with a good view of the Bonneville Landslide jutting into the Columbia River. Oregon is on the right. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003
  10. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking east, annotated. (Click to enlarge). Washington State is on the left with a good view of the Bonneville Landslide jutting into the Columbia River. Oregon is on the right. Bradford Island is crossed by the Bonneville Dam. Hamilton Island is in the foreground. Annotation includes Columbia River, Bonneville Dam, Interstate 84, Bonneville Landslide, Hamilton Island, and Bradford Island. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003
  11. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking west. (Click to enlarge). Oregon is on the left and Washington State is on the right. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003
  12. Aerial view, Columbia River and Bonneville Dam, looking west, annotated. (Click to enlarge). Oregon is on the left and Washington State is on the right. Includes annotation for the Columbia River, Bonneville Dam, I-84, Bradford Island, Hamilton Island, Ives Island, Pierce Island, and Beacon Rock. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003
  13. Bonneville Dam, first powerhouse. (Click to enlarge). -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2004


Here we halted for the night, [near the towns of Fort Rains and North Bonneville] having made only seven miles from the head of the shoot. During the whole of the passage the river is very much obstructed by rocks.


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
Fort Rains Blockhouse, 1867

Fort Rains, Fort Cascades, and North Bonneville:
In 1855 Fort Cascades was established on the north bank of the Columbia River at the Lower Cascades below the present site of the Bonneville Dam. A month later, Fort Rains blockhouse was built to defend the Middle Cascades above the present site of the Bonneville Dam, and 6 months after that Fort Lugenbeel was built to protect the Upper Cascades. Fort Lugenbeel was located on the north bank of the Columbia, on a hill, across from Little Ashes Lake. In 1854 when Skamania County was formed, the first county seat was located at the Lower Cascades, at the town of Cascades, just upstream from Fort Cascades and located . approximately where North Bonneville now is. Cascades was at one time was the largest town in Washington Territory and was an important steamboat stop and terminus for the portage railroad which transported goods and people around the Cascade Rapids. It remained the county seat until 1893, when the county government moved to the newly platted town of Stevenson, approximately 10 miles upstream. The town of Cascades was destroyed in 1894, in the greatest recorded flood recorded on the Columbia River. The small community left sprang back into life as North Bonneville in 1933 when work began on the Bonneville Dam. In the mid-1970s NOrth Bonneville was forced to relocate west on Hamilton Island and south of Greenleaf Slough when Bonneville Dam's second powerhouse was built. The new town of North Bonneville was dedicated in 1978. Today North Bonneville can be reached via Washington State Highway 14. -- Skamania County Chamber of Commerce Website, 2003, and City of North Bonneville Website, 2003


Map, 1853, Washington and Oregon and the Columbia River, click to enlarge Map, 1948, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, click to enlarge Map, 1985, Bonneville Vicinity, click to enlarge Image, 1867, Fort Rains, Washington Image, 2004, Fort Cascades Historic Site Kiosk
  1. 1853 Map, Washington and Oregon and the Columbia River, from the Clearwater River to the Snake River and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean (section of original). (Click to enlarge). Includes: Clearwater River (Kooskooski), Lapwai Creek (Lapwai R.), Snake River (Saptin or Lewis R.), Columbia River (Columbia R.), Yakima River (Yakima R.), Walla Walla River (Wallawalla R.), Umatilla River (Umatilla R.), Willow Creek (Quesnells R.), John Day River (John day's R.), Deschutes River (Fall R.), Willamette River (Willammette R.), and Cowlitz River (Cowlitz R.). Original Map: "Map of California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and New Mexico (1853)", by Thomas Cowperthwait & Co. Washington State University Archives #WSU22. -- Washington State University Library Collections Website, 2003
  2. 1948 Map (section of original), Bonneville area including Bonneville, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Island, and Bradford Island. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1948, Chart#6156, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  3. 1985 Map (section of original), Bonneville Vicinity, including Hamilton Island, Bradford Island, and Bonneville Dam. (Click to enlarge). Office of Coast Surveys, Historical Maps and Charts, Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville, 1985, Chart#18531, 1:40,000. -- NOAA Office of Coast Survey Website, 2004
  4. 1867, Stereo view, Fort Rains, Washington, "Middle blockhouse of the Columbia River". (Click to enlarge). Caption on image: "Middle blockhouse, Cascades, Columbia River". Photographer: Carleton E. Watkins. Photograph Date: 1867. University of Washington Stereocard Collection #STE107, Stereocard Collection No.58. -- University of Washington Libraries Collection Website, 2005
  5. 2004, Fort Cascades Historic Site Kiosk, Hamilton Island, Washington. (Click to enlarge). Copyright © 2004 Lyn Topinka, private archives, used with permission.


The island [Bradford Island], which is about three miles long, reaches to the rapid which its lower extremity contributes to form. The meridian altitude of to-day gave us the latitude of 45o 44' 3" north. ......


Along the Journey - November 1, 1805
The Camp - November 1, 1805:
Washington side of the Columbia River, downstream of today's Bonneville Dam, near the towns of Fort Rains and North Bonneville. There is a plaque on Bradford Island commemorating this campsite.



 
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June/July 2004, Lyn Topinka
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