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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1890)
138 WEST SHORE. THE DALLES AND VICINITY. The Dalles, Vancouver and Astoria ire the three historic towns on the Columbia river. They are the oldest towns in the northwest and about them cluster most of the Important events in the early history of this coun try. The Dalles Is the farthest up the river of the three. It is located at the foot of the greatest obstruction In the channel of the Columbia, from which the city takes its name. The Canadian voyageurs and other west ward bound pilgrims of the early day eiperienced more or less serious in convenience in being obliged to make portage around the dalles of the river, and the aborigines of that locality were always troublesome. Their thievish propensities were abnormally developed. With the excep tion of the comparatively small obstruction at the cascades the river was free from the dalles to the sea, and where The Dalles was built seemed an advantageous point to establish settlement. In 1838 the Methodists lo cated a mission there, and the Catholics two years later did the same, both of which have been maintained to the present time. During the Indian war of 1855-58, The Dalles was the base of military operations, and a mili tary post waa established on the lightly timbered elope back of where the town is located. After about a decade the poet was abandoned, but during lta continuance it served an Important purpose. When the interior country became sufficiently settled to render commercial channels necessary The Dalles became an Important point on the river and as the volume of busi ness increased the town at the lower end of the portage grew and at length became live commercial city. The building of the Oregon Railway 4 Navigation line up the Columbia gave the town an additional prominence and pushed it ahead in a business way. The railway shops were located there as the most convenient point on the division. The wide stretch of fer tile country to the southward became attractive to settlers and the vast quantities of produce from that sec tion sought shipment by way of The Dalles. Thus it beceme a market of the first importance. The Dalles is the seat of justice of Wasco which is one of the largest counties in Oregon and baa a great variety of physical features and pro ductions. The county lies east of the crest of Die Cascade mountains, in cluding within its limits that famous old peak Mount Hood, and its north ern border is washed by the Colum bia river. At The Dalles the river is 1,600 feet wide and of an average depth at low water of eighty-five feet. In the eastern part of the county the rise back from the river Is quite grad ual but in the west it is abrupt where the stream cuts lta way through the heart of the rugged mountain range. The mountainous section Is covered with valuable timber. It would seem to lie a dllllcult problem to get the timber out of so rugged a country but It Is solved very easily. Haw mills are put in operation in the mountain fast nesses and the lumber is " flumed " out to the city at very small expense. The Dalles claims the distinction of being the largest primary wool mar ket in the I'nlted Htatea. The annual shipments from that section aggre gate aliout 5,uO0,0OO pounds. Wool la marketed at The Dalles from interior points 200 miles distant, and tint Is the greatest wool raising section of the state. Hince the first of this year about 125,0(10 sheep pelts have been shipped from the city and large number of hides would also have'been marketed but for the extremely low price which mule it hardly worth the while to bother with them. The live stock shipments this seaton will ag gregate alwut 300 cars. About 100,000 bushels of grain are sent away and a flour mill with a rapacity of 100 barrels daily is kept running on the local product. Probably a quarter of the grain supply comes from Klickitat county, Washington, on the opposite side of the river, and a good deal of other (arm produce from the other side finds a market in The Dalles. A steam ferry plies on the river, rendering communication across the stream easy. A short time ago The Dalles Issued bonds to the amount of (100,000 for funds to improve its water works plant. The credit of the city was so good that the bonds brought $101,100. The work of Improving the water service is now In progress. The city has macadamised streets, a good sewerage system and electric lights. A franchise has been granted for an electric street railway. The Dalles has excellent educational advantages. In addi tion to four public schools buildings, In which fourteen teachers are em ployed, there is the Wasco Independent Academy and a Catholic boarding school for girls. The city has half t doaen churches. There are two weekly three hotels and three banking houses, two of the Utter bring T It 2s buildings are of brick and stone and of modern M ?n ' Jhi ec e. One of the finest theaters in Eastern Oregon 1, lo- i Tl Dal t The value of building improvements made during the 2 i IS aw the public bailding9 we cwdit- 8b'CS the river from the city of The D.lle. i. the town of North Pall It ison agentle elope riBing to. shelf ata moderate jelevat.on above to river, affording as fine a location for a town as could be found anywhere. hat the movement lately indicates the establishment of a flourishing city on the north side of the river. The road affording an outlet to the greater por ion of Klickitat county, Washington, reaches the Columbia at that point. The location is bo favorable that a large shoe manufacturing concern is about to erect a factory at North Dalles that will employ 500 hand, and will turn out 125 cases of boots and shoes daily when completed. Construction has already been begun and a portion of the plant is under contract to be in op eration in February. This one factory will be sufficient to give employ ment to the inhabitants of a good sized town. The land has been platted though it is not yet on the market. Some idea of the factory may be ob tained from the engraving on another page of this paper. A steam ferry plies between North Dalles and The Dalles rendering communication at all times convenient, and the advantages in favor of the former place as a pleasant residence locality are likely to make that attractive for those who do business ou the Oregon side of the river. The property all around the town plat is valuable, which contributes not a little to the desirableness of the platted portion itself. Its growth must be rapid and by the time the shoe factory is completed it will have 1,000 inhabitants. Immediately below the dalles of the river there is a considerable en largement of the stream and what is known as Terminal bay indents the Washington shore. It baa an area of several acres of deep water and seems calculated by nature for accommoda ting the river commerce that must make the portage around the obstruc tion in the channel of the stream. The boat rajlway, which the govern ment proposes to construct between the navigable portions of the Colum bia at that point, will commence at Terminal bay and run up the river some nine miles to the open water above Celilo falls. A bill appropria ting $2,800,000 for that enterprise passed the United States senate at the last session of congress, but as usual with appropriations of that char actor it did not become a law in the congress in which the measure was formulated. No other feasible scheme for circumventing that obstruction so navigation has been proposed, however, and the plan will surely be adopted and carried into operation before long. This one enterprise will be sullicient to sustain a city on Terminal bay. A town has been platted there and called Grand Palles. The Farmers A Merchants' railway, designed primarily to sffbrd better portage facilities than are now enjoyed, and also intended to reach a tract of productive country that has not had adequate traniKrtation, starts from Grand Dalles. The iron on tills road is now be ing laid and trains will be running early next year. This company also contemplates running a line of steamers to Portland. The Hunt road is be ing located along the river on its way to Portland, and will pass through the newly-platted town. The river is so narrow at the dalles that it can be easily bridged there, and railways contemplating crossing the stream are anxious to get control of that point for a bridge, and congress bas granted the right to erect such a structure there. It is likely that The Dalles, Klick itat & Goldendale road will soon construct a line through Klickitat county to a connection with the Northern Pacific at Kennewick. This line is defi nitely located and will have terminal facilities and shops at Grand Dalles. The Great Northern has also asked for terminal grounds there. The town promises to be the greatest railroad center in Eastern Oregon. The loca tion is most admirable for a city, and the traneportallon lines aiming for that point insure Its commercial prominence. The towneite is level, it has ( picturefque surroundings, and is so located that it will command a large ' volume of the business of the inland empire. The engravings presented on another page of this paper give a good Idea of the river, looking southwest from Grand Dalles, and shows some of the improvements that have been made about both the old town and the new sites. The buildings compare favorably with any In the state. r-- TIIS VOHT BLOCK, THE DAI.1.KS, OREGON.