East Oregonian Round-Up Souvenir Edition
Pendleton. Oregon. Saturday. September 25, 1915
Pag- Eleven
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The Great Columbia River Highway
Description of Northwest's Most Scenic Roadway by S. C. Lancaster, Consulting Engineer
Multnomah County.
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Twenty Page
When Major General George W
Goethals, builder of the Panama
canal, passed over the Columbia river
highway between Portland and Cas
cade Docks on Wednesday, September
1, 1915, he said:
"The Columbia river highway Is a
splendid Job of engineering and Is
absolutely without equal In America
for scenic Interest." For more than
a century men have dreamed of a
road that should enter the Oregon
country from the east. Several at
tempts have been made to surmount
the barriers which have so long ex
isted, but the forces of nature were
greater than man and the fight al
ways has been an unequal one until
the task was undertaken by a group
timber region to Astoria and the sea
shore. It was officially opened from
Hood River to Portland July (, 1915,
and on August 11, 1915, a large
number of representative citizens,
led by Governor Wlthycombe, drove
over the newly-constructed highway
from Portland to the sea.
That part of the Columbia River
Highway which lies within the boun
daries of Multnomah county Is being
paved for a width of 18 feet, with a
two foot rock shoulder on each side,
a total width of surfacing of 22 feet,
and for a distance of 42 1-2 miles
from the city of Portland east
to the Hood River county line. Fully
through the Gorge of the Columbia
one-half of the hard surfacing is now
great rivers of earth to pass through
almost at th level of the sea. The
tides ebb and flow to within a few
miles of the dlv4de in the range. Halr
sealB from the ocean often are seen
feeding on salmon. In the very heart
of the range eagles are seen to dis
port themselves about their nests
on the mountain tops. Here Is where
the sparkling waterfalls leap down
the crags. Here the beauties of sea,
mountain and sky charm all who
come by steamer, rail or pass along
the great highway from which the
best views are always obtained.
The city of Portland Is situated at
the Junction of the Columbia and
Willamette rivers. In the center of a
rich agricultural region. The broad
Every Sheep Now Represents a Small Fortune
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of strong business men who thought i
the time had arrived for the con
struction of a great highway suited
to the traffic of the times and place.
It was therefore determined to con
struct a road 24 feet In width with a
maximum grade of 5 per cent and no
curve to have a radius less than 100;
feet.
It was necessary to construct a,
number of large bridges, some of
them spanning deep chasms. All of.
the bridges are of reinforced concrete I
completed and It Is as smooth and
even as the finest residential street.
In designing the road much care
was given to the study of alignment
In order to make the road safe and
provide an unobstructed view ahead.
There are no sharp reverses from one
curve to another. This feature was
kept in mind In order to permit the
outer side of all curves to be ele
vated, and thus add materially to
the comfort of the road.
Willamette valley stretches away more
than 100 miles to the south, and to
the east the Columbia river highway
passes through a rich farming sec
tkm which ascends to a point 22
miles east of the city at Chanticleer,
where the first and, perhaps, finest
view of the Gorge of the Columbia Is
obtained. The elevation at this point
Is 925 feet above the sea. Rooster
Rock, almost 300 feet in height
rises out of the water Just below
Crown Point, which Is 725 feet In
A Farmer's Home in Pendleton
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and each was designed to meet the
particular condition which existed at
each point. Some of the bridges are
of an entirely new design, yet all of
them are pausing In appearance and
constitute one of the prnclpal attrac
tions of the highway.
The road extends from the wheat
fields of eastern Oregon through the
Cascade range, enters the city of
Portland and passes on the west
through a spendld agricultural and
Natural Itcautlra Preserved.
In fixing the location the first con
sideration was always to preserve
the natural God-made beauty, for It
would have boon a crime to mutillate
the lovely landscape which was made
for a divine purpose, to Influence
the Uvea of men and women and Im
pn is them with the all-powerful
hand of the Creator of the Universe,
for here He parted a mountain range
like a curtain to permit one of the
nigs
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LEADING DRUGGISTS
elevation. From a point Just east of
Chanticleer the road descends on a
6 per cent grade and Is blasted out
of the skle of the mountain for more
than three-quarters of a mile. This
Is the Corniche of the Pacific coast,
and It Is fully equal to the groat Eu
ropean road which Is known to all
continental travelers. Although the
road Is hung around the face of the
cliff like the cornice on a towering
building. It is everywhere 24 feet In
width, is paved like a city street and
at all dangerous points the traveler 1s
protected by a heavy rock wall on
which there Is a concrete coping that
Is heavily reinforced with bars of
steel. It is more than 800 feet from
the roadway to the floor of the valley
below.
Descending to Crown Point the road
encircles the top of the rock, which
It fits like a crown, the radius being
110 feet. Two hundred and twenty
five degrees of curvature are turned.
The road has an extra width and Is
35 feet wide in the middle of the
curve A heavy concrete railing four
feet In height and a seven foot con
crete sidewalk and curb form the
outer protection around Crown Point.
There Is a reinforced concrete lamp
post, with a frosted electric globe 14
Inches In diameter ,at every 20 feet
that adds a charm to the scene. The
tides ebb and flow at the base of the
rock and It Is more than a mile to
the opposite shore. Here the Colum
bia river may be seen stretching
away toward the sea to the west, and
to the east one can look through the
Cascade range for a distance of more
than 35 miles. The mountains to
the north lift their heads for more
than a mile in height. The white
snow on their summits, the gTeen
fir, hemlock and spruce of the tim
bered area lower down forms a beau
tiful background for the rectangular
plots where fertile fields, orchards
and lawns are seen on the heights
above the mighty river.
The road continues to descend
Amai we knew once decided that tire manu
facturers were all a bunch of thieves and
robbers. Another $60.00 tire had gone to
pieces and he had just been politely turned down
by the tire dealer who told him again "that tires
carry only an implied life of 3500 miles." Als
that he couldn't do a thing for him.
When he drove out of the garage Mr. Motorist
accidentally backed right through a large plate
glass window which cost $125.00. The tire dealer
gasped, but said nothing. He knew the motorist
had got "revenge." The motorist allowed that
"accidents will .happen" and the dealer paid
for the new glass.
It's aggravating to go on buying tires that fall
down in service. But why do it?
Ajax tires are guaranteed in writing for 5000
miles. With each tire you buy you get a definite
pledge of service, not merely a promise.
And you save $3 to $15 every time you get an
Ajax tire, because you are assured of 43 more
anticipated mileage.
Insist on Ajax tires.
USES
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F5975 Los Angeles, Main 7290
San Francisco, Seattle, Portland
Guaranteed
in writing
000
MILES
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FACTORY
Ajax-Grieb Rubber Company.
Trenton, New Jersey.
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OREGON EUilOTOR
DISTRIBUTORS AND RETAILERS
B. F. Trombley, Prop.
119-121 VV. Court St, Pendleton
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(Continued on Page 17.)