Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1956)
Pagt4 Heppner Gazette Times, Thursday, August 16, 1956 Headwaters of Mighty Columbia Traced Into Canada on Motorlog Source of Columbia, Illustrated in watercolor by Ernest Rich ardson, Ut placid lake 2650 feet above sea in British Columbia. Columbia Lake Is)-;, " ' r Quiet Beginning For River of West The following- Is a eondeosa. tloa of a motorlog appearing July U la North we.t rotogravure magailna of The Sonde Ore gonlaa. It Is one of aa annual series sponsored Jointly by The Oregonlaa and the Oregon State Motor assoolatlea. BY STEWART HOLBROOK rtrtlenf AeUier We cams to Canal Flat over highway 95 on motorlog ex pedition from the south, cross ng the Kootenay to the brief gravelly plain which separates that already powerful stream from the headwaters of the Columbia. You cannot see the lake from the Flats. We stopped the Ore. gon State Motor association's white Ford there only to see the remnants of the famous old canal and locks by which a sternwheeler from Montana had entered the Columbia at its very source, surely a feat worth re membering, and which brought a steamboat era to the upper river a good 60 years after the first steamer had entered the stream at Its mouth. We drove on north a few miles to a high bench overlook ing Columbia lake. This is it the headwaters of a stream that here begins its vagrant way to the ocean, 1210 miles distant The sight Is all one could wish, this dear, cold and remote be ginning of the great river, which has the misfortune to rise at the high elevation of 2650 feet above the sea and Is thus Indel ibly branded for the harnesses of power and Irrigation. Lake Stocked With Trout The river begins to spread out Into marshes that continue on to Lake Windermere, which I was told was stocked with Kara loops trout; and on or near Its shores are the villages of Wil mer, Athalmer, Windermere and Invernera. Golden, one known as First Crossing, Is where the Canadian Pacific railroad first comes to the Columbia. The Big Bend be gins here, and for 200 miles the highway runs through a primi tive forest such aa Is not to be seen elsewhere along the Columbia. We soon came to the lake named for Chief Klnbasket, and stood to wonder that so lovely a place seemed virtually un known to outlanders. Both the Selkirks and the Rockies have closed In to hem the lake and shadow it by most formidable peaks, ranging up to 12,000 feet. Out of Klnbasket the Colum bia roars into 24 miles of almost continuous rapids. The traveler sees the white water through the trees, and he is constantly aware of the sound of its fury, Far below in the canyon it boiled from fall and speed, and the echoing cliffs sent up thunder that will no longer be heard elsewhere on the river, now that Celilo is about to be stilled. At Boat Encampment Is the apex of the Columbia's north ward surge. Here it turns sud denly around the end of the Selkirk range and starts south, and the highway moves to the east side of the river. The Rockies have been left behind. The Selkirks are now on the left. On the right stand the Monashees. After its 200-mile start for the North Pole, the Columbia is now heading, in Its own strange fashion, for As toria, The city of Revels toke Is con sidered the lower end of the Big Bend. The Canadian Paelflc -hi) Iictafaeat J 4 UU I eWtlVfelli flT fee a Re i-iYL. yum . wflTZXr -y.T.XmV - J l irh ! y L r (k ( S if- 4 A From Its source Columbia sweeps north, then south In Kreat are Iukihm us Rig Kcml. meets the Columbia again here. No town has a more dramatic setting. Its horizon Is moun tains in full circle, peaks of all shapes and sizes. Revelstoke likes to call itself "the ski cen ter of the West." A passenger and car ferry operates from Arrowhead to Nakusp and other points on the widened Columbia known as the Arrow lakes. Bombing Still Unsolved We left the ferry at Castle gar, in the heart of the Duk hobor country, and drove half a dozen miles to Brilliant and the high bluff on which is the tomb of the late Peter (the Lordly) Verigin, head of the Russian re ligious sect until the railroad car In which he was a passenger was blown to bits, along with Peter himself and one of his handmaidens, in what la still one of the most celebrated un solved crimes in Canada. With the volume of the Koo tenay added, the Columbia hur ries on to Trail, center of an Immense mining and smelting empire that smokes by day and flares by night, a sort of wilder ness Pittsburgh through which the river surges on Its last lap as a stream as wild as It was when David Thompson first saw it Some ten miles below Trail, the Clark Fork enters the Co lumbia; and soon enough the stream begins to slow and deep en as it crosses the 49th parallel In another few miles it becomes apparent that the Columbia is no longer a river but a piece of the lake backing up behind Grand Coulee dam. When you cross the boundary, you have seen what remains of the untamed Columbia, which is the 465 miles upstream to Co lumbia lake and Canal Flats. If you mean to see that stretch in its primitive state, the present year may turn out to be none too early. r r r MflJ i l Bring your Commodity Credit Corporation loan to First National. Prompt servicing of all loans... cash available immediately. Request "First National Bank" on your loan papers. .a HEPPNER BRANCH FDRS NATIONAL BANK f OF PORTLAND "UTS 1010 OHfOON rOGITHES" laaifc4 '( )'( CKiWt'lM 49 DOUG'S SEEN A V1SITINGI The long hearalded "hot poli tical campaign in Oregon," billed to hold the focus of the nation, has been only mildly competi tive with our fair and warmer summer weather. All during June and July, and until last week, Doug McKay had a clear field campaigning for U. S. Senator. His rival, Senator Wayne Morse, was on his job in Washington, while Doug who is currently out of a job, was on the pump handle routine, just shak ing hands with voters, getting acquainted and missing no chance of putting in a plug for Wayne's rival. He visited In most of the towns and even the ranches of the state. The number of handshakes Doug wrapped up on his tours will be a potent quantity when ballots are counted. "Unhurried visiting, tRe per sonal chatter and discussions of unpolitical local happenings will reflect confidence, a presage of success that is most valuable in a close race," so reads a para graph from one of the snake charmers in national headquar ters press department. BUILDING VOLUME DIPS Oregon's total of building was down over a million dollars for the month of June this year com pared with June 1955. Heavy industrial construction in California pushed the five western states' aggregate build ing total during July 1956 to a record $259,781,330 a figure which is 20 per cent higher than those of the same month a year ago. The record gain resulted despite decreases in Washington, Montana, and Idaho as well as Oregon. Oregon's July total was $12, 149,348 compared to $13,819,276 for July of 1955. The state's high est point was the past June, which totaled $14,141,212. ELECTION REGISTRATIONS Election registrars appointed by the county clerk may not ac cept registrations from a "tem porary" location, Attorney Gen eral Robert Y. Thornton ruled Wednesday in an opinion request ed by State Senator Monroe Sweetland of Milwaukie. Thornton observed that the present Oregon law required the registrar to establish and main tain a fixed place for the regis tration of voters. The County Court or Board of County Commissioners may, how ever, require the clerk to ap point additional registrars if am ple registration facilities are not otherwise provided. In another opinion the attorney general held that chattel mort gages on vehicles to be registered and licensed are to be filed with the Department of Motor Vehi cles. The duty of filing mortgages on mieTatorv chattels other than morteaees on licensed vehicles remains with the Secretary of State. CAPITOL PERSONALS Justice Earl Latourette of the Oregon Supreme Court, hospital ized for the past ten days in fort land is reported slowly improving. Loran Stewart, Cottage drove is contacting prospective mem bers of the House at the 1957 Legislature in connection with his campaign for speaker. "I'll defer seeking pledges until after the general election in Novem ber." the former chairman oi tne House Tax Committee said. Jack C. Staneier. Pendleton oil tlofrlKutM. tirno onnntntpH Thurs. day by Gov. Smith to the state FAIR-MINDED Th.3 week it is hoped you are all doing those things that must be done the last minute. The final check on the hem of a dress. The final wash and waive on an ani mal. The final check on the flowers and vegetables to try and decide which will be ready next week. The final personal judge of the canning and that final press ing of needlework. Is this sketch better than that and how about this colored picture of junior? racing commission. He will fill the unexpired term of Wilbur Stadelman, who resigned. Rep. Walter Norblad reports that he has been appointed as a member of the subcommittee to sfudy proposed legislation to Im prove small boat safety. Chief Justice Harold Warner of the State Supreme Court will at tend the annual meeting of su preme court chief justices at Dal las, Texas, starting Aug. 22. John Carkin, Salem, Chairman of the Marion county Republican central committee has been placed on the executive commit tee of the Republican state cen tral committee. Henry Semon, Klamath Falls, filed Friday as an Independent candidate for representative in the state legislature from the 30th district, Klamath County. He has served 24 years as a Demo crat in the House being a mem ber of the joint ways and means committee for 20 years and cur rently is a member of the emer gency board. The Rev. and Mrs. George Lit tle are in Portland where he is undergoing treatment at The Good Samaritan hospital. June Traffic in State Sets Record June motor vehicle travel in Oregon soared to a high so. far this year with an estimated 712, 150,509 miles driven, the depart ment of motor vehicles reported to day. It was an increase of more than 66 million miles over June last year. Peak travel is expected to oc cur in August with July a close second. If good weather contin ues both months may break all time records. Some indication of how Oregon travel has increased, and why drivers must be more alert than ever, can be gained by a look at past mileage records: 20 years ago, total mileage in the state for June was a mere 264,202,833; 10 years later, in June, 1916, mileage hit 403,667,624, still more than 200 million miles below the fig ure this June. The June death rate this year, a figure which compares number of traffic deaths with miles driven, was 4.8. This means that in each 100 million miles of travel slightly more than four persons were killed. 4-H Club News THE CHEFS The meeting was called to Order by our leader, Mrs. Glass, in the absence of our president and vice president. The minutes were read and passed. We talked about our ex hibits for the fair. We then, cooked our meal. Our next meeting is going to be at the count house Wednes day August 15. Meal Penland, reporter . o Mrs. Jack Bedford returned Sunday after a week in Molalla and Portland visiting relatives UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CO. OREGON DIVISION Is extremely short of and badly needs STUDENT BREAKMAN & STUDENT FIREMEN Applicants must be between 20 and 35 years of age. high school education and in good physical condition. If interested. Contact E.C.SCHMIDT, Local Agent FOR INTERVIEW IT WILL SOON BE ICS RIGHT NOW-- Send Your Western Wear TO HEPPNER CLEANERS You'll be wanting your best Western clothes all slicked up and ready for wear in just a couple of weeks now, so you'd better dig them out and let us clean and press them right away. Send us your fancy western shirts, cowboy dress suit or western skirts and we'll have them back ready lor you to wear whtn you want them. Better do it right nowl Heppner Cleaners PHONE 6-9441 -1 " TW'trf fftiS'Mi urn mil- - r n'lnn i H WE GIVE YOU s IS s'eesa Stamps WITH JIM HEALY SHELL OIL DISTRIBUTOR PHONE 6-9406 HEPPNER SI