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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
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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
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