Click image to enlarge
|
Boulders on Hamilton Island uncovered during the flood of 1894.
The "Great Flood of 1894" destroyed the town of Cascades and Fort Cascades.
Image taken April 2, 2005.
|
Great Flood of 1894 ...
The "Great Flood of 1894" was the highest-recorded flood along the Columbia of all time. Rainfall was heavy during the winter of 1893-94 resulting in a heavy snowpack. A dry and warm spring resulted in massive snowmelt. The following is a compilation pulled from many resources (see "Sources" below).
- The town of Umatilla, Oregon, was inundated as well as much of the county, with a peak of 34.5 feet (June 5).
- A measured peak at The Dalles was 1,240,000 cubic feet per second (June 6) -- that's enough flow to cover a standard-size football field with water 1,500 feet deep in just one minute.
- Downstream at Celilo a high water mark measured 40.1 feet (June 6).
- Forty-five miles downstream from The Dalles the flood destroyed the Washington town of Cascades. The town was never rebuilt. The force of the flood waters removed several feet of soil and exposed many boulders.
- Vancouver, Washington, with a normal flood stage of 16 feet, was estimated from the Portland stage to be 34.4 feet (June 7), and
- Longview, Washington hit a record 24.0 feet (June 7), 12 feet over flood stage.
- Flood stage was measured on the Willamette River at Portland, Oregon at 33.0 feet (June 7).
|
At Cascades ...
|
The early community of Cascades which had been located on Hamilton Island was totally destroyed in the Flood of 1894. Soil was stripped exposing boulders. The town was never rebuilt.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
General location of the town of Cascades, Washington, also known as "Lower Cascades".
Image taken April 2, 2005.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Boulders uncovered during the flood of 1894.
Image taken April 2, 2005.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Boulders uncovered during the flood of 1894.
Image taken April 2, 2005.
|
At Vancouver ...
During the late 1900s, with only a railroad bridge crossing the Columbia River,
ferry service was the method to get from Vancouver to Hayden Island and then on into Portland. The "Great Flood of 1894" destoryed that early bridge and disrupted ferry service.
-
"...
The flood badly wrecked the Portland and Vancouver railroad trestle and it would have to be completely rebuilt. The last trip over the trestle by the electric cars was made on May 31st, and the ferry came up and tied to the trees in one local's yard. The flood also wrecked a large part of the elevated wagon road of the P & V road on the bottoms and the balance was under water. The entire road would have to be rebuilt and the teams could not cross for several months, cutting down on ferry loads. But the ferry still had plenty of work ahead of her carrying supplies for rebuilding back and forth.
..."
["Columbian.com" Website, 2005]
|
Vancouver's Water Resources Education Center ...
Click image to enlarge
|
Staff Gage, Water Resources Education Center, Vancouver, Washington.
Staff gage shows height of 1894 (top, left side of gage), 1948, and 1996 (bottom) Columbia River floods.
Image taken January 1, 2006.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Staff Gage, with 1894 high water and 1948 high water, Water Resources Education Center, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken January 1, 2006.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Staff Gage showing 1894 high water, Water Resources Education Center, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken January 1, 2006.
|
Columbia River at The Dalles ...
|
From:
Wells, J.V.B., 1958, Compilation of records of surface waters of the
United States through September 1950 : Part 14. Pacific Slope basins in
Oregon and lower Columbia River Basin, USGS Water Supply Paper 1318.
COLUMBIA RIVER MAIN STEM, Columbia River near The Dalles, Oreg.
- LOCATION:
- Lat 45°39'00", long. 120°58'00", in N. sec. 20, T. 2 N., R. 15 E., 300 ft
upstream from entrance to Celilo Canal, 3 miles downstream from Deschutes
River, and 11 miles east of The Dalles.
- DRAINAGE AREA:
- 237,000 sq mi, approximately.
- SUPPLEMENTAL RECORDS AVAILABLE:
- Gage-height records collected at Cascade Locks from 1879 to 1928, at The
Dalles since 1892, and at Celilo since 1903,
are contained in reports of the U.S. Weather Bureau.
- Records of chemical analysis and suspended-sediment loads for period
January 1910 to January 1911 and August 1911 to August 1912 are published in Water-Supply
Papers 339 and 363.
- GAGE:
- Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 0.12 ft above mean sea level, datum of 1929, supplementary adjustment of 1947.
- 1858 to 1877, maximum stage for each year from levels to high-water marks at Lower Cascades Landing about 54 miles downstream and at different datum.
- June 1 to Dec. 6, 1878, staff gage at Umatilla 88 miles upstream at different datum.
- Dec. 12, 1878, to Oct. 9, 1879, and July I, 1881, to Jan. 31 1892, staff gage just upstream from Cascade Locks 52 miles downstream from present site and at datum 52.56 ft lower than present datum.
- Oct. 10, 1879, to June 30, 1881, staff gage 2,000 ft downstream from ferry landing at The Dalles and at datum 40.86 ft higher than present datum.
- Feb. 1, 1892, to Sept. 30, 1931, staff gage 300 ft upstream from ferry landing at The Dalles at datum 46.86 ft higher than present datum. Periods of no gage-height record at The Dalles were supplemented by gage-height record obtained at gage just upstream from Cascade Locks.
- Oct. 1, 1931, to May I, 1935, staff gage in entrance to Celilo Canal 300 ft downstream from present site and at datum 37.59 ft higher.
- Present site (report through 1950): 300 ft upstream from entrance to Celilo Canal, 3 miles downstream from Deschutes River, and 11 miles east of The Dalles.
- AVERAGE DISCHARGE:
- 72 years (1878-1950), 194,400 cubic feet per second (cfs) (revised).
- EXTREMES:
- 1858-1950: Maximum discharge, 1,240,000 cfs June 6, 1894 (gage height, 106.5
ft on gage at The Dalles, 160.1 ft present site); minimum observed, 35,000
cfs Jan. 12,
1937 (gage height, 126.0 ft).
- REMARKS:
- Storage and diversion for irrigation. of about 4,000,000 acres above
station are
only a small part of the total flow. Some regulation by Franklin D.
Roosevelt Lake since about 1940, and by many other reservoirs above station.
- MONTHLY MEAN DISCHARGE in cubic feet per second (cfs) for 1894:
-
| Oct. 122,000 |
Nov. 142,000 |
Dec. 166,000 |
Jan. 145,000 |
| Feb. 114,000 |
Mar. 163, 000 |
Apr. 325, 000 |
May 580,000 |
| Jun. 1,002,000 |
Jul. 554, 100 |
Aug. 271,000 |
Sep. 175,000 |
- MOMENTARY MAXIMUM
- 1,240,000 cfs on June 6, 1894
|
|
From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
|
|
Return to