Lewis and Clark's Columbia River
Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Port Kelley, Washington"
Includes ... Port Kelley ... Spring Gulch Creek ... Campsite of October 18, 1805 ...
Image, 2005, Port Kelley grain elevator, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Grain elevator, Port Kelley, Washington. Image taken September 24, 2005.


Port Kelley ...
Port Kelley, Washington, and Spring Gulch Creek are located within the upstream end of the Wallula Gap, just south of the confluence of the Walla Walla River with the Columbia River. Port Kelley is at Columbia River Mile (RM) 312, and Spring Gulch is at RM 311. The Twin Sisters basalt feature is just upstream. McNary Dam and Umatilla, Oregon are approximately 20 miles downstream, and Richland, Washington and the Yakima River are approximately 20 miles upstream.

Lewis and Clark and Port Kelley ...
Lewis and Clark's camp of October 18, 1805 was located near Spring Gulch Creek, approximately one mile downstream of Port Kelley.
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Early Port Kelley ...
The 1887 cadastral survey (tax survey) of T6N R31E shows the area of Port Kelley before Lake Wallula, the reservoir behind the McNary Dam, inundated the area. To the north of the location of today's Port Kelley is a homestead of "Thrasher". The location of today's Port Kelley has nothing, however in the middle of the Columbia is a large island called "Lasts Island", with the Last homestead located at the downstream end.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database (2007) shows Hurley B. Thrasher being granted title to 159.7 acres of T6N R31E, Section 4, on June 19, 1895 (1862 Homestead Entry Original), and title being granted for 107.35 acres of T6N R31E, Section 9, on May 9, 1896 (1820 Sale-Cash Entry).

The GLO database (2007) had no entry for a "Last".

Early Maps ...

Map, 1887, Cadastral Survey detail, Port Kelley area, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		1887 Cadastral map (tax map) detail, Columbia River and Lasts Island, and today's Port Kelley area. Original map courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) database, 2019.
Map, 1915, Topographic map detail, Wallula area, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		1915 Topographic map detail, Columbia River from Spring Gulch to Wallula. Includes "Spring Gulch", "Yellepit", "Lasts Island", "Wallula Ferry", "Wallula", and the "Walla Walla River". Original 1:125,000 U.S. Geological Survey "Wallula Quadrangle, Oregon-Washington", 1916 edition.

Views ...

Image, 2005, Wallula Gap from Sand Station, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Wallula Gap, with Port Kelley grain elevators, as seen from Sand Station Recreation Area, Oregon. Image taken September 24, 2005.
Image, 2003, Port Kelley and Spring Gulch Creek, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Port Kelley and Spring Gulch Creek. Downstream view of the Port Kelley, with Spring Gulch drainage visible (v-shape valley), as seen from Washington State Highway 730, south of Wallula Junction. Image taken September 29, 2003.
Image, 2005, Port Kelley and Spring Gulch Creek, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Port Kelley and Spring Gulch Creek. Downstream view of the Port Kelley, with Spring Gulch drainage visible (v-shape valley), as seen from Washington State Highway 730, south of Wallula Junction. Image taken September 25, 2005.
Image, 2005, Port Kelley grain elevator, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Grain elevator, Port Kelley, Washington. Image taken September 24, 2005.


Views from Port Kelley ...

Image, 2005, Twin Sisters from Port Kelley, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Twin Sisters from, Port Kelley, Washington. Looking upstream from Port Kelley at one of the Twin Sisters. Image taken September 24, 2005.
Image, 2005, CEFX 106 going through Wallula Gap at Port Kelley, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		CEFX 106 passing through Wallula Gap at Port Kelley. Image taken September 24, 2005.


From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, October 18, 1805 ...



Snake River ConfluenceReturn to
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*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, 2003

Sources:
  • Fort Walla Walla Museum website, 2003;
  • NOAA Office of Coast Survey website, 2003;
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management website, 2007;


All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.
/Regions/Places/port_kelley.html
September 2008