Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles, Oregon, from the east.
Image taken March 20, 2004.
|
City of The Dalles ...
|
The City of The Dalles, Oregon, is located at Columbia River Mile (RM) 189.5, on the southern shore of the Columbia. Upstream of The Dalles is The Dalles Bridge and The Dalles Dam. Further upstream is the location of Celilo Falls, now under the waters of Lake Celilo, the reservoir behind The Dalles Dam. Downstream of The Dalles is Crates Point.
Lewis and Clark spent 6 nights in the area of today's The Dalles, at a natural rock formation they called Rock Fort. On the upstream side of Rock Fort is Mill Creek which runs through the city.
The Dalles takes its name from the trecherous long stretch of rapids upstream, which were refered to as the "Dalles".
|
Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles, Oregon, with Mount Hood.
The Dalles and Mount Hood as seen from Dallesport, Washington.
Image taken April 24, 2004.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles, Oregon, with Mount Hood.
The Dalles and Mount Hood as seen from Dallesport, Washington.
Image taken April 24, 2004.
|
"The Dalles" (the Rapids) ...
Early The Dalles (the City) ...
|
Lewis and Clark stayed twice in the locality of today's The Dalles. For three nights in October 1805 and for three nights in April 1806 the men camped on a rock formation overlooking the Columbia River which they called "Rock Fort".
In 1820 James Birney of the North West Company established a short-lived fur trading fort at The Dalles.
In 1838, the Methodists arrived and built a mission named "Wascopam", with Daniel Lee as the leader.
The Wascopam Mission was abandoned in 1847 and sold to Dr. Marcus Whitman for $600.
-
"... After the Whitman Massacre, the property was returned to the Methodists. Neither the Whitmans nor the Methodists attempted to keep up the property, and emigrants of 1849 found the mission in ruins and decay.
After Fort Dalles was built, the old mission was burned and the U.S. government paid $24,000 to the Methodists for title to the land. Various lawsuits proved that the Methodists had never obtained legal title to the property, and $23,000 was returned to claimants. ..."
[End of the Oregon Trail Website, 2007]
The settlement at The Dalles increased in population in the mid 1800s when wagon trains arrive with new settlers on the "Oregon Trail". The Dalles was the end of the land road, with the rest of the journey to the Willamette Valley to be done by boat or raft. Crates Point, a protected harbor at the mouth of Chenowith Creek, became the beginning of the water trail for the Oregon Trail travelers.
In 1845, Samuel K. Barlow and his family arrived in The Dalles.
-
"... finding no boats readily available at such a late date, set off to scout the route of what would become the Barlow Road around the south shoulder of Mount Hood. Sam Barlow's road, originally called the Mount Hood Toll Road, began at what is now Third Street in The Dalles. With the Barlow Road open, it was no longer necessary to abandon the overland trail for crude rafts or overpriced HBC bateaux. Later travelers bypassed The Dalles entirely, leaving the Oregon Trail ten miles east to cut south to Barlow's route. Still, the Barlow Road had its own dangers, and about one in every four emigrants would opt for the water route even after the Barlow Road was opened in 1846. ..."
[End of the Oregon Trail Website, 2007]
During the Cayuse War of 1847 to 1848, Major H.A.G. Lee, of the Provisional Government's Oregon Rifles, arrived in The Dalles. Lee built a stockade around the old mission buildings that became known as "Fort Lee" or "Fort Wascopam" In 1850, two rifle companies came from Fort Vancouver to establish a supply depot at the eastern end of the Barlow Road. Crude log buildings were constructed a short distance west of the old Wascopam mission and was called "Camp Drum". In 1853 the fort was redesignated as "Fort Dalles". In 1861, Fort Dalles was downgraded to a quartermaster's depot before being abandoned in 1867. Only the Surgeon's Quarters remains today, and currently houses the Fort Dalles Museum. The Fort Dalles Museum is the oldest historical museum in Oregon, being established in 1905. (See "The Golden Age of Postcards" below).
-
"...
Fort Dalles.
The arrival of United States troops -- the Rifle Regiment -- late in the
fall of 1849, resulted in the establishment of the military post at The
Dalles. In the following May, the log Fort Dalles was built and occupied
by Major Tucker. In 1858 Colonel George Wright in command of the 9th U.S.
Infantry replaced the old log barracks with a fine new fort of which there
remains only one building. This was the surgeon's quarters. It is now
the property of the Oregon Historical Society. It serves the purpose of
the local historical building, by which name it is known. The site of
Fort Dalles overlooks the camp (near the O.W.R.N. & Co.'s Passenger Depot)
of Lewis and Clark where the American flag in October 1805 was displayed
for the first time in that part of Oregon.
..."
[Horner, 1919]
The first post office in The Dalles area was established on November 5, 1851, and called "Dalles". The Post Office's name was changed to "Wascopum" in September 1853. The community of The Dalles was incorporated in 1857 as "Dalles City". (One source, End of the Oregon Trail Website, says it was originally "Fort Dalles" and then changed to "Dalles City".) Common usage however kept the name as "The Dalles", and in March 1860 the Post Office became "The Dalles". On June 7, 1966, the "official name" of the city was changed to "City of The Dalles".
|
The Dalles "Fish Bridge" ...
Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles "Fish Bridge".
View looking west.
Image taken October 2, 2006.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles "Fish Bridge".
View looking west.
Image taken October 2, 2006.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
The Dalles "Fish Bridge".
View looking east.
Image taken September 29, 2006.
|
|
Mount Hood and The Dalles ...
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Mount Hood, Oregon, with the outskirts of The Dalles in the foreground.
View from Washington State Highway 14, upstream of The Dalles.
Image taken May 24, 2005.
|
|
Seufert Brothers Cannery ...
|
|
The "Seufert Bros. Co." was established in 1881 by brothers Francis Anthony and Theordore Seufert, and became one of the largest salmon fishing and processing establishments on the Columbia River. The brothers owned the majority of of the fish wheels surrounding The Dalles, and their cannery (see "The Golden Age of Postcards" below) was located just upstream of today's The Dalles Dam. The Cannery building burned in 1973.
Today all that remains of the Cannery is a remnant stone wall near The Dalles Dam's visitor center, and a fish wheel foundation near the river.
|
|
The Dalles - Celilo Canal and Locks ...
|
|
"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
|
|
The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards", with the "Penny Postcard" being a popular way to send greetings to family and friends.
Today the Penny Postcard has become a snapshot of history.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Looking up the Columbia River from The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Looking up the Columbia River, from the Dalles, Oregon.". Published by The Portland Post Card Company, Portland, Oregon. Made in Germany. Card #6033. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Old Fort Dalles, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Old Fort Dalles, Oregon". Part of the "Ezra Meeker Historical Post Cards for School, Libraries, the Home, and Collections."
Each series contains 16 post card views with Historical Sketches on reverse side.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
Caption on back reads:
"In this encampment (called a fort) in the early fifties Grant, Sherman and Sheridan all had their earlier experiences in military life and Indian warfare. Here also lay sick almost to death that delightful writer, Theodore Winthrop, whose untimely death came so early in the War of the Rebellion. The Dalles proper of the Columbia River is a few miles up river way, where the river is turned on edge through the narrow gap of less than one hundred feet in width, with a channel said to be half a mile in depth. The stretch of river shown in the background is more than a mile in width of placid water, which continues through the great gap of the Cascade Mountains to the Cascade Falls below."
The building on the far right was the "Guard House". More image of it can be seen at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Officer's House, Old Fort Dalles, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, Postmarked 1910, "Old U.S. Army Post near The Dalles, Oregon.". Building is former "Officer's House", now an Oregon Museum.
The "Officer's House" is the oldest history museaum in Oregon. The house was built in 1856. Published by Portland Post Card Co., Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. Made in Germany. Card #70543. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Seufert Brothers Cannery, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1909
Penny Postcard, Dated 1909, "Seufert Brothers Col, Salmon Cannery, The Dalles, Oregon, The Dalles in the Distance.". Mount Hood, Oregon, is on the left. Published by The Portland Post Card Company, Portland, Oregon. Card #6027. Hand-written message on card is dated January 3, 1909.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
The "Seufert Bros. Co." was established in 1881 by brothers Francis Anthony and Theordore Seufert, and became one of the largest salmon fishing and processing establishments on the Columbia River. The brothers owned the majority of of the fish wheels surrounding The Dalles, and their cannery was located just upstream of today's The Dalles Dam. The Cannery building burned in 1973.
Today all that remains of the Cannery is a remnant stone wall near The Dalles Dam's visitor center, and a fish wheel foundation near the river.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Seining for Salmon near The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Seining Salmon, near The Dalles, Oregon.". Published by Benj. A. Gifford, The Dalles, Oregon. Made in Germany. Card #265. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Seining for Salmon near The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Seining Crew Hauling Seine Columbia River.". Published by Pacific Novelty Co., San Francisco. Made in Great Britain. Card #928. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Penny Postcard: Mount Hood from The Dalles, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Mount Hood as seen from bank of the Columbia River near The Dalles, Ore.". A.M. Prentiss Photo.
Published by Lipschuetz and Katz, Portland, Oregon.
Card #447.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
|
|
From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
|
|
Return to