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Wallace Slough and Wallace Island, Oregon.
Image taken September 17, 2012.
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Wallace Island ...
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The nearly three-mile long Wallace Island hugs the Oregon shore of the Columbia River, beginning at River Mile (RM) 48.
Wallace Island is separated from the Oregon shore by Wallace Slough. The mouth of the Clatskanie River/Beaver Slough merges with the Columbia River near the upstream tip of Wallace Island, and across from Wallace Island on the Washington State side is Wahkiakum County's Cape Horn. Puget Island is approximately 2 miles downstream and Crims Island 4 miles upstream. Wallace Island was purchased in 1995 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is now part of the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for Columbian White-tailed deer.
A good view of Wallace Island (and Mount St. Helens too) can be had from Jones Beach downstream on the Oregon side.
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Wallace Slough ...
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Wallace Slough separates Wallace Island from the Oregon shore.
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Lewis and Clark and Wallace Island and Wallace Slough ...
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On the Lewis and Clark draft map [Moulton, vol.1, map#89] Lewis and Clark have the name "Sturgeon Island" on what is today's Little Island, of the Puget Island complex. Wallace Island is depicted upstream but not named. The reach with Tenasillahe and Welch Islands and the islands of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge are labeled "Marshy Islands". The route map [map#81] is a little different. The "Marshy Islands" are located a bit more upstream, followed by "S ___ (damaged area, presumably "Sea Otter Isl.") tter Isl." (today's
Puget Island), and then "Sturgeon Isl." (today's Wallace Island). On the Washington shore directly across from "Sturgeon Isl." is the notation for the camp of November 6, 1805 (Wahkiakum County's Cape Horn), while on the southern shore, the camp of March 25, 1806, is noted on the west bank of the Clatskanie River/Beaver Slough.
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Campsite of March 25, 1806 ...
Lewis and Clark's campsite of March 25, 1806, was on the western bank of the
Clatskanie River, across from the upstream end of Wallace Island.
[More]
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Early Wallace Island and Wallace Slough ...
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On October 26, 1792, Lieutenant William Broughton, of the George Vancouver Expededition, passed through this area and called the west entrance of Wallace Slough "Swaine's River" and the east entrance of Wallace Slough "Manby's River", named after 3rd Lieutenant Spelman Swaine of the ship Discovery and Thomas Manby, master of the Chatham.
In 1805 Lewis and Clark called this island "Sturgeon Island".
In 1841 Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition called the western half of Wallace Island "Yupat's Island", the eastern half "Kotze Island". He called Wallace Slough "Natsox Run".
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"... Natsox Run passes between Yupat's and Kotze Islands and the south shore: it has only depth of water sufficient for small barges and boats. ..."
[Wilkes, 1841]
The current name is after an early settler, Wallace Slang.
In 1914 the U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Wallace Island" (and also "Wallace Slough") official. Often seen in use was "Wallaces Island".
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Views ...
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Downstream tip of Wallace Island, Oregon, with Mount St. Helens, Washington.
View from Jones Beach, Oregon, looking upstream. Image taken November 20, 2004.
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Wallace Island and Wallace Slough, Oregon.
Autumn at Wallace Island, Oregon, with cliffs of Washington State in the background.
Image taken November 20, 2004.
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Wallace Island (on left) and Wallace Slough, looking east, Oregon.
Image taken September 17, 2012.
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Boathouse, Wallace Slough, Oregon.
Boathouse along the Oregon banks of Wallace Slough.
Image taken February 21, 2004.
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Wallace Slough and the Columbia River junction.
View towards the Columbia River (with the cliffs of Washington's Eagle Cliff in the background) where the Wallace Slough separates around Wallace Island.
View from Erickson Dike Road.
Image taken August 28, 2012.
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Wallace Slough, Oregon, with Mount Rainier, Washington.
Image taken February 21, 2005.
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Wallace Island and Wallace Slough, etc.
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- Benson Rafts ...
- Mount Rainier and Wallace Slough ...
- Mount St. Helens and Wallace Island ...
- Remembering Wallace Island and Mayger, Oregon ...
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"Benson Rafts" ...
In the early 1900s the quiet waters of Wallace Slough were used to construct huge "Benson Log Rafts", nearly 1,000 feet long, with the lumber being towed to mills in San Diego, California.
[More]
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Penny Postcard: Log Rafts from the Columbia, waiting at San Diego, ca.1915
Penny Postcard, ca.1915, "Log Rafts of five million feet each, 900 feet long, depth 28 feet below Waterline, San Diego, Cal."
Divided back, Panama-California Exposition, San Diego, published by Eno & Matteson, San Diego. Made in U.S.A.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Wallace Slough, looking east, Oregon.
Wallace Island is on the left.
Image taken September 17, 2012.
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Mount Rainier from Wallace Slough ...
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Mount Rainier, Washington, from Wallace Slough, Oregon.
Image taken February 21, 2005.
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Mount St. Helens and Wallace Island ...
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Downstream tip of Wallace Island, Oregon, with Mount St. Helens, Washington.
View from Jones Beach, Oregon, looking upstream. Image taken November 20, 2004.
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Remembering Wallace Island and Mayger, Oregon ...
E-mail to me from Russell Kallio, now living in Alaska, who grew up
in the Clatskanie area during the 1960s through 1980s, with fond memories of Wallace Island, of Mayger and the fish station there, and of the Clatskanie, Oregon area.
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"Hi i was looking up some history on lewis and clark
and came across your pictures of the last 50 miles or
so of their journey. i must say they brought back a
flood of memories for me since i grew up hunting
fishing and trapping on the very same sloughs along
the lower cloumbia river. (i grew up in clatskanie) it
was my ol hometown altho now it has since changed. ...
mayger beach and fish station was a favorite swimming
spot, we used to jump off the roof of the fish station
into the columbia . wallace island we called pig
island because of the pigs turned loose there and they
went feral, they were quite good eating tho. nothing
like lean pork. i recall fishing for sturgeon in that
area as well as a few other secret spots along the
river bottoms. ... thanks again Russell Kallio, October 5, 2006"
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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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.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, March 25, 1806 ...
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