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1897 map detail, "Post Route Map of the State of Washington", showing the Columbia River from Lyle, Washington, to Rufus, Oregon, and includes Fivemile, Eightmile, and Fifteenmile Creeks.
The community of Columbia became Maryhill in 1909.
Original Map courtesy University of Washington Libraries, 2006.
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Fifteenmile Creek ...
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Fifteenmile Creek begins east of Mount Hood near Lookout Mountain in Oregon's Cascade Range. It flows 54 miles before reaching the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 192. The mouth of the creek is located at The Dalles Dam at the upper end of the Bonneville Reservoir, the impoundment behind the Bonneville Dam. The remains of the old Seufert Brothers Cannery lie on the left bank at the mouth of Fifteenmile Creek.
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Threemile, Fivemile, Eightmile, and Fifteenmile Creeks ...
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Threemile, Fivemile, Eightmile, and Fifteenmile Creeks received their names based on the distance early settlers had to travel from The Dalles.
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Fivemile Creek, Eightmile Creek, and Fifteenmile Creek ...
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According to "Oregon Geographic Names" (McArthur and McArthur, 2003):
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"Fifteenmile Creek (WASCO): This is the stream that flows through Dufur, and it received its name in pioneer days because the road from The Dalles crossed it about 15 miles from The Dalles. The road also crossed Fivemile Creek and Eightmile Creek before it reached Fifteenmile Creek. The Dalles-California Highway extends along all of these streams between The Dalles and Dufur. The three streams combine before they flow into the Columbia, and the name Fifteenmile Creek follows through to the Columbia, even though at its mouth it is only about four miles from The Dalles. The mouth of Fifteenmile Creek is at Seufert, and there was a substantial concrete bridge carrying the Historic Columbia River Highway over the creek at that point, known as Seufert Viaduct. All highway traffic now moves over I-84 immediately to the north, although the old viaduct was still standing in 2003. Old maps show Fifteenmile Creek as Nansene Creek, and there was once a community of that name in Wasco County, but the compiler has been unable to secure information about the word Nansene. This is probably the same stream mentioned by Capt. John Charles Fremont on November 25, 1843, as Tinanem Creek. Nansene post office was established May 17, 1880, with William C. Adams first postmaster. The office has been discontinued."
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Early Maps ...
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1860 Cadastral map detail for T1N R14E, showing Eightmile Creek and Fifteenmile Creek ("Nancene Creek").
Original map courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database, 2013.
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1865 Cadastral map detail for T1S R14E, showing Fifteenmile Creek ("15 Mile Creek").
Original map courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database, 2018.
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Views ...
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Fifteenmile Creek, The Dalles, Oregon, looking downstream towards The Dalles Dam.
View from Seufert Brothers Cannery location.
Image taken October 6, 2011.
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Fifteenmile Creek, The Dalles, Oregon.
View from Seufert Brothers Cannery location.
Image taken October 6, 2011.
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- Barlow Road ...
- Missoula Floods ...
- Nansene ...
- Nansene in 1892 ...
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Barlow Road ...
From The Dalles, the Barlow Road went south, where it crossed Threemile Creek, Fivemile Creek, and Eightmile Creek. It crossed Fifteenmile Creek at the location of today's Dufur.
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Barlow Road sign at Fifteenmile Creek, Dufur, Oregon.
Image taken April 3, 2013.
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Closer view, Barlow Road sign at Fifteenmile Creek, Dufur, Oregon.
Image taken April 3, 2013.
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Fifteenmile Creek, looking upstream, Dufur, Oregon.
View from the old highway ("Main Street") bridge in Dufur.
Image taken April 3, 2013.
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Fifteenmile Creek, looking downstream, Dufur, Oregon.
View from the old highway ("Main Street") bridge in Dufur.
Image taken April 3, 2013.
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Missoula Floods ...
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Avery Park, Washington, with Fairbanks Water Gap, Oregon.
Waters from the Missoula Floods flowed through the Fairbanks Water Gap into Fifteenmile Creek, eight miles east of The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken September 28, 2011.
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Nansene ...
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According to "Oregon Geographic Names" (2003, McArthur and McArthur):
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"Fifteenmile Creek: ... Old maps show Fifteenmile Creek as Nansene Creek, and there was once a community of that name in Wasco County, but the compiler has been unable to secure information about the word Nansene."
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"Nansene: ... The name Nansene seems to have been derived from an Indian word used to describe Fifteenmile Creek. Capt. John Charles Fremont gives the style Tinanens Creek, but it is doubtless the same as Nansene. Nansene post office was established May 17, 1880, with William C. Adams postmaster. It was on the ridge southeast of Dufur, and the name has been perpetuated by Nansene School. Nansene post office was closed in February 1894."
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Nansene in 1892 ...
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Local Brevities.
"A correspondent from Nansene tells us that a "daily express now runs once a day every two weeks" from the head of Jamison Hollow to Dufur. George Willards is the proprietor and the vehicle is a two wheel cart, made out of the hind weheels of a lumber wagon, but it gets there every time."
"Reports from the Tygh Ridge country and the high lands in the Nansene neighborhood say that two and a half inches of snow fell all over that country last Saturday. The snow has since disappeared and melted into the ground. Seeding is about finished. Fall grain never looked as well at this season and the soil is in spendid condition for sprouting the young grain."
Source:
"The Dalles Daily Chronicle, March 28, 1892, courtesy Historic Oregon Newspapers Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2018.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, October 25, 1805 ...
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