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Herman Creek, Oregon.
View looking upstream, from NW Forest Lane.
Image taken April 4, 2009.
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Herman Creek ...
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Herman Creek, Oregon, is located at Columbia River Mile (RM) 150.5, and flows through the east end of the community of Cascade Locks. Herman Creek is just downstream of Government Cove and the now-vanished community of Wyeth. Herman Creek was named after an early settler James H. Herman.
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Herman Creek Drainage ...
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According to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program's website (2014), there
are nineteen small rivers and creeks entering the Columbia River between the Bonneville Dam and Hood River, with the three largest drainages being Eagle Creek, Phelps Creek, and Herman Creek. The 8.5-mile-long Herman Creek is a perennial stream which heads in Hicks Lake. A seven-foot-high falls at Herman Creek Mile (RM) 2.8 is a barrier to Coho Salmon, and an impassible 33-foot-high falls ("WaterfallsNorthwest.com" website lists height as 26 feet) is located at RM 3.5. Steelhead trout, Chinook salmon, and Coho salmon have been observed in Herman Creek.
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Early Herman Creek ...
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The 1860 cadastral survey (tax survey) for T2N R8E, shows the home of "J. Herman" located in the upper part of the SW quarter of Section 5. The creek is labeled "Herman's Creek", and in the NE quarter of Section 5 is "Herman's Lake". "Herman's Creek" is shown having two mouths not too far apart(now under the waters of the Bonneville Reservoir). A "J.W. Allen" is listed as owning 29.86 acres in the SE quarter of Section 6, where the western mouth of Herman Creek meets the Columbia River. The outlet for "Herman's Lake" is slightly upstream of the eastern-most mouth of "Herman's Creek". "Herman's Lake" has a large island located in the center of it, taking up most of the lake. "Herman's Lake" today is a part of Government Cove.
The Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database shows James H. Herrman being granted title to 318.8 acres for parts of T2N R8E, Section 5, on July 21, 1875 (1850 Oregon-Donation Act).
According to McArthur and McArthur in "Oregon Geographic Names" (2003), the U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Herman Creek" official in 1915, after research by Henry Biddle of Portland discovered "Herman" was the correct spelling rather than "Hermann", as often seen in use. (Note the GLO database spells the name as "Herrman".)
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Historic Columbia River Highway ...
Herman Creek Bridge at Frontage Road ...
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Herman Creek Bridge, looking west, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken April 9, 2015.
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Herman Creek as seen from bridge on Frontage Road, looking under the Interstate 84 bridge, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
View looking downstream.
Image taken April 9, 2015.
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- Columbia Gorge Ranger Station ...
- Herman Creek Campground ...
- Herman Creek Quarry ...
- Herman Creek Trail ...
- Herman Lake ...
- Oxbow Fish Hatchery ...
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Columbia Gorge Ranger Station (Herman Creek Ranger Station ...
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Columbia Gorge Ranger Station:
"The Columbia Gorge District Ranger Station, initially called the Herman Creek Ranger Station, was used as a Forest Service administration site much earlier than the CCC period. Additions and improvements were made by the CCC to the Summit Meadows CCC Camp in the 1930's. After these improvements, the ranger station's name was changed.
In 1935, plans were made to add a warehouse, a gas and oil house, and a barn. The barn was to have been located in an orchard beyond the ranger station. Because of the site's proximity to the highway and railroad, problems occurred. In October 1935, F.W. Cleator, a recreation site examiner for Mount Hood National Forest, suggested that the entire ranger station be moved, because of loud noise, lack of light, and unsuitable access. Because funds were not available to purchase land for a new site, the ranger station was not moved, and the new warehouse and gas house were built at the existing site.
The only remaining CCC-built structures at the Columbia Gorge Ranger Station are the warehouse and gas house. A residence building constructed in the 1920's also remains. The site is now used as a work center by the ranger district. ... An impressive rock wall was constructed along one edge of the site."
Source:
Otis, et.al., 1986, "The Forest Service and The Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-42, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, FS-395, August 1986, Chapter 14, Mount Hood National Forest;
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Quick picture, Herman Creek Ranger Station, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Stone wall, Herman Creek Ranger Station, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
The old Herman Creek Ranger Station can be seen in the background.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Stone wall along road between Herman Creek Ranger Station and Herman Creek Campground, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Stone wall along road between Herman Creek Ranger Station and Herman Creek Campground, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Herman Creek Campground ...
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Sign, Herman Creek Campground, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
The old Herman Creek Ranger Station can be seen in the background on the left.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Herman Creek Quarry ...
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The Cascade Locks.
"Today's Oregonian says J.G. Day, jr., in charge of the affairs of the J.G. & I.N. Day Contracting Company, who have in hand the work of completing the canal and locks at the cascades, has completed arrangements for opening a basalt quarry at Herman creek, about three miles from the locks, and is expecting the arrival of machinery for equipping the quarry. As soon as the snow is off, the work of cutting basalt for the canal will begin. The granite is now being cut in the company's California's quarries, and all will be in readiness for putting in position after the high water in the Columbia subsides. Mr. Day is confident that the appropriation necessary for the completion of the locks will be passed by congress, and that the work will go on uninterruptedly to the end."
Source:
"The Dalles Weekly Chronicle", February 17, 1893, courtesy Historic Oregon Newspapers Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2017.
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[More]
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Herman Creek Trail ...
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The Herman Creek Trail is an 8.4 miles U.S. Forest Service trail which rises to 1,700 feet. Loops connect with the Pacific Crest Trail.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the Herman Creek Trail contains the largest surviving forest of old growth Douglas fir, cedar, and hemlock in the Columbia River Gorge.
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Sign, Herman Creek Trail #406, Herman Creek Campground, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Herman Lake ...
Oxbow Fish Hatchery ...
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"Oxbow Hatchery was originally constructed in 1913 to provide additional rearing facilities for Bonneville Hatchery. It was relocated to its present site in 1937 following the construction of Bonneville Dam. Oxbow operated as a state-funded hatchery until 1952 when it was remodeled and expanded as part of the Columbia River Fisheries Development Program (Mitchell Act)—a program to enhance declining fish runs in the Columbia River Basin.
The hatchery is presently used for interim egg incubation and early rearing of Coho, Spring Chinook and Sockeye. No adult fish are collected or spawned at Oxbow and there are no fish released at this facility. Upper and Lower Herman Creek Ponds are used as interim rearing sites for coho transferred in from other facilities."
Source:
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website, 2015.
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[More]
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Sign, Oxbow Fish Hatchery, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Oxbow Fish Hatchery, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Oxbow Fish Hatchery, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Oxbow Fish Hatchery, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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Oxbow Fish Hatchery, on Frontage Road, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken June 24, 2015.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, October 30, 1805 ...
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