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Mouth, Tanner Creek, Oregon, looking towards Hamilton Island.
Hamilton Mountain is in the background.
Image taken October 22, 2005.
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Tanner Creek ...
Tanner Creek Drainage ...
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Tanner Creek heads in Tanner Spring on the southwest flank of Tanner Butte.
Tanner Creek and nine hatchery wells provide water for rearing fall chinook salmon, coho salmon, and summer and winter steelhead. Wahclella Falls, not quite a mile above the creek's mouth prevents fish passage beyond that point.
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Views of Tanner Creek Drainage ...
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Tanner Creek drainage, Oregon, from Hamilton Island.
View from Fort Cascades Informational Kiosk. Robins Island is in the foreground.
Image taken October 27, 2004.
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Tanner Creek, Oregon, from Hamilton Island, Washington.
Image taken April 2, 2005.
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Lewis and Clark and Tanner Creek ...
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Lewis and Clark first pass Tanner Creek on November 2, 1805, but do not stop.
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"... passed a rapid at 2 miles & 1 at 4 miles opposite the lower point of a high Island on the Lard Side, and a little below 4 Houses on the Stard. Bank, a Small Creek on the Lard Side opposit Straw berry Island, which heads below the last rapid. ..."
[Clark, November 2, 1805]
The "high Island" on the left is Bradford Island and "Straw berry Island" is today's Hamilton Island.
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Campsite of April 9, 1806 ...
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Lewis and Clark's campsite of April 9, 1806 was just upstream of Tanner Creek, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River behind Bradford Island. Today this is the location of the Bonneville Fish Hatchery and the Bonneville Dam complex. While the journals make no mention of Tanner Creek on this date, it was mentioned on November 2, 1805 and shown on the route map (Moulton, vol.1, map#79). The men were once again at the "Cascades Rapids", a spot they called the "Lower Falls of the Columbia".
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"... at 4 P. M. we arived at the first rapid at the head of Straw berry island at which place on the N W. Side of the Columbia ... as we Could not pass with the large Canoes up the N. W. Side for the rocks, the wind high and a rainey disagreeable evining. our Smallest Canoe being too low to cross through the high waves, we Sent her up on the N W. side with Drewyer and the two Fields and after purchaseing 2 dogs Crossed and into the Sluce of a large high Island seperated from the S. E Side by a narrow chanel, in this chanel we found a good harbor and encamped on the lower Side.
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made 16 Miles to day. evening wet & disagreeable.
[Clark, April 9, 1806]
Three of the men could not get the canoe across the Columbia and therefore spent the night on the north side of the Columbia, near today's North Bonneville.
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"... our small canoe with Drewyer and the two feildses was unable to pass the river with us in consequence of the waves they therefore toed her up along the N. side of the river and encamped opposite the upper point of brant Island ..."
[Lewis, April 9, 1806]
Lewis and Clark's previous campsite was at Shepperds Dell, and their campsite of April 10, 1806, was upstream on the Washington side of the Columbia River near Fort Rains.
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Wahclella Falls ...
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Wahclella Falls is a beautiful two-tiered falls with the largest drop being 79 feet for a total drop of 127 feet. Just upstream lies another falls, often considered a third tier to Wahclella. According to "waterfallsnorthwest.com" website, Wahclella Falls was named in 1915 by the Mazamas, after a nearby Native American village near Beacon Rock, on the Washington side of the Columbia.
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Early History ...
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According to Oregon Geographic Names (McArthur and McArthur, 2003) Tanner Creek was named after a "J.T. Tanner" who had a donation claim near it's mouth.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, show a John C. Tanner and Andrew Johnson being issued a land title on September 20, 1861, for 151.17 acres of parts of T2N R7E Section 21 and 28 (Script Warren Act of 1855).
An 1882 survey of Bradford Island had the creek called "Plumb Creek".
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Views ...
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Tanner Creek, Oregon, from Hamilton Island.
Image taken June 29, 2005.
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Tanner Creek, looking downstream from the Historic Columbia River Highway bridge.
Image taken June 5, 2014.
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- Bonneville Fish Hatchery ...
- Historic Columbia River Highway ...
- Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail ...
- Tanner Butte ...
- Tanner Creek Recreation Area ...
- Tanner Creek Viaduct ...
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Bonneville Fish Hatchery ...
The Bonneville Fish Hatchery and Sturgeon Center lies on the upstream bank of Tanner Creek as it enters the Columbia River and uses its waters in its operations.
Tanner Creek and nine hatchery wells provide water for rearing fall chinook salmon, coho salmon, and summer and winter steelhead. A waterfall not quite a mile above the creek's mouth prevents fish passage beyond that point.
[More]
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Bonneville Fish Hatchery buildings and pens, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Sturgeon, Bonneville Fish Hatchery.
Image taken June 19, 2005.
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Watching through the window, Fish Viewing Windows, Bonneville Fish Hatchery, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken June 19, 2005.
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Historic Columbia River Highway ...
[More Historic Columbia River Highway]
[More HCRH Route]
- HMP 41.1 ... Tanner Creek Bridge (1915)
- Tanner Creek Bridge (1915):
"The reinforced concrete deck girder bridge is 60 feet in length. The outside girders are elliptical shaped. The width is 23 feet with a 20-foot roadway. Part of the railing is missing. This bridge was bypassed in the late 1940s or early 1950s."
[National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1983]
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Historic Columbia River Highway bridge at Tanner Creek.
View looking west.
Image taken June 5, 2014.
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Historic Columbia River Highway bridge at Tanner Creek.
View looking west.
Image taken June 5, 2014.
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Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail ...
[More HCRH State Trail]
[More HCRH Route]
- HMP 41.7 and 42.8 ... Tanner Creek to Eagle Creek
- Tanner Creek to Eagle Creek:
"In 1996, ODOT reopened the CRH segment between Tanner Creek and Eagle Creek (between HMP 41.7 and 42.8) for non-motorized use as part of the HCRH State Trail. The rehabilitated segment includes the Toothrock and Eagle Creek viaducts."
[National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1996]
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Sign, Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, Moffett Creek to Tanner Creek.
Image taken June 5, 2014.
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Tanner Butte ...
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Tanner Butte was originally called "Tanner Creek Butte", until 1917 when the U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Tanner Butte" official. Tanner Butte is 1,372 feet elevation.
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Tanner Creek Recreation Area ...
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Tanner Creek Recreation Area, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Tanner Creek Recreation Area, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Tanner Creek Viaduct ...
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The Tanner Creek Railroad Viaduct is a 900-foot-long, double track, earth-filled, spandrel arch viaduct. Construction began in early October 1934. Construction of the viaduct forced the entrance of the Bonneville Fish Hatchery to be re-located 180 degrees and open off the Bonneville entrance road to the north.
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Tanner Creek Railroad Viaduct, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Tanner Creek Railroad Viaduct, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Tanner Creek Viaduct over Bonneville Dam Road, Bonneville Dam, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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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, November 2, 1805 ...
Clark, April 9, 1806 ...
Lewis, April 9, 1806 ...
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