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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Fishing The Waterfalls & The Dalles, Oregon Area


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Native Americans fishing on shaky platforms over a raging waterfall, an abandoned alignment along cliffsides, an old service station with Orange Crush sign, gasoline below $1.00, abandoned hotels, stage coach stops, wagon roads, and ghost towns. If any of these catch your attention, read on.

 

Central and North Central Oregon are a road fan’s paradise, with interesting finds everywhere. What the two lane roads here lack, and probably always will, is the fame and notoriety of a Lincoln Highway or Route 66. The California - Banff Bee Line, for example, isn’t likely to have a following of great size in my lifetime! The fan club could probably meet with room to spare in the compressor room at the American Road garage!

 

Being unrecognized isn’t all bad. It also means untrammeled and unvandalized. And it means that you are probably “discovering” and sharing the discoveries for the “first time.” I have never especially enjoyed following the well traveled road, so the better known and celebrated the highway, the less excited and interested I am in adding my tire rubber to that stretch of pavement.

 

Central Oregon, and most of North Central Oregon, was settled pretty late in our history, with the exception of the area near the Columbia River. That means that the wagon roads, and the auto trails that followed, are relatively well preserved. Urban development is only beginning to destroy the old roads.

 

The good news is that some of the progressive people of Central Oregon recognize their history and are taking steps to identify and save their road heritage. Deschutes County, for example, has created a sophisticated mapping system and inventory of legacy routes which can be considered when new developments are planned.

 

Enough! Lets got to the road report.

 

I left Olympia on Tuesday morning and took old US99 (The Pacific Highway) south for about 60 miles. The two laners always hold surprises. Near Castle Rock I was surprised to see a herd of perhaps 25 elk along the roadside feeding on the tender grasses in a large field.

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Elk Beside Old US99 Near Castle Rock, Washington

 

The trip along old 99 is a story in itself, and I will write it up sooner or later, after I finish the Old Oregon Trail Highway report and this little adventure.

 

I picked up the I-5 south at Longview, and the next two hours along the interstates through Vancouver and Portland and toward The Dalles are a blur until I arrived at the Mosier turnoff on I84. This section (Mosier to The Dalles) of the Historic Columbia River Highway is relatively untraveled I suppose because it lacks the spectacular water falls of the western section. Too bad, because the river vistas are beautiful.

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Columbia River Between Mosier and The Dalles

 

Mosier had a little unexpected gem, the Route 30 cafe, ice cream store, and Porsche stable. There must be an interesting story here, but no one was around, and when I did scare up someone, she couldn’t tell me anything about the place. I did get a good ice cream cone, however.

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A Roadside Attraction in Mosier

 

The Rowena Loop was a favorite postcard image of the teens and twenties. I pulled off at the overlook and took a photo of the sinuous old road as it snakes down the grade below. Looking down it appears that the old road comes back almost to meet itself. Talk about your switchbacks!

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Switchback on the Rowena Loop

As I stood alone on the overlook, I heard the rap and roar of cycles approaching. They looked so American Road, and were so obviously enjoying a great road trip together, I couldn’t resist asking to take a photo of the “biker dudes and their babes.” Kidding aside, they were a living advertisement for two lane travel. I hope they see their mug shots here. Could you have more fun and not need a lawyer?

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Harley Riders having Fun

 

The Dalles has an interesting old bridge I have described in another post, the Siefert Viaduct. What is equally interesting is The Dalles Iron Works, in business since 1906 and featured in a 1915 ad in the Automobile blue Book (ABB). I get my kicks by “discovering” roadside artifacts, and The Dalles Iron Works is one of them.

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The Dalles Iron Works, 101 Years in Business in the Same Place Serving Automobilists

The Dalles Iron Works (founded 1906) is special because it is still called by its name in the 1915 ad, occupies the original building, is unrestored, and some of the interior is as it probably was in 1915. It operated in conjunction with Kirk’s Garage which is no longer part of the business. The doors of the garage are still on the east side of the building, still used to bring cars and trucks in for welding jobs, etc.

 

The original electric motor and some of the overhead belts and pulleys used to drive the old equipment are still there, overhead on the inside

 

Several old roads weaved their way south from The Dalles in 1915. One went by way of Boyd, then down the face of what is called Tygh (tie) Ridge to the Deschutes River canyon on a road that would turn your eyebrow hairs white if they weren’t already. The story is that auto passengers would often prefer to get out and walk rather than risk rolling over the edge with a hapless driver.

 

I took the 1924 Dalles - California Highway out of The Dalles and then turned east toward Boyd. Boyd was once a bustling incorporated town on the 1915 road, platted in 1895, but today it is a ghost. It prospered until the Dalles - California bypassed it in 1924. I have taken this old alignment before, but this time I thought I might share it with the group here. Boyd is still on many maps, but there is no “town” there now, only a couple of houses.

 

South of “metropolitan” Boyd is the Boyd Mill and the Boyd Loop concrete arch bridge over 15 mile Creek, built in 1925. Funny, the bridge was built the year after the highway took a different route.

 

A youngster of perhaps 12 speeding down the middle of the highway on his bicycle toward the mill and bridge announced, when we arrived at the bridge and stopped to compare our speeds, that it was a grain mill, and proudly stated he owned it.

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Boyds Mill (Grain Elevator)

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The 1924 Boyd Loop Concrete Arch Bridge

 

I didn’t drive over the edge of Tygh Ridge, nor get close enough to even photograph it, as the gravel road turned west and the road over the ridge and down is best described as a jeep or donkey trail.

 

I traveled into Dufur and stopped at the Historical Society pioneer cabin. As is almost always the case, you could spend a day talking about and exploring the exciting local history of the area. The annual Threshing Festival with live exhibits and demonstrations was coming up on the weekend and the Barlow Trail branch of the Oregon Trail was just up the draw.

 

The highlight of Dufur was the Balch Hotel. It was advertised in the 1919 ABB as “Cool in Summer – All Conveniences Near two garages”. The Hotel was built in 1907 by Charles P. Balch, a local rancher and druggist. The bricks used were made on his ranch. The walls are 18 inches thick, and are said to keep the rooms cool in the summer. It looked in great condition, but the sign in the window said “closed.”

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The Dufur Hotel Balch in 1910

 

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The Balch Hotel in Dufur Today

 

The Great Southern Railroad used to drop off salesmen and deliver supplies to Dufur in the old days. The salesmen would set up their wares in the hotel parlor and walk around town to announce their arrival. Judging by the size of Dufur, it wasn’t an exhausting walk! I drove on to catch the Indian fishermen at Sherars Bridge before dusk.

 

Sherars Bridge across the Deschutes River in Oregon is historically important as both a Native American crossing of the river and a pioneer crossing. The river is confined to a narrow channel here on its rush to join the Columbia. The confining rock walls made a bridge across this large river possible, and the roads in and out of the Deschutes Canyon and across the bridge are among the oldest in the eastern half of the state.

 

Native Americans have fished here for millennia, just as they have on the Columbia River to the north. Anyone familiar with the Columbia River or who has seen post cards of the Columbia before it was dammed will instantly recognize the image below. Native Americans are fishing from flimsy platforms extending out over the water falls and rapids. They are using nets, and sometimes spears, as they have for years on end. In this photo the scene is of the Celilo Falls, near The Dalles, Oregon, which are now under the lake formed by The Dalles Dam.

 

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Native Americans continue to exercise their ancient fishing rights and rites on the Deschutes at Sherars bridge. I worked some 35 years ago with the tribes on the Warm Springs Reservation, the Wasco, Piute, and Warm Springs peoples, and in the process enjoyed feasting occasionally on salmon often caught just hours earlier at Shears Bridge.

 

I came to know, respect, and admire the people at Warm Springs and their traditions. This is one of them, and if you view the 5 second movie, you will share an unexpected moment.

 

The road here, Oregon State 216, runs near water level on one side of the river, crosses the Sherars bridge, then runs back along the river on a low bluff .

 

There was only one Native America fisherman, where often there are ten, probably because it was late in the day. He was perhaps 300 yards away and I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible as I snapped photos with a 500mm telephoto as he went about his fishing.

 

After taking several photos from the west side of the river, I crossed the bridge and after exploring an old stage road, drove along the bluff on the other side, and stopped for a moment to get a few shots from a different perspective.

 

I will include just two photos displaying traditional fishing with dipnets, but I hope you will download the movie. It is small (300KB) so even if you are using dial up, it will download quickly and should auto start in Windows Media Player.

 

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Warm Springs Tribal Member Dipnet Fishing at Sherars Bridge

 

View the MOVIE

 

More to come. This little adventure will continue in a later post with the semi ghost towns of Antelope and Shaniko, an old alignment running beside a stage road past a stage stop, and a vintage service station with antique pumps still intact and displaying an Orange Crush sign.

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Native Americans fishing on shaky platforms over a raging waterfall, an abandoned alignment along cliffsides, an old service station with Orange Crush sign, gasoline below $1.00, abandoned hotels, stage coach stops, wagon roads, and ghost towns. If any of these catch your attention, read on.

 

 

More to come. This little adventure will continue in a later post with the semi ghost towns of Antelope and Shaniko, an old alignment running beside a stage road past a stage stop, and a vintage service station with antique pumps still intact and displaying an Orange Crush sign.

 

Great report KtSotR! I wish I had your knack for the historical details. I drive through an area and see an old building to take a picture of, you on the other hand take the picture and provide the history.

 

I do have pictures of that area that I won't share. They were taken on my last visit through that area which was on a vacation with my parents in 1976. The pictures were all taken with a 110 Kodak Instamatic. Looking at your pictures I do believe that I am overdue for a return visit.

 

Anxiously awaiting the follow up.

 

Roadhound

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Great report KtSotR! I wish I had your knack for the historical details. I drive through an area and see an old building to take a picture of, you on the other hand take the picture and provide the history.

 

I do have pictures of that area that I won't share. They were taken on my last visit through that area which was on a vacation with my parents in 1976. The pictures were all taken with a 110 Kodak Instamatic. Looking at your pictures I do believe that I am overdue for a return visit.

 

Anxiously awaiting the follow up.

 

Roadhound

 

Roadhound,

 

As always, thanks for the comments! I suppose I am just about as interested in the history of a road or site as I am in the place itself today. I wish I had had the 1910 image of the hotel before I took the trip so I could have lined up the then and now. Of course that would have presupposed I knew the Blach Hotel existed!

 

For a guy with your talents, Central and North Central Oregon are gold mines. Section two of this trip will catch a few more of the roadside scenes.

 

I don’t expect a lot of viewer traffic on these North Central Oregon posts because the roads and the area are unpromoted and mostly unknown. The Native American scenes at Sherars Bridge, for example, are as real as it gets...no fancy feather war bonnets and tom toms here for the tourists. But since the tourists want war bonnets and tom toms, even though they were never used here, they ignore or are ignorant of the authentic. Works for me, otherwise there would be a gift shop at the bridge!

 

I thought the fellow in the movie giving the Native American Power gesture with the rapids rushing in the background, and his catch in hand, was a classic clip. We chatted for a couple of minutes when he got up to the bluff.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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Roadhound,

 

As always, thanks for the comments! I suppose I am just about as interested in the history of a road or site as I am in the place itself today. I wish I had had the 1910 image of the hotel before I took the trip so I could have lined up the then and now. Of course that would have presupposed I knew the Blach Hotel existed!

 

For a guy with your talents, Central and North Central Oregon are gold mines. Section two of this trip will catch a few more of the roadside scenes.

 

I don’t expect a lot of viewer traffic on these North Central Oregon posts because the roads and the area are unpromoted and mostly unknown. The Native American scenes at Sherars Bridge, for example, are as real as it gets...no fancy feather war bonnets and tom toms here for the tourists. But since the tourists want war bonnets and tom toms, even though they were never used here, they ignore or are ignorant of the authentic. Works for me, otherwise there would be a gift shop at the bridge!

 

I thought the fellow in the movie giving the Native American Power gesture with the rapids rushing in the background, and his catch in hand, was a classic clip. We chatted for a couple of minutes when he got up to the bluff.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

I usually find out about the history of a site after I get back home unless there is a placard next to it, then I photograph the placard and read it when I get home. Its not that I don't want to learn while I'm there its just I am always in photo shoot mode.

 

Your reports more than do justice to the road you are traveling and in their way are promoting the area. I know that it has got me thinking seriously about bumping it up on the list of destinations to be considered for next year's vacation. I would assume that the camping is good in that area?

 

In regards to the fishing at Sherars Bridge you could almost convert that to black and white and with the exception of the baseball cap, and maybe the shorts too, the scene is not much different than it would have been 100 years ago.

 

Roadhound

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KTSOTR, you got some fine photos there, esp. of the river, the switchback, the hotel, and the bridge. I understand there are a number of tunnels on the Columbia River Highway; did you go through any of them? Indiana is tunnel-free so it's always exciting to me to go through one.

 

The Balch Hotel looks, from the outside, like it is in excellent maintenance. Look at all those new windows!

 

Anything else up your sleeve?

 

jim

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KTSOTR, you got some fine photos there, esp. of the river, the switchback, the hotel, and the bridge. I understand there are a number of tunnels on the Columbia River Highway; did you go through any of them? Indiana is tunnel-free so it's always exciting to me to go through one.

 

The Balch Hotel looks, from the outside, like it is in excellent maintenance. Look at all those new windows!

 

Anything else up your sleeve?

 

jim

 

First, as to what’s up my sleeve...I am saving a great old alignment with you in mind. I will get to it in either the next post or the one after that, depending on how long the next one runs. Heck, I might even advance it in the series, just so you get a shot of alignment juice ASAP. I think I will!

 

I erased a section I had written about the old tunnels because I didn’t get there. I went to Mosier because the neat Twin Tunnels nearby are still intact, but not open to auto traffic. Unfortunately the sign at the trailhead said 4.5 miles one way, rating “difficult.” It was hot and for the chronologically gifted and mass enhanced, it sounded like a heart stopping experience!

 

As it turns out (using Google Earth, post trip), the first tunnel is only .9 miles, still a difficult change in altitude, but .9 isn’t 4.5 miles. So sometime this fall, winter, or spring, on a cool day, I hope to explore the Twin Tunnels.

 

The oft pictured Mitchell Point Tunnel with its “windows” went bye bye when they built I84. There is one other tunnel on the Columbia River Highway, but it is in the “tourist rich” section I prefer to visit in the off season.

 

I will do a Columbia River Highway report one of these days, as it is one sweet ride.

 

I noted the same window thing at the Balch Hotel. The place is now a B&B. But I think if you hung awnings the windows would look a lot like they did in 1910.

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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I've long known that I needed to get more time in the northwest USA and trip reports like this are strong reminders why. Someday.

 

Denny, I really appreciate that reply a lot!

 

I enjoy these road trips, but as you know, it takes hours to prepare a report. With the summer waning, the choice between tripping and reporting gets to be a tug of war.

 

I’m already at least three posts in arrears, as I haven’t finished the Oregon Trails Highway with the Hot Lakes, Deadman Hill, and Trail Ruts. And I have at least two more reports for this trip.

 

And here in the Northwest, you better make tracks while the sun shines!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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