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St. Johns Theatre and Pub, St. Johns, Oregon.
Once the National Cash Register Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition.
Image taken February 5, 2006.
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1905 "World's Fair" ...
The 1905, Portland, Oregon hosted the Lewis and Clark Exposition to honor the 100th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark journey. This "World's Fair" was built on land created by filling in Guild's Lake in Northwest Portland, next to the Willamette River. Exhibits at the fair showcased goods, customs and entertainment from throughout the United States and the world. Architecture was highlighted by the domed white Agricultural Palace, which overlooked 406 acres of marble statuary and elegant landscaping. The Forestry Building became world-famous as "the world's greatest log cabin."
The fair cost $1.4 million to put on (turning a $84,461 profit) and ran from June 1 to October 15, 1905. It drew nearly 1.6 million visitors and brought with it an economic boom to Portland that lasted for several years.
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Some of the Exhibits ... (alphabetical)
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- Airship "Gelatine" ...
- "Bailey Gatzert" ...
- "Big Tree Observatory" ...
- Forestry Building ...
- Mount Hood ...
- "Oregon Pony" ...
- St. Johns Theatre and Pub (National Cash Register exhibit) ...
- Willamette Meteorite ...
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Airship "Gelatine" ...
The airship "Gelatine" was constructed by Thomas Baldwin, and was sponsored by the Knox Gelatine Company of Johnstone, New York. The airship made 23 flights between June and October 1905 at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon, with flights after early September being the Gelatine gasbag fitted onto the framework and motor of the damaged airship "City of Portland". On September 19, 1905, Lincoln Beachey piloted the "Gelatine" across the Columbia River, landing at Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington, and becoming the first controlled powered flight in Washington State. A replica of the "Gelatine" is located at the Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, Washington.
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"Among the many attractions at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon, was a regular series of airship flights by Lincoln Beachey (1887-1915). Only 18 years old, Beachey had already earned the reputation as one of the most famed aviators of his day. His departure on the morning of September 19, 1905, seemed routine until the crowds watched as he flew off to the northeast. It was soon announced that the aviator was carrying a letter from Theodore Hardee, a fair official, to the commandant at the Vancouver Barracks, Gen. Constant Williams. His delivery of Hardee's greeting was hailed at the time as the first time an airship ahd been used to deliver a letter. (Library of Congress). ...
This stunt constituted the first controlled powered flight in the state of Washington (Pearson Air Museum). ...
It took a mere 40 minutes for the young aeronaut to reach the Vancouver Barracks and become the first pilot to land at what would later become Pearson Field, but a change in winds made the return to the Portland fairgrounds more difficult. As his fuel ran low, Beachey decided to land on the farm of A.B. Gilmore, near Orchards, Washington. Although he had been thwarted in his attempt to complete his return trip, Beachey's flight of almost two hours over Clark County was hailed as a new duration record, shattering by 20 minutes the flight of Alberto Santos-Dumont at the Paris Exposition of 1900 (Library of Congress). ...
Source:
Bill Alley, 2006, Images of Aviation, Pearson Field, Pioneering Aviation in Vancouver and Portland, Arcadia Publishing
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Gelatine exhibit, Pearson Air Museum, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken April 1, 2010.
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Pilot, Gelatine exhibit, Pearson Air Museum, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken April 1, 2010.
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Display, Gelatine exhibit, Pearson Air Museum, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken April 1, 2010.
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"Bailey Gatzert" ...
While built in 1890, it wasn't until 1892 that the steamer "Bailey Gatzert" arrived on the Columbia River. The "Bailey Gatzert" was the first steamer built to carry passengers, as previous steamers going up and down the Columbia River Gorge area were primarily built for carrying freight. During the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition, the "Bailey Gatzert" made twice-daily runs from Portland to Cascade Locks. A model of the "Bailey Gatzert", plus her name board, whistle, and pilot wheel can be seen at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center museum in Stevenson, Washington.
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Penny Postcard: Cape Horn, Washington, with passing steamer, the "Bailey Gatzert", ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Palisades on the Columbia River.".
Published by the J.K. Gill Co., Card #3952.
Made in Germany.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Exhibit, Name board of the "Bailey Gatzert", sternwheeler on the Columbia.
Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, Stevenson, Washington.
Image taken July 15, 2011.
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Exhibit, Model of the "Bailey Gatzert", sternwheeler on the Columbia.
The "Bailey Gatzert's" pilot wheel can be seen in the background.
Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, Stevenson, Washington.
Image taken July 15, 2011.
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Exhibit, Poster of the "Bailey Gatzert", sternwheeler on the Columbia.
Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, Stevenson, Washington.
Image taken July 15, 2011.
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"Big Tree Observatory" ...
A massive tree was hallowed out and installed at the top of Council Crest, the highpoint of the Tualatin Mountains overlooking the Lewis and Clark Exposition. An elevator took visitors to the top where they had a spectacular view of the Columbia River, the Willamette River, and five peaks of the Cascade Mountains.
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Forestry Building ...
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One of the most popular buildings at the 1905 World's Fair was the Forestry Building - a giant log cabin built out of huge logs with the bark still attached. The building was so popular that when the fair ended, the Forestry Building was turned over to the state of Oregon and became a Portland landmark until August 17, 1964, when it burned to the ground.
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Mount Hood and the Lewis & Clark Exposition ...
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Mount Hood, a Cascade Range volcano located approximately 50 miles east of Portland, was also involved in the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition.
From a Union Pacific Railroad brochure advertising the Exposition:
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"...
SIGNALS FROM MOUNTAIN TOP. From the summit of Mount Hood communication
will be established with the Exposition grounds. At each of these two
points detachments from the United States Signal Corps service are
stationed, and each day and night communications are exchanged by means of
heliograph and flash signals and other methods used by the military.
The signal camp at the Exposition is pitched at a convenient place on the
Government Peninsula. Thus the operations can be seen from all parts of
the grounds. The Mount Hood camp is established on the very summit of the
majestic peak.
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SEARCHLIGHTS ON MOUNT HOOD. Plans for one of the most wonderful electrical
features ever perfected for an exposition have been worked out by
electrical
experts. A searchlight, casting a beam of tight eighty inches wide, which
pierces the darkness for a distance of 200 miles, has been placed on the
crest of Mount Hood, which rises to a height of 11,255 feet above
sea-level and is distant forty-six miles from Portland.
In addition to the searchlight effect from the summit, the establishment
of the electrical apparatus affords means for the general illumination of
the mountain by arc lights. One hundred arc lights, equal in power to
those used in street illumination, will be distributed on the side of the
mountain facing Portland, so that the whole mountainside will be
brilliantly illuminated. Besides the use of the searchlight and arc
lights, great quantities of red lire will be utilized to produce another
unique effect. When the red powder is burned it will give the peak the
appearance of a mountain wrapped in flames. This latter effect has been
produced on several occasions by the use of fifty pounds of red fire.
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"Oregon Pony" Exhibit ...
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One of the exhibits located in the Transportaion, Electricity, and Machinery Building was the "Oregon Pony".
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"...
Here are housed many interesting displays. The transportation exhibit
shows the different modes of travel, from the early days to the present
time, from the baby carriage to the steam mogul engine. A feature of the
transportation section is the first locomotive used in Oregon.
The four wheels of the locomotive appear slightly larger
than barrel hoops; the boiler is about as big as an apple barrel, and the
whole engine is only thirteen feet long. It stands next to one of the
largest and latest patterned locomotives constructed in the United States,
and the contrast is vivid. This little engine, which bears the title
"Oregon Pony," was the first locomotive used in Oregon. The Pony, as
almost every visitor takes occasion to remark, is "not so much to look
at." But in its day it was a great engine to work, and its history is so
entangled with the history of early days in Oregon as to make it worthy of
more than passing attention.
..."
[Union Pacific Railroad brochure, 1905]
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Oregon Pony, South Support, Bridge of the Gods Mural, Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Image taken May 13, 2005.
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St. Johns Theatre and Pub ...
Today's St. Johns Theatre and Pub building was originally the National Cash Register Company's (NCR) exhibit auditorium and lecture pavilion at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition. The building was a small but impressive palace, with cupola, pillared portico, colorful flags, and a tall, goddess-like statue.
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Penny Postcard: National Cash Register Building, Lewis and Clark Exposition, 1905.
Penny Postcard, 1905, "Lewis & Clark Exposition, Portland, Oregon." Front of building says "A Trip to the N.C.R., Motion Pictures, Free". The National Cash Register Building is one of a handful of structures from the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition to still be around today. This building is now St. Johns Theatre and Pub, located in St. Johns, Oregon. Undivided back. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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St. Johns Theatre and Pub, St. Johns, Oregon.
Once the National Cash Register Building at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition.
Image taken February 5, 2006.
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Willamette Meteorite ...
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One of the displays at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition was the Willamette Meteorite, the largest meteorite every found in the United States.
From the University of Oregon website (2009):
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"...
The Willamette Meteorite is believed to be the inner iron core of a planet that shattered in a space collision billions of years ago. It weighs nearly16 tons and is the largest meteorite ever found in North America, and the sixth largest in the world. Erosion from wind, rain, and sun likely caused the openings on the flattened side of the meteorite. .... In 1902, a farmer named Ellis Hughes stumbled across the meteorite in the field next to his land near West Linn. He realized it was valuable and devised a plan to secretly move the meteorite to his property. It took three months to drag it across wooden tracks with a truck. Once it was on his property, Mr. Hughes charged members of the public 25 cents to see the meteorite. When his neighbors, the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, learned the meteorite had been taken from their land, they filed a lawsuit to recover it. They were granted possession, but Mr. Hughes filed an appeal. He argued that since there was no impact crater around the meteorite, the meteorite had not fallen on the land owned by Oregon Iron and Steel and therefore did not belong to them. The Oregon Iron and Steel Company was eventually awarded the meteorite and placed it on exhibit at the 1905 Lewis and Clark World’s Fair in Portland, Ore. In 1906, a philanthropist from New York, Mrs. William Dodge, purchased the meteorite from Oregon Iron and Steel for $21,600. She donated it to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, where it is still on display.
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From J.B. Horner's 1919 publication "Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature", p.280:
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"... .
Willamette Meteorite took its name from the Willamette Valley in which it was discovered. "It is the most interesting iron meteorite as to external characteristics yet discovered, and it is the largest ever found in the United States." (Edmund Otis Hovey, American Museum of Natural History). The meteor is apparently solid with the exception of deep pits on the surface which it is believed are due to rust. It is 10 ft. long, 6 1/2 ft. wide, and 4 1/4 ft. high; its weight is 31,107 lbs. and contains 91.55% iron. This meteorite was discovered in the autumn of 1902 in the woods 19 miles south of Portland by two prospectors who were searching for the prescious metals. The finders at first supposed they had come upon a ledge of solid iron, but the meteoric character certained. Later one of the prospectors removed the meteorite to his ranch nearby. But the owners of the land on which it had been found instituded suit for its recovery and the contest was carried to the supreme court before the finder relinquished his claim. In 1906, the great specimen was persented to the American Museum of Natural History, in new York, where it was given a prominent place at the entrance of the building.
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The meteorite was important to the Clackamas tribe for thousands of years before European Americans settled in Oregon.
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"... In recent years, the descendants of the Clackamas tribe, now part of the Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde, have tried to regain ownership of the meteorite. In 2000,
AMNH and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde agreed that the meteorite will
remain at the museum, but will be available to tribal members for an annual ceremony.
..."
[University of Oregon website, 2009]
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"... New York, New York - June 22, 2000 -- The American Museum of Natural History and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon today signed a historic agreement that ensures access to the Willamette Meteorite, a world famous scientific specimen at the Museum, by the Grand Ronde for religious, historical, and cultural purposes while maintaining its continued presence at the Museum for scientific and educational purposes. The agreement recognizes the Museum's tradition of displaying and studying the Meteorite for almost a century, while also enabling the Grand Ronde to re-establish its relationship with the Meteorite with an annual ceremonial visit to the Meteorite.
The agreement reflects mutual recognition of and respect for the traditions of both the Tribe and the Museum. As part of the agreement, the Tribe agrees to drop its claim for repatriation of the Willamette Meteorite and not to contest the Museum's ownership of it. However, the agreement also stipulates the Meteorite would be conveyed to the Tribe if the Museum failed to publicly display it, except for temporary periods for preservation, safety, construction and reasons beyond the reasonable control of the Museum. Also in keeping with the agreement, the Museum will place a description of the Meteorite's significance to the Clackamas in the Hall of the Universe, alongside a description of the Meteorite's scientific importance. ..."
[American Museum of Natural History website, 2009]
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"... Known as "Tomanowos" to the Clackamas, who lived in the Willamette Valley before the arrival of European settlers, the Meteorite is revered by the Clackamas and their descendants. According to the tradition of the Clackamas, Tomanowos has healed and empowered people in the Willamette Valley since the beginning of time. The Clackamas believe that Tomanowos came to the valley as a representative of the Sky People and that a union occurred between the sky, earth, and water when it rested in the ground and collected rainwater in its basins. The rainwater served as a powerful purifying, cleansing, and healing source for the Clackamas and their neighbors. Tribal hunters, seeking power, dipped their arrowheads in the water collected in the Meteorite's crevices. These traditions and the spiritual link with Tomanowos are preserved today through the ceremonies and songs of the descendants of the Clackamas. Beginning in the 1850s, the Clackamas, along with more than 20 other tribes and bands from western Oregon and northern California, were relocated to the Grand Ronde Reservation in Oregon. Today, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, a federally recognized tribe, is the successor to the Clackamas Tribe. ..."
[American Museum of Natural History website, 2009]
A copy of the meteorite resides at the University of Oregon campus, in Eugene, Oregon.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, April 2, 1806 ...
This morning we came to a resolution to remain at our present encampment [Cottonwood Beach, Washougal, Washington] or Some where in this neighbourhood untill we had obtained as much dried meat as would be necessary for our voyage as far as the Chopunnish.
...
about this time Several Canoes of the nativs arived at our Camp [Cottonwood Beach] among others two from below with Eight men of the Shah-ha-la Nation those men informed us that they reside on the opposit Side of the Columbia near Some pine trees which they pointed to in the bottom South of the Dimond Island [Government Island], they Singled out two young men whome they informed us lited at the Falls of a large river [Willamette Falls] which discharges itself into the Columbia on it's South Side Some Miles below us. we readily provailed on them to give us a Sketch of this river [Willamette River] which they drew on a Mat with a coal, it appeared that this river which they Call Mult-no'-mah discharged itself behind the Island we call the image Canoe island [Hayden Island], and as we had left this Island to the South both in decending & assending the river we had never Seen it. they informed us that it was a large river and runs a Considerable distance to the South between the Mountains. I deturmined to take a Small party and return to this river and examine its Size and Collect as much information of the nativs on it or near its enterance into the Columbia of its extent, the Country which it waters and the nativs who inhabit its banks &c. I took with me Six Men. Thompson J. Potts, Peter Crusat, P. Wiser, T. P. Howard, Jos. Whitehouse & my man York in a large Canoe, with an Indian whome I hired for a Sun glass to accompany me as a pilot. at half past 11 A. M. I Set out ...
at 8 miles passed a village on the South side [Chinook Landing and Blue Lake area] at this place my Pilot informed me he resided and that the name of his tribe is Ne-cha-co-lee, this village is back or to the South of Dimond island [Government Island], and as we passed on the North Side of the island both decending & assending did not See or know of this Village. I proceeded on without landing at this village. at 3 P. M. I landed at a large double house of the Ne-er-cho-ki-oo tribe of the Shah-ha-la Nation. at this place we had Seen 24 aditional Straw Huts as we passed down last fall [November 4, 1805, in the vicinity of the Portland International Airport] and whome as I have before mentioned reside at the Great rapids of the Columbia [Celilo Falls]. on the bank at different places I observed Small Canoes which the women make use of to gather Wappato & roots in the Slashes. those Canoes are from 10 to 14 feet long and from 18 to 23 inches wide in the widest part tapering from the center to both ends in this form and about 9 inches deep and So light that a woman may with one hand haul them with ease, and they are Sufficient to Carry a woman on Some loading. I think 100 of those canoes were piled up and Scattered in different directions about in the Woods in the vecinity of this house, the pilot informed me that those Canoes were the property of the inhabitents of the Grand rapids who used them ocasionally to gather roots.
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I left them [village near today's Portland International Airport] and proceeded on on the South Side [North Portland Harbor] of Image Canoe Island [Hayden Island] which I found to be two Islands hid from the opposit Side by one near the Center of the river. the lower point of the upper and the upper point of the lower cannot be Seen from the North Side of the Columbia on which we had passed both decending and ascending and had not observed the apperture between those islands. at the distance of 13 Miles below the last village [location of Portland International Airport] and at the place I had Supposed was the lower point of the image Canoe island [Hayden Island], I entered this river which the nativs had informed us of, Called Mult no mah River [Willamette River] so called by the nativs from a Nation who reside on Wappato Island [Sauvie Island] a little below the enterance of this river. Multnomah [Willamette River] discharges itself in the Columbia on the S. E. and may be justly Said to be ¼ the Size of that noble river. Multnomah had fallen 18 inches from it's greatest annual height. three Small Islands are situated in it's mouth [Belle Vue Point and Kelley Point, on opposite sides of the mouth of the Willamette, use to be islands] which hides the river from view from the Columbia. from the enterance of this river [Willamette River] , I can plainly See Mt. Jefferson [Mount Jefferson, Oregon] which is high and Covered with snow S. E. Mt. Hood East [Mount Hood, Oregon], Mt St. Helians [Mount St. Helens, Washington] a high humped Mountain to the East of Mt St. Helians [Mount Adams, Washington, is east of Mount St. Helens]. I also Saw the Mt. Raneer [Mount Rainier, Washington] Nearly North. Soon after I arived at this river an old man passed down of the Clark a'mos Nation who are noumerous and reside on a branch of this river which receives it's waters from Mt. Jefferson [Mount Jefferson, Oregon] which is emensely high and discharges itself into this river one day and a half up, this distance I State at 40 Miles. This nation inhabits 11 Villages their Dress and language is very Similar to the Quath-lah-poh-tle and other tribes on Wappato Island [Sauvie Island].
The Current of the Multnomar [Willamette River] is as jentle as that of the Columbia glides Smoothly with an eavin surface, and appears to be Sufficiently deep for the largest Ship. I attempted fathom it with a Cord of 5 fathom which was the only Cord I had, could not find bottom ? of the distance across. I proceeded up this river 10 miles from it's enterance into the Columbia to a large house on the N E. Side and Encamped near the house [downstream of Cathedral Park and the St. Johns Bridge, Portland, Oregon, near Portland's Terminal 4.], the flees being So noumerous in the house that we could not Sleep in it.
this is the house of the Cush-hooks Nation who reside at the falls of this river which the pilot informs me they make use of when they Come down to the Vally to gather Wappato. he also informs me that a number of other Smaller houses are Situated on two Bayous which make out on the S. E. Side a little below the house. this house appears to have been laterly abandoned by its inhabitants
...
The course and distance assending the Molt no mar R [Willamette River] from it's enterance into the Columbia at the lower point of the 3rd Image Canoe island.
[This area has changed during the past 200 years. Lewis and Clark called today's Hayden Island "Image Canoe Island". Their "3rd Image Canoe Island" however maybe in reference to the "three Small Islands are situated in it's mouth" (see journal entry above), two of the islands possibly were islands which are today's Belle Vue Point on Sauvie Island, and Pearcy Island which eventually became Kelley Point. Lewis and Clark's route map (Map#79 and Map#80, Moulton, Vol.1) shows a long "Image Canoe Island" with two small islands on the north side of "Image Canoe Island", and three small islands at the mouth of the "Multnomah R.". ]
S. 30° W. 2 Miles to the upper point of a Small Island [???] in the Middle of
Moltnomar river [Willamette River]. thence
S. 10° W. 3 miles to a Sluce 80 yards wide [Multnomah Channel] which devides Wappato Island [Sauvie Island]
from the Main Stard. Side Shore passing a Willow point on the Lard. Side [???].
S. 60° E. 3 miles to a large Indian house on the Lard Side below Some
high pine land.
[Lewis and Clark's map plotted against an 1888 map of the area shows this location to be closer to 2 miles from the Multnomah Channel, just upstream from Portland's Terminal 4, and across from the community of Linnton.]
high bold Shore on the Starboard Side
[Tualatin Mountains].
thence
S. 30° E 2 miles to a bend under the high lands on the Stard Side [St. Johns Bridge area located at the base of the Tualatin Mountains]
miles 10 passing a Larborad point [???].
thence the river bends to the East of S East as far as I could See [the stretch through Portland, Oregon]. at this place I think the wedth of the river may be Stated at 500 yards and Sufficiently deep for a Man of War or Ship of any burthern.
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