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Klickitat River Drainage and Lyle, Washington.
Klickitat River, Washington, as seen from Rowena Crest, Oregon. Lyle is the town on the right.
Image taken March 20, 2004.
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Lyle ...
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Lyle, Washington, is located on the north bank of the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 181, where the
Klickitat River merges with the Columbia. Immediately across from Lyle is Oregon's Mayer State Park and Rowena Crest. Upstream of Lyle is Dougs Beach, a windsurfing and sailboarding location. Lewis and Clark stopped for supplies at Doug's Beach ("the friendly Village") on October 29, 1805, and then stopped in the Lyle area at a native village on the downstream side of the Klickitat River.
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"... proceeded on at 4 miles further we landed to Smoke a pipe with the people of a village of 11 houses we found those people also friendly Their Village is Situated imediately below the mouth of a River of 60 yards water which falls in on the Stard. Side and heads in the mountains to the N. & N, E, the Indians inform us that this river is long <but> and full of falls no Salmon pass up it.
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[Clark, October 29, 1805, first draft]
The original name for Lyle was "Klickitat Landing". Early settlers in the area used the steamboat landing for transporting sheep and cattle to market in Portland (see "The Golden Age of Postcards" below).
The name was changed to "Lyle" when James O. Lyle purchased the claim of J.M. Williamson, and platted a townsite.
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Early Lyle ...
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The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, show a James O. Lyle being issued a land title on August 28, 1878, for 107.27 acres of parts of T3N R12E Sections 33 and 34, under the 1820 "Sale-Cash Entry".
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Brief History ...
From the Lyle Community Website, 2004:
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"... Lyle is located along an ancient trading route frequented annually by many Indian tribes. The first known white men to visit the site were members of the Lewis and Clark expedition who recorded their visit to the Indian village on the knoll west of the Klickitat on October 29, 1805. In 1876, the first Post Office east of the Cascades and north of the Columbia River was established at Klickitat Landing to service most of Eastern Washington. The mail arrived by steamship and was distributed by horseback. In 1876, James O. Lyle became the Postmaster and changed the name of the community to Lyle. Early settlers recognized the strategic importance of Lyle and platted a town site. A ferry boat run was developed to accommodated trade between Oregon and Washington. In 1892, an English Lord Balfour purchased over a mile of river frontage and most of the land surrounding the town site of Lyle and built a mansion overlooking the Columbia west of the Klickitat River. The hillsides north of town were turned into vineyards and orchards. In 1903, the Columbia River & Northern Railroad was completed between Lyle and Goldendale. In 1908, when the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad was completed between Pasco and Portland, the company purchased the town of Lyle and also made the CR&N Railroad a branch line. In 1909, the present town of Lyle was platted. Two sheep sheds with a capacity of 30,000 sheet were constructed on the Point. With those in place, Lyle became an important sheep and wool shipping center. Until 1933, when the
tunnels were blasted through the rock walls east of town and State Highway 14 was constructed, Lyle's only road access was by bridge over the Klickitat River, then up the hill toward White Salmon and other communities to the north."
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[Lyle Community Website, 2004]
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Views of Lyle from across the Columbia ...
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Lyle, Washington, from Mayer State Park, Oregon.
The main channel of the Columbia River is behind the islands.
Image taken November 11, 2004.
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Lyle, Washington, from Mayer State Park, Oregon.
The main channel of the Columbia River is behind the islands.
Image taken November 11, 2004.
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Lyle, Washington, from Rowena Crest, Oregon.
Image taken August 23, 2008.
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Boat ramp, Lyle, Washington, from Rowena Crest, Oregon.
Image taken August 23, 2008.
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards". The "Penny Postcard" became a popular way to send greetings to friends and family. The Penny Postcard today has become a snapshot of history.
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Penny Postcard: Sheep waiting for ferry, Klickitat Landing, Washington, 1899.
Penny Postcard, Image 1899, Postcard ca.1910, "Ferrying Sheep, Columbia River, Ore.". Caption for this image on the Oregon Historical Society Webpage is: "Sheep at the ferry, Klickitat Landing. Benjamin Gifford, 1899.".
"Klickitat Landing" is today's Lyle, Washington.
Published by the International Postcard Company, Portland, Oregon. Card #I-9.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, October 29, 1805 ...
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A cloudy morning wind from the West but not hard, we Set out at day light [from their camp on Rocky Island at Crates Point], and proceeded on about five miles Came too on the Stard. Side at a village of 7 houses built in the Same form and materials of those above, here we found the Chief we had Seen at the long narrows [The Dalles] ...
they are hospitable and good humered Speak the Same language of the inhabitants of the last village, we call this the friendly village [vicinity of Dougs Beach].
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after brackfast we proceeded on, the mountains are high on each Side [high basalt cliffs of the Rowena Gap, with Rowena Crest on the south and the Chamberlain Lake area on the north], containing Scattering pine white oake & under groth, hill Sides Steep and rockey; at 4 miles lower we observed a Small river falling in with great rapidity on the Stard. Side [Klickitat River] below which is a village of 11 houses [today the town of Lyle is on the upstream side of the Klickitat], here we landed to Smoke a pipe with the nativs and examine the mouth of the river, which I found to be 60 yards wide rapid and deep, The inhabitants of the village are friendly and Chearfull; those people inform us also those at the last village that this little river is long and full of falls, no Salmon pass up it, it runs from N. N. E. that ten nations live on this river and its waters, on buries, and what game that Can kill with their Bow & arrows
we purchased 4 dogs and Set out- (this village is the of the Same nation of the one we last passed) and proceeded on The Countrey on each side begin to be thicker timbered with Pine and low white Oake; verry rockey and broken [passing Mayer State Park on the Oregon side]. passed three large rocks in The river the middle rock is large long and has Several Squar vaults on it. we call this rockey Island the Sepulchar [Memaloose Island] - The last river we passed we Shall Call the Cataract River [Klickitat River] from the number of falls which the Indians say is on it- passed 2 Lodges of Indians a Short distance below the Sepulchar Island [Memaloose Island] on the Stard. Side river wide, at 4 mile passed 2 houses on the Stard. Side, Six miles lower passed 4 houses above the mouth of a Small river 40 yards wide on the Lard. Side [Hood River] a thick timbered bottom above & back of those houses; those are the first houses which we have Seen on the South Side of the Columbia River, (and the axess to those dificuelt) for fear of the approach of their common enemies the Snake Indians, passed 14 houses on the Std. Side Scattered on the bank- from the mouth of this little river which we shall Call Labeasche River [Hood River], the falls mountain [Mount Hood] is South and the top is covered with Snow. one mile below pass the mouth of a large rapid Stream on the Stard. Side [White Salmon River], opposit to a large Sand bar [from Hood River], in this creek the Indians above take their fish, here we Saw Several canoes, which induced us to call this Canoe Creek [White Salmon River] it is 28 yards wide, about 4 miles lower and below the Sand bar is a butifull cascade falling over a rock of about 100 feet [Wah Gwin Gwin Falls, location of the Columbia Gorge Hotel],
[On the route map (Map#78, Moulton, Vol.1) a "C___ Spring" is shown on the north side of the river, today the location of Spring Creek and Spring Creek Fish Hatchery, with no mention of it in any text. On the south side, at the location of Wah Gwin Gwin Falls, only "Cascade" is labeled and "4 Houses of Indians".]
a Short distance lower passed 4 Indian houses on the Lard. Side in a timbered bottom, a fiew miles further we came too at 3 houses on Stard. Side, back of which is a pond [today the location of Drano Lake. The Little White Salmon River empties into Drano Lake.] in which I Saw Great numbers of Small Swan, Capt. Lewis and went into the houses of those people
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Here the mountains are high on each Side, those to the Lard. Side has Some Snow on them at this time, more timber than above and of greater variety.
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