The Columbia River - Rowena Creek and Rowena Dell, Oregon

Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Rowena Creek and Rowena Dell, Oregon"

Includes ... Rowena Creek ... Rowena Dell ... "Hog Canyon" ...

Image, 2005, Tom McCall Nature Preserve, Oregon, click to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Tom McCall Nature Preserve, Oregon. View looking downstream Rowena Creek at Rowena Dell. Image taken September 18, 2005.

Rowena Creek and Rowena Dell ...

Rowena Creek enters the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 179, just downstream of Tom McCall Nature Preserve and Rowena Crest and upstream of the Oregon town of Mosier. Lyle, Washington and the Klickitat River are across from Rowena Creek on the Washington side of the Columbia. Rowena Dell is the valley of Rowena Creek. Rowena Dell at one time was called "Hog Canyon" after residents, tired of the rattlesnakes infesting the canyon, fenced the end and turned hogs loose. After the Columbia River Highway was built, residents wanted a more "elegant" name and chose "Rowena Dell".

Click image to enlarge	Rowena Dell, Oregon, looking downstream. View from bridge on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Image taken September 18, 2005.
Click image to enlarge	Rowena Dell, Oregon, looking upstream. View from bridge on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Image taken September 18, 2005.

Rowena Dell in 1940 ...

From the Oregon State Archives "A 1940 Journey Across Oregon":

"... West of ROWENA, 109.2 m. (148 alt., 60 pop.), the highway climbs the face of a steep cliff by a series of sharp curves and switch-backs known as the Rowena Loops. ...

ROWENA CREST, 111.8 m. (706 alt.), is in MAYER STATE PARK; parking place. From the crest one has a panoramic view of cliff and winding river.

ROWENA DELL, 112.6 m., a sheer walled canyon (R) was infested by rattlesnakes until pioneers fenced the lower end and turned in a drove of hogs. Then for a time the dell was called Hog Canyon. ..."

Spring 2007 ...

Click image to enlarge	Rowena Dell, with the Columbia River in the background. View from Tom McCall Nature Preserve, Oregon. Image taken May 13, 2007.
Click image to enlarge	Lupine, Tom McCall Nature Preserve, Oregon. Rowena Dell is in the background. Image taken May 13, 2007.

Historic Columbia River Highway ...

Rowena Dell lies along the Historic Columbia River Highway.
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Click image to enlarge

Historic Columbia River Highway and Rowena Dell, Oregon. View from bridge on the Historic Columbia River Highway looking downstream towards the Columbia River. Mount Adams, Washington, is on the skyline right. Image taken September 18, 2005.

From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, ...

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^*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website, 2003

Sources: McArthur, L.A., and McArthur, L.L., 2003, Oregon Geographic Names, Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland; Oregon State Archives Website, 2005.

All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.