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The Dalles, Oregon, with Mount Hood.
The Dalles and Mount Hood as seen from Dallesport, Washington.
Image taken April 24, 2004.
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City of The Dalles ...
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The Dalles, Oregon, with Mount Hood.
The Dalles and Mount Hood as seen from Dallesport, Washington.
Image taken April 24, 2004.
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Lewis and Clark and The Dalles - Rock Fort ...
Lewis and Clark spent 6 nights in the area of today's The Dalles, at a natural rock formation they called Rock Fort. On the upstream side of Rock Fort is Mill Creek which runs through the city.
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"The Dalles" (the Rapids) ...
Murals ...
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The Dalles, Oregon, is noted for its many murals around town, many of them depicting the history of The Dalles, and some of them just advertising local businesses.
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Mural, "Corps of Discovery: Into the Narrows", The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken from moving car on Interstate 80.
Day overcast and gray.
Mural painted by Gary Kerby, 2003.
Image taken October 15, 2011.
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Mural on side of the building of the Cascade Car Wash, The Dalles, Oregon.
Day overcast and dreary.
Image taken January 30, 2011.
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Early The Dalles (the City) ...
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Lewis and Clark stayed twice in the locality of today's The Dalles. For three nights in October 1805 and for three nights in April 1806 the men camped on a rock formation overlooking the Columbia River which they called "Rock Fort".
In 1820 James Birney of the North West Company established a short-lived fur trading fort at The Dalles.
In 1838, the Methodists arrived and built a mission named "Wascopam", with Daniel Lee as the leader.
The Wascopam Mission was abandoned in 1847 and sold to Dr. Marcus Whitman for $600.
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"... After the Whitman Massacre, the property was returned to the Methodists. Neither the Whitmans nor the Methodists attempted to keep up the property, and emigrants of 1849 found the mission in ruins and decay.
After Fort Dalles was built, the old mission was burned and the U.S. government paid $24,000 to the Methodists for title to the land. Various lawsuits proved that the Methodists had never obtained legal title to the property, and $23,000 was returned to claimants. ..."
[End of the Oregon Trail Website, 2007]
The settlement at The Dalles increased in population in the mid 1800s when wagon trains arrive with new settlers on the "Oregon Trail". The Dalles was the end of the land road, with the rest of the journey to the Willamette Valley to be done by boat or raft. Crates Point, a protected harbor at the mouth of Chenowith Creek, became the beginning of the water trail for the Oregon Trail travelers.
In 1845, Samuel K. Barlow and his family arrived in The Dalles (see The Barlow Road below).
During the Cayuse War of 1847 to 1848, Major H.A.G. Lee, of the Provisional Government's Oregon Rifles, arrived in The Dalles. Lee built a stockade around the old mission buildings that became known as "Fort Lee" or "Fort Wascopam" In 1850, two rifle companies came from Fort Vancouver to establish a supply depot at the eastern end of the Barlow Road. Crude log buildings were constructed a short distance west of the old Wascopam mission and was called "Camp Drum". In 1853 the fort was redesignated as "Fort Dalles". In 1861, Fort Dalles was downgraded to a quartermaster's depot before being abandoned in 1867. Only the Surgeon's Quarters remains today, and currently houses the Fort Dalles Museum. The Fort Dalles Museum is the oldest historical museum in Oregon, being established in 1905. (See "The Golden Age of Postcards" below).
The first post office in The Dalles area was established on November 5, 1851, and called "Dalles". The Post Office's name was changed to "Wascopum" in September 1853. The community of The Dalles was incorporated in 1857 as "Dalles City". (One source, End of the Oregon Trail Website, says it was originally "Fort Dalles" and then changed to "Dalles City".) Common usage however kept the name as "The Dalles", and in March 1860 the Post Office became "The Dalles". On June 7, 1966, the "official name" of the city was changed to "City of The Dalles".
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Street Scenes ...
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The Dalles "Fish Bridge".
View looking west.
Image taken October 2, 2006.
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The Dalles "Fish Bridge".
View looking east.
Image taken September 29, 2006.
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Around The Dalles ... (alphabetical)
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- The Dalles Bridge and Ferry ...
- The Dalles - Celilo Canal and Locks ...
- The Dalles Dam ...
- Barlow Road ...
- Columbia Gorge Discovery Center ...
- Fort Dalles ...
- Indian Shaker Church and Gulick Homestead ...
- Old St. Peter's Landmark ...
- Seufert Brothers Cannery ...
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The Dalles Bridge and Ferry ...
Upstream of The Dalles is located The Dalles Bridge (U.S. 197), connecting Oregon's City of The Dalles with Washington State's Murdock and Dallesport. Between 1854 and 1953 this was the site of a ferry. Since 1953 a 3/4-mile-long bridge crosses the Columbia.
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The Dalles Bridge across the Columbia River.
View from the Oregon side of the Columbia River.
Image taken June 4, 2011.
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The Dalles - Celilo Canal and Locks ...
The Dalles Dam ...
The Dalles Dam is located in the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 191.5, at the foot of the (now flooded) "Short Narrows" or "Fivemile Rapids".
Two miles downstream from the Dam is
Rock Fort, Lewis and Clark's campsite of October 25-27, 1805 and again April 15-17, 1806. Also downstream is Oregon's City of The Dalles. One mile upstream is
Spearfish Lake, where Lewis and Clark spent the night of April 18, 1806.
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The Dalles Dam.
View from hills above The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken June 4, 2011.
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Barlow Road ...
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In 1845, Samuel K. Barlow and his family arrived in The Dalles, a stoppping place on their journey to the Willamette Valley.
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"... finding no boats readily available at such a late date, set off to scout the route of what would become the Barlow Road around the south shoulder of Mount Hood. Sam Barlow's road, originally called the Mount Hood Toll Road, began at what is now Third Street in The Dalles. With the Barlow Road open, it was no longer necessary to abandon the overland trail for crude rafts or overpriced HBC bateaux. Later travelers bypassed The Dalles entirely, leaving the Oregon Trail ten miles east to cut south to Barlow's route. Still, the Barlow Road had its own dangers, and about one in every four emigrants would opt for the water route even after the Barlow Road was opened in 1846. ..."
[End of the Oregon Trail website, 2007]
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Sign, "Barlow Road Route", The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken September 28, 2011.
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Columbia Gorge Discovery Center ...
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Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken June 4, 2005.
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Covered Wagon, Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken June 4, 2005.
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Fort Dalles ...
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During the Cayuse War of 1847 to 1848, Major H.A.G. Lee, of the Provisional Government's Oregon Rifles, arrived in The Dalles. Lee built a stockade around the old mission buildings that became known as "Fort Lee" or "Fort Wascopam" In 1850, two rifle companies came from Fort Vancouver to establish a supply depot at the eastern end of the Barlow Road. Crude log buildings were constructed a short distance west of the old Wascopam mission and was called "Camp Drum". In 1853 the fort was redesignated as "Fort Dalles". In 1861, Fort Dalles was downgraded to a quartermaster's depot before being abandoned in 1867. Only the Surgeon's Quarters remains today, and currently houses the Fort Dalles Museum. The Fort Dalles Museum is the oldest historical museum in Oregon, being established in 1905. (See "The Golden Age of Postcards" below).
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"...
Fort Dalles.
The arrival of United States troops -- the Rifle Regiment -- late in the
fall of 1849, resulted in the establishment of the military post at The
Dalles. In the following May, the log Fort Dalles was built and occupied
by Major Tucker. In 1858 Colonel George Wright in command of the 9th U.S.
Infantry replaced the old log barracks with a fine new fort of which there
remains only one building. This was the surgeon's quarters. It is now
the property of the Oregon Historical Society. It serves the purpose of
the local historical building, by which name it is known. The site of
Fort Dalles overlooks the camp (near the O.W.R.N. & Co.'s Passenger Depot)
of Lewis and Clark where the American flag in October 1805 was displayed
for the first time in that part of Oregon.
..."
[Horner, 1919]
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Penny Postcard: Old Fort Dalles, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Old Fort Dalles, Oregon". Part of the "Ezra Meeker Historical Post Cards for School, Libraries, the Home, and Collections."
Each series contains 16 post card views with Historical Sketches on reverse side.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
Caption on back reads:
"In this encampment (called a fort) in the early fifties Grant, Sherman and Sheridan all had their earlier experiences in military life and Indian warfare. Here also lay sick almost to death that delightful writer, Theodore Winthrop, whose untimely death came so early in the War of the Rebellion. The Dalles proper of the Columbia River is a few miles up river way, where the river is turned on edge through the narrow gap of less than one hundred feet in width, with a channel said to be half a mile in depth. The stretch of river shown in the background is more than a mile in width of placid water, which continues through the great gap of the Cascade Mountains to the Cascade Falls below."
The building on the far right was the "Guard House". More image of it can be seen at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
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Indian Shaker Church and Gulick Homestead ...
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Buildings, Gulick Homestead, The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken October 6, 2011.
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Old St. Peter's Landmark ...
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The St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1897, dedicated in 1898, and used until 1969. It is one of the finest Gothic Revival structures in The Dalles. The church was saved from demolition in 1971 and has been renovated. Now called the "Old St. Peter's Landmark", the church is open the to the public as a museum and a wedding chapel. In 1974 the St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places (Building, #74001720)
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Old St. Peter's Landmark.
Image taken from moving car.
Image taken January 30, 2011.
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Seufert Brothers Cannery ...
The "Seufert Bros. Co." was established in The Dalles in 1881 by brothers Francis Anthony and Theordore Seufert. This enterprise became one of the largest salmon fishing and processing establishments on the Columbia River. The brothers owned the majority of of the fish wheels surrounding The Dalles, and their cannery was located at Columbia River Mile (RM) 192, just upstream of today's The Dalles Dam. The Cannery building burned in 1973.
Today all that remains of the Cannery is a remnant stone wall near The Dalles Dam's visitor center, and a fish wheel foundation near the river.
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Seufert Brothers Cannery remains, The Dalles, Oregon.
Image taken October 6, 2011.
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"The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road" ...
... and the Joel Palmer Cattle Trail ...
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Mount Hood and The Dalles ...
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Mount Hood, Oregon, with the outskirts of The Dalles in the foreground.
View from Washington State Highway 14, upstream of The Dalles.
Image taken May 24, 2005.
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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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Penny Postcard: Looking up the Columbia River from The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Looking up the Columbia River, from the Dalles, Oregon.". Published by The Portland Post Card Company, Portland, Oregon. Made in Germany. Card #6033. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Old Fort Dalles, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Old Fort Dalles, Oregon". Part of the "Ezra Meeker Historical Post Cards for School, Libraries, the Home, and Collections."
Each series contains 16 post card views with Historical Sketches on reverse side.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
Caption on back reads:
"In this encampment (called a fort) in the early fifties Grant, Sherman and Sheridan all had their earlier experiences in military life and Indian warfare. Here also lay sick almost to death that delightful writer, Theodore Winthrop, whose untimely death came so early in the War of the Rebellion. The Dalles proper of the Columbia River is a few miles up river way, where the river is turned on edge through the narrow gap of less than one hundred feet in width, with a channel said to be half a mile in depth. The stretch of river shown in the background is more than a mile in width of placid water, which continues through the great gap of the Cascade Mountains to the Cascade Falls below."
The building on the far right was the "Guard House". More image of it can be seen at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
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Penny Postcard: Officer's House, Old Fort Dalles, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, Postmarked 1910, "Old U.S. Army Post near The Dalles, Oregon.". Building is former "Officer's House", now an Oregon Museum.
The "Officer's House" is the oldest history museaum in Oregon. The house was built in 1856. Published by Portland Post Card Co., Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. Made in Germany. Card #70543. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Seufert Brothers Cannery, The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1909
Penny Postcard, Dated 1909, "Seufert Brothers Col, Salmon Cannery, The Dalles, Oregon, The Dalles in the Distance.". Mount Hood, Oregon, is on the left. Published by The Portland Post Card Company, Portland, Oregon. Card #6027. Hand-written message on card is dated January 3, 1909.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Seining for Salmon near The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Seining Salmon, near The Dalles, Oregon.". Published by Benj. A. Gifford, The Dalles, Oregon. Made in Germany. Card #265. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Seining for Salmon near The Dalles, Oregon, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Seining Crew Hauling Seine Columbia River.". Published by Pacific Novelty Co., San Francisco. Made in Great Britain. Card #928. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Penny Postcard: Mount Hood from The Dalles, ca.1920
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Mount Hood as seen from bank of the Columbia River near The Dalles, Ore.". A.M. Prentiss Photo.
Published by Lipschuetz and Katz, Portland, Oregon.
Card #447.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, October 25, 1805 ...
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a cool morning [their camp was near Horsethief Butte] Capt Lewis and my Self walked down to See the place the Indians pointed out as the worst place in passing through the gut, which we found difficuelt of passing without great danger, but as the portage was impractiable with our large Canoes, we Concluded to Make a portage of our most valuable articles and run the canoes thro accordingly on our return divided the party Some to take over the Canoes, and others to take our Stores across a portage of a mile to a place on the Chanel below this bad whorl & Suck, with Some others I had fixed on the Chanel with roapes to throw out to any who Should unfortunately meet with difficuelty in passing through; great number of Indians viewing us from the high rocks under which we had to pass, the 3 first Canoes passed thro very well, the 4th nearly filled with water, the last passed through by takeing in a little water, <we> thus Safely below what I conceved to be the worst part of this Chanel, felt my Self extreamly gratified and pleased. we loaded the Canoes & Set out, and had not proceeded, more than two mile before the unfortunate Canoe which filled crossing the bad place above, run against a rock and was in great danger of being lost, This Chanel is through a hard rough black rock, from 50–100 yards wide. Swelling and boiling in a most tremendious maner Several places on which the Indians inform me they take the Salmon as fast as they wish; we passed through a deep bason to the stard Side ["Big Eddy", today Spearfish Lake] of 1 mile below which the River narrows and divided by a rock The Curent we found quit jentle,
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we landed ...
we proceeded on down the water fine, rocks in every derection for a fiew miles when the river widens and becoms a butifull jentle Stream of about half a mile wide, Great numbers of the Sea Orter [Harbor Seals] about those narrows and both below and above. we Came too, under a high point of rocks on the Lard. Side below a creek [Mill Creek] of 20 yards wide and much water, as it was necessary to make Some Selestial observations we formed our Camp on the top of a high point of rocks [Rock Fort], which forms a kind of <artif> fortification in the Point between the river & Creek [Mill Creek], with a boat guard, this Situation we Concieve well Calculated for defence, and Conveniant to hunt under the foots of the mountain to the West & S. W. where timber of different kinds grows, and appears to be handsom Coverts for the Deer, in oke woods,
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This litle Creek [Mill Creek] heads in the range of mountains which run S S W & N W for a long distance on which is Scattering pine white Oake &c. The Pinical of the round toped mountain which we Saw a Short distance below the forks of this river is S. 43° W. of us and abt 37 miles, it is at this time toped with Snow we called this the falls mountain or Timm mountain [Mount Hood]. The face of the Countrey, on both Side of the river above and about the falls, is Steep ruged and rockey open and contain but a Small preportion of erbage, no timber a fiew bushes excepted, The nativs at the upper falls raft their timber down Towarnehooks River [Deschutes River] & those at the narrows take theirs up the river to the lower part of the narrows from this Creek, and Carry it over land 3 miles to their houses &c. at the mouth of this creek ...
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