Former area of rapids along the Columbia River, USA
The
Cascades Rapids
(sometimes called
Cascade Falls
or
Cascades of the Columbia
) were an area of
rapids
along
North America
's
Columbia River
, between the
U.S. states
of
Washington
and
Oregon
. Through a stretch approximately 150 yards (140 m) wide, the river dropped about 40 feet (12 m) in 2 miles (3.2 km).
[1]
These rapids or cascades, along with the many cascades along the
Columbia River Gorge
in this area of
Oregon
and
Washington
, gave rise to the name for the surrounding mountains: the
Cascade Range
.
[2]
In 1896 the
Cascade Locks and Canal
were constructed to bypass the rapids. In the late 1930s, the construction of the
Bonneville Dam
led to the submerging of the rapids and most of the 1896 structures.
Fishing site
[
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]
The rapids were an important fishing site for
Native Americans
, who would catch
salmon
as they swam upriver to spawn.
Obstacle on Oregon Trail
[
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]
They also posed a major obstacle to the development of the
Oregon Trail
; initially,
pioneers
would gather at
The Dalles
to await small boats to carry them to the
Willamette Valley
; in 1845,
Sam Barlow
and his associates built a
road
around the south side of
Mount Hood
, which allowed travelers along the Trail to bypass the rapids on the last leg of their journeys.
We concluded to take our canoes first to the head of the rapids, hoping that by evening the rain would cease and afford us a fair afternoon to take our baggage over the portage. This portage is two thousand eight hundred yards along a narrow rough and slipery road. ... a few men were absolutely necessary at any rate to guard our baggage from the War-clel-lars who crowded about our camp in considerable numbers. These are the greates[t] thieves and scoundrels we have met with. ... the canoes were much damaged by being driven against the rocks in despite of every precaution which could be taken to prevent it. ... many of the natives crowded about the bank of the river where the men were engaged in taking up canoes; one of them had the insolence to cast stones down the bank at two of the men who happened to be a little detached from the party at the time. On the return of the party in the evening from the head of the rapids they met with many of the natives on the road, who seemed but illy disposed…
[3]
Boat portage
[
edit
]
Boat travelers were required to either
portage
boats and supplies or pull boats up with ropes.
Conflicts over portage rights
[
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]
Conflicts continued thereafter between the
Chinookan
natives and Europeans and Americans, who generally refused to recognize the natives' authority over passage through the area. By 1813?14, fur traders passing through were resorting to violent force against the Indians.
[
citation needed
]
Although more diplomatic approaches eventually prevailed, a
malaria
outbreak in the 1830s so reduced the populations of the Cascade and other Indian tribes, that they ceased to be a powerful force along the river.
However, three forts,
Fort Cascades
,
Fort Raines
and
Fort Lugenbeel
were constructed between present day
Stevenson, Washington
and
North Bonneville
over 1855?6 to protect the portage road around the rapids. Natives burned Fort Cascades in 1856, but it was rebuilt. This attack prompted the construction of Fort Lugenbeel.
Steamboat navigation
[
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]
The Cascades were a significant barrier to river navigation. Steamboats could not go upriver through the rapids, and could be brought downriver only at great risk, although this was done a number of times by highly skilled captains. A canal and lock around the rapids was completed in 1896 at what is now
Cascade Locks, Oregon
. By 1938 the rapids were gone, submerged under the Bonneville Reservoir as it formed behind
Bonneville Dam
. Bonneville Lock at the dam, completed in 1937, replaced the old Cascade Locks around the rapids.
See also
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References
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]
External links
[
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45°40′1.51″N
121°54′6.2″W
/
45.6670861°N 121.901722°W
/
45.6670861; -121.901722