The Dalles to Sandy River Military Road
1872
March 2, 2020
I had a note on the 1914 Elliott Report (Biennial Report Introduction?), but I am not sure if I had an image or what there, so I'll need to look into this more later.
Peg Willis, Building the Columbia River Highway
By the 1870s, the need for a wagon road in the Gorge was addressed by the Oregon legislature. It appropriated $50,000 for the construction of a road from Troutdale to The Dalles. When funds were exahusted in 1876, another $50,000 was dedicated to the road's completion. The resulting narrow dirt road was crooked and steep -- often requiring double teams.
... In 1882, the Oregon Railway & Navigation line running from Cascade Locks to Portland was constructed. The railroad ran just beside the river and a few feet above it. In the process of the railroad's construction, the road of 1876 was largely destroyed.
Peg Willis. Building the Columbia River Highway: They Said It Couldn't Be Done. Charleston: The History Press. 2014. 18.
Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon
The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road was authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 1867 and appropriation made for its construction. The road was built to a point 15 miles west of Hood River. Portions of the old dry masonry retaining wall may still be seen a hundred feet or so above the Columbia Highway, especially at Shell Rock Mountain.
... it was not until 1872 that the Oregon legislature made an appropriation to construct a road through the gorge. The present highway has been developed from the narrow, crooked road built with that appropriation.
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/across/thedalles.html
ODOT, 2010 Cultural Landscape Inventory: Shellrock Mountain to Ruthton Point
In 1872 the State of Oregon built the first continuous road through the gorge from Sandy to The Dalles. This wagon road was known for its sharp turns and very steep grades. Much of the route was destroyed when the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company constructed a water-level track through the Gorge in 1882-83.
Clarence E. Mershon, East of the Sandy: The Columbia River Highway
Chronology of the Sandy River to The Dalles Wagon Road:
January 24, 1856: "legislation establishing a territorial road from the Sandy River (Troutdale) to The Dalles passed. Construction commenced on a wagon road between Bonneville (the lower Cascades) and Cascade Locks (the Upper Cascades) almost immediately."
1857: "legislation passed authorizing the construction of a wagon road and bridge across Eagle Creek."
1863: "a trail for pack trains and cattle opened on the Oregon side to serve as a route to the mines in the interior."
1872: "the Oregon Legislature appropriated $50,000 for the construction of a wagon road from the Sandy River through to The Dalles."
1876: "...an additional $50,000 was appropriated for the project."
"The resulting wagon road was 12-feet wide, but it was both crooked and steep."
"Partially obliterated by the construction of the Oregon Washington Railroad and Navigation Company line in 1883, this military (or country) road also suffered extensively from the high water and flooding of 1894."
"Traces of this road were found by crews when the survey of the Columbia River Highway was completed in Hood River County during the winter of 1913-14, and some masonry-walled sections are still visible above I-84 on Shellrock Mountain [and on the west side of Mitchell Point]. (From "Tentative Dates Pertaining to Road Building in the Columbia Gorge, 1850-1960," by E. Walton, published in 1967.)
Mershon, East of the Sandy III, 3-4
Links
Columbia River Images: The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road, Oregon,and the Cattle Trails
Includes ... The Dalles and Sandy River Trail ... Joel Palmer Cattle Trail ... The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road ... The Dalles and Sandy Military Road ...
http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/the_dalles_sandy_wagon_road.html