Shellrock Convict Road
1912
"The Shellrock Mountain portion became the first constructed modern HCRH segment."
Beaver State Blog: Orphaned HCRH Segment near Shellrock Mountainhttp://blog.beaverstateroads.net/2019/11/29/orphaned-hcrh-segment-near-shellrock-mountain
"It had been urged that Shell Rock Mountain in Hood River County was an impassable barrier, and had it not been for the timely assistance of one of Portland's prominent citizens the work would have stopped for many years. In the fall of 1912 Mr. S. Benson placed $10,000 in the Governor's hands to be used in connection with prison labor in building the road past this point, reviving interest through his splendid generosity."
Lancaster, 1914 57
"It was for building a road around this mountain that Mr. S. Benson gave to the county $10,000.00. This money was expended for work by convicts. The class of work was of the poorest type giving no evidence of any engineering except a few stakes and hubs. The roadbed was built only 14 feet wide in places with no definite width prevailing."
ODOT. Milepost 2016 Reconnection Projects - Phase One - Section B - Shellrock Mountain Crossing to Summit Creek
Clarence E. Mershon, East of the Sandy: The Columbia River Highway
1910: "...Multnomah County started construction of a road from Bridal Veil to the Hood River County line. A dispute with the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company concerning the right-of-way stopped the effort."
1912: "Governor Oswald West provided prison labor to Hood River Company to construct a road around the base of Shellrock Mountain, but the effort failed because of difficulties presented by its talus slopes. Simon Benson donated $10,000 to help fund this experiment. However, the effort stimulated interest in building a highway through the Gorge, as envisioned by Sam Hill."
February 1913: "Hill invited potential backers of the highway (including the entire Oregon legislature) to his Maryhill Estate to view the Estate's newly built, paved-road system constructed under the supervision of Samuel Lancaster. Later that year, Multnomah County Commissioners hired Lancaster as Consulting Engineer on Hill's recommendation."
November 12, 1913: "County Roadmaster John B. Yeon proposed extending Baseline Road (Stark Street) from Troutdale Road to the "automobile club's resort" on the Sandy River."
Mershon, East of the Sandy III, 5
Eva Emery Dye, Morning Oregonian: Building of Columbia River Highway Greatest Achievement of Kind in Western Hemisphere (1916)
Simon Benson handed Governor Oswald West $10,000 to establish a convict camp of “honor men” to build a solid road around Shell Rock. By Spring it was done. But with the first jar, down fell the walls on the railroad track below.
“Here! here!” cried the O.W.R. & N. officials. “This will never do! No road can be built above us! All your money is wasted.”
“No,” Simon Benson decided, “the money is not wasted. It has served a good purpose. It shows we must have intelligent engineering skill.”
Dye, Eva Emery. "Building of Columbia River Highway Greatest Achievement of Kind in Western Hemisphere." Morning Oregonian. January 1, 1916. Qtd. in ODOT: 2009 Plan - Segment 3 - Shellrock Mountain Crossing