Viento State Park

Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon

VIENTO STATE PARK (R), 133.4 m. [West of Hwy. 730 Junction], is a wooded area that is popular as a picnic ground; through it runs scenic Viento Creek.

1946 State Parks Report: Viento State Park

Viento State Park, situated on Viento Creek, north of the highway, is approximately nine miles west of Hood River, Mile Post 58.27. It is described as being in Section 34, Township 3 North of Range 9 East, W.M., Hood River County, containing 3.60 acres which, with certain water rights, were acquired by deed, dated May 13, 1925. The former owner of the tract and its water rights has his home adjoining the area and has been the park caretaker ever since it became state property twenty years ago.

This small park is in a delightful, open grove of fir with many of the Broadleaf maples that are such a pleasingly conspicuous element of the forest growth in all the Gorge State Parks, wherever moisture is found. Viento Creek cheerily lilts its way through the area, and watchful eyes may now and again see a brook trout wavering in the deeper water, or rising to the surface to seize any stray insect that drifts to its lair, as the murmuring stream gently hurries on its way to the not distant river. On warm days children like to play beside the brook an dabble their bare feet in its shallow water.

The readily accessible, clean, open grounds, its stoves, tables and other park facilities, with pure water running free from a convenient drinking fountain, combine to form an inviting, hospitable atmosphere that has attracted the motoring public driving along this much traveled highway, ever since its establishment. It is an outstanding example of a small, well equipped, wayside park, and has been a popular resting place for a score of years, with public appreciation growing as time goes on.

Members of Camp Wygant CCC forces, working during the Third and Fifth periods in 1934 and 1935; built a rustic foot bridge over Viento Creek, controlled menacing stream erosion, set up benched tables and stove, cleared fire breaks, reduced fire hazards and, not the least of their efforts, eradicated patches of the obnoxious poison oak; a plant that is conspicuously prevalent along this section of the highway. The drinking fountain with its grotesque face, the several water outlets, stoves, tables and rest rooms, were the work of the skilled, state park, traveling construction crews.

W. A. Langille

State Parks Historian

December 5, 1945

Recommendations:

This is a wayside park heavily used by tourists. More tables should be provided. Investigation of the land between the railroad and river should be made from an acquisition standpoint.

S. H. Boardman

State Parks Superintendent

March 25, 1946

Chester H. Armstrong, HISTORY OF THE OREGON STATE PARKS: 1917-1963

Viento State Park is located on both sides of Interstate Highway 80N, at mile post 54.36, approximately eight miles west of Hood River in Hood River County.

The first land in this park was a 3.6-acre tract, purchased on May 13, 1925, from J. O. and Theresa D. Jones at a cost of $3,000. This sum was paid by the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company to make amends for damages by the company's clearing crews cutting trees in park areas. The next addition to the park was 25 years later when seven tracts, aggregating 240.23 acres, were purchased. The park contained a total of 243.83 acres at the close of 1963.

Acquisition of the area was to provide a resting place and picnic facilities for the motoring public in the cool, shady grove of young fir and maple trees growing along the banks of Viento Creek, a small, rippling, mountain stream flowing through the area.

Viento park was named after the stream, which, no doubt, was named after a nearby railroad station. According to Lewis A. McArthur in Oregon Geographic Names, the name Viento was coined by taking the first two letters of the names Villard, Endicott and Tollman. Endicott was a Boston capitalist who was heavily interested in Villard's railroad enterprise. Tollman was a railroad contractor. McArthur further states that Viento is also a Spanish word meaning wind, but the Spanish origin had nothing to do with the naming of the railroad station.

The terrain north of the highway slopes gently toward the Columbia River. South of the highway the gradient rises steeply and becomes abrupt some distance back from the road. Tree cover is fir and maple with the usual native shrubs for undergrowth.

The first developing done in the park was by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It included an entrance road, picnic tables, benches, stoves and water supply. They built a rustic foot bridge over Viento Creek and controlled menacing stream erosion. Sanitary facilities were constructed in 1927 and the drinking fountain with its grotesque face was erected by the parks crew.

After the highway was revised, small overnight camps were constructed on both sides of the highway in order to accommodate travelers of the divided highway. The 45 overnight tent sites are equipped with the usual facilities, such as roads, car parking spots, tables, stoves, benches, water and sanitary facilities. The stone drinking fountain is located at the picnic area north of the highway.

A residence and a few cabins on the property when it was acquired are now being used as park headquarters.

Park attendance during 1963 totaled 90,584 day visitors and 12,045 overnight stays.

Oregon State Parks: Viento State Park

Appropriately enough for a park in the blustery Columbia River Gorge, the park's name, pronounced vee-EN-toe, is Spanish for wind. Just an odd coincidence, actually. In this case, the Viento comes from the first letters of three railroad tycoons - Villard, Endicott, and Tollman -who put the first railroad in the area.

Where a railroad station once stood is now the home of one of the Gorge's best kept secrets: Viento is a great place to camp! With modern campsites, Viento almost always has a spot available when other campgrounds in the area are full.

Viento is next to a working railroad line and crossing. Visitors and campers can expect to hear train horns throughout the day and night. Interstate 84 also borders the park.

The land was acquired between 1925 and 1967 by purchase from private owners. The purchase of the first tract was financed by Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company to compensate for damage to trees when the company cleared its line rights-of-way in Oregon park areas. The park was established to provide a shaded picnic and rest area for travelers on the old Columbia River Highway. Initial development was carried out by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Overnight camping facilities were added in the 1950s. Although viento is the Spanish word for wind, and trees in the area show the shaping effects of strong winds in the Columbia Gorge, the park name was taken from a nearby station on the railroad -- the title of which supposedly was composed of the first letters of surnames of the railroad builder Henry Villard, capitalist William Endicott, and a contractor named Tolman. These men were active in railroad building along the Columbia River in the 1870s and 1880s. Viento was a station on the Oregon-Washington Railway and Navigation Company line (now Union Pacific).

Acreage: 270.11

Annual overnight attendance: 15,164

Annual day use attendance: 61,158

ODOT, Historic Columbia River Highway Oral History: Final Report

Michael Tenney & Barbara Hosford... Recollections of the Highway

Barbara and Michael both remember the old highway as it was. When Michael was young he and his parents would travel to Portland very often, many times on the old highway. They both remember the highway being full of switchbacks and quite conducive to getting carsick, especially when they rode in the backseat. In fact, Michael got carsick almost every time he rode the old highway until he was around 10 years old.

“When we went to Portland, when I was 3 or 4 years old, it was carsick express because of all the switchbacks.” – Michael

As a reprieve from the motion sickness, Michael recalls that his family would often stop at the fountain in Viento. He remembers the gargoyle faced fountain that had a basin out in front of the face and was perched on a rock basalt pedestal (see Figure 3.15). He recalled the water being very cold, perhaps spring fed.

ODOT, Historic Columbia River Highway Oral History: Final Report

Darlene Stiles & Valda Jones Dryden

Cousins Darlene Stiles and Valda Jones Dryden are the grandchildren of Joseph Oliver Jones and Teresa Wirth. They were interviewed on separate days in May by Kristen Stallman and Sara Morrissey. They were born in Viento and spent much of their childhood in the area.

Near the highway, where cars, trucks and buses would pull over to stop at one of the service stations or use the bathroom, was a large water fountain, only 10 feet off the road (Figure 3.17). The fountain resembled a demon or devil and was about five feet tall and made of rock. Cold spring water flowed out of the mouth and two small faucets were on each side with stepping stones so adults and children alike could drink the refreshing mountain water. Even Greyhound buses coming from Portland would stop at Viento to let their passengers get a drink at the famed fountain.

“[The fountain at Viento] had the coldest spring water, if people wanted to drink.” – Darlene

...

In addition to his service station, J.O. Jones was also the caretaker for Viento State Park. Starting in 1925, the State of Oregon acquired parts of the Viento property to open a state park. The park was beautiful, full of wildflowers, large trees, and a creek that ran through the woods to a small waterfall.

Darlene, Valda and all of their cousins fished in the creek, catching minnows and trout and playing with water dogs, also known as salamanders. They built rafts and huts to play with in the water and made their own little ponds on the side of the creek.

“To me, [Viento] was the most gorgeous park in the Gorge, bar none.” - Darlene

The creek ran through the wooded area of the park which also opened up to a large field where there were horseshoe pits and an area to play baseball. Picnic benches sat near the edge of the field, tucked back in the woods in the shade. Many large family gatherings took place here for the Jones family and others who lived in nearby towns.

Bluebell Hill, part of which was destroyed during the construction of the interstate, was one of the most fondly and clearly remembered areas of the park for both Darlene and Valda. Covered by a think blanket of bluebells, the hilltop served as a perch for the children to watch the trains whistling and rolling by. Valda would venture up on the hill to find a licorice fern to snack on and try and catch the small lizards that would dart around.

Wildflowers covered the hills and forest floor at Viento. Wild currants, pussywillows, trilliums, lady slippers, irises, poppies and lilacs were just some of the flowers found in the park.

Down near the Columbia River was a large bay and a peninsula made up of large sand dunes. The peninsula reached around the bay and came to a stop in front a large rock island. Valda recalled swimming in the bay formed between the peninsula and rock island and jumping off the rocks into the deep water. On the beach, Darlene would build bonfires and Valda would work on constructing rafts to float out on the river. J.O. Jones had a boat and dock down at the bay and family members could go out on the boat to enjoy the water and try their hand at catching a salmon.

Darlene recalls the tough economic times during her early childhood, in the 1930s. During that time many of J.O.’s children moved back to Viento when unemployment struck or if they found jobs in the area. While staying at Viento they would help J.O. maintain the park and grow vegetables for their own needs. Both Darlene and Valda’s fathers supported their families by taking traditional jobs such as railroad or logging work, while also beginning entrepreneurial ventures on the side.

“I can remember the hard times. You know, trying to get a job. There were no jobs.” - Darlene

Valda’s parents, Jack and Irene Jones, lived in Viento intermittently throughout Valda’s childhood. Jack was a skilled man, working in various industries, who also had an entrepreneurial spirit. Her family moved multiple times following the logging industry, and found themselves in Malin, The Dalles, and Klamath Falls in Oregon, and Husum and BZ Corner in Washington. Her father also acquired a job working in the ship yards in Portland and the family resided in the city various times. Yet they would always return to Viento.

Valda recalls her father riding his motorcycle to work in White Salmon as a logger and then picking her up in Hood River after school to head home to Viento. While living in Viento, Valda remembers her father selling the piano for foxes to begin a fox farm. As fox fur was going out of fashion, the venture didn’t go too well; however, many family members received fox stoles as gifts. Jack Jones continued to raise animals as business ventures as Valda recalls, “Another time my dad raised parakeets. That wasn't at Viento, but in The Dalles […] The whole basement had these great big cages for them…these little parakeets.”

Darlene’s father worked for Willamette Iron and Steel as well as the railroad company while living at Viento. He also raised pigs. The pigs were fed with pig slop and left-over food from the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp in Wyeth. Darlene explains, “We laugh about it to this day because mother and dad, they'd get home and there would be forks and there would be spoons and knives [in the pig slop]. You know, when they [the CCC people] were cleaning off plates, they just threw everything. So dad, mom, they'd laugh to this day…they’d take them [the forks, knives and spoons] out and wash them. They used them. They used them there at the house because…they didn't have the money.”

...

A large portion of the families that lived at Viento had fathers who worked on the railroad. The section crews would work on the railroad and live in Viento. Valda also remembers that there were quite a few homeless people in the area who would hitch a ride on the trains and stop over in Viento to get some food. Grandma Teresa would always feed them if they would do chores for her, like work in her garden on Garden Hill.

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway