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The Upper Columbia River Highway: The Dalles to PendletonV.2020.03.007Google Earth
Wasco COunty
Wasco COunty
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway
SHERMAN COUNTY
SHERMAN COUNTY
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
GILLIAM COUNTY
GILLIAM COUNTY
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
MORROW COUNTY
MORROW COUNTY
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
UMATILLA COUNTY
UMATILLA COUNTY
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
CLICK HERE for pages exploring this section of the Columbia River Highway.
Where does the CRH (Route 2) end and the Old Oregon Trail Highway (Route 6) begin?
Where does the CRH (Route 2) end and the Old Oregon Trail Highway (Route 6) begin?
This is a tricky question and, it appears, that it is really more of a when question than a where question.
This is a tricky question and, it appears, that it is really more of a when question than a where question.
Originally, Route 2, the Columbia River Highway, was meant to run from Astoria to Pendleton. While, some sources, including Samuel Lancaster himself, seem to indicate the western terminus of the highway was in Seaside, for a long time I was unable to find any official records showing that any roads from Astoria west to the ocean were ever considered to be a part of Route 2, and I started thinking that this was more of a sentimental addition to the highway rather than an official designation, extending the road all the way west to meet the ocean's waves at the Seaside roundabout.
However, since then I have confirmed that, for a very, very brief moment in time, the Oregon Highway Commission did consider the highway between Seaside and Astoria to be part of Route 2.
Originally, Route 2, the Columbia River Highway, was meant to run from Astoria to Pendleton. While, some sources, including Samuel Lancaster himself, seem to indicate the western terminus of the highway was in Seaside, for a long time I was unable to find any official records showing that any roads from Astoria west to the ocean were ever considered to be a part of Route 2, and I started thinking that this was more of a sentimental addition to the highway rather than an official designation, extending the road all the way west to meet the ocean's waves at the Seaside roundabout.
However, since then I have confirmed that, for a very, very brief moment in time, the Oregon Highway Commission did consider the highway between Seaside and Astoria to be part of Route 2.
On the eastern end, there seems to be confusion as well. Many old photo post cards from the 1920s indicate that the highway east of The Dalles was called the Old Oregon Trail Highway, not the Columbia River Highway, but earlier Oregon Highway Commission reports clearly indicate that Route 2 was the intended designation of the highway being built between The Dalles and Pendleton.
On the eastern end, there seems to be confusion as well. Many old photo post cards from the 1920s indicate that the highway east of The Dalles was called the Old Oregon Trail Highway, not the Columbia River Highway, but earlier Oregon Highway Commission reports clearly indicate that Route 2 was the intended designation of the highway being built between The Dalles and Pendleton.
The OHC's 3rd Biennium Report clearly reports this:
The OHC's 3rd Biennium Report clearly reports this:
No. 2. Columbia River Highway—
No. 2. Columbia River Highway—
From Astoria east via Rainier, Portland, Hood River, The Dalles, Arlington and Umatilla, to Pendleton.
From Astoria east via Rainier, Portland, Hood River, The Dalles, Arlington and Umatilla, to Pendleton.
No. 6. The Old Oregon Trail—
No. 6. The Old Oregon Trail—
From a junction with Highway No. 2, at Pendleton, southeasterly through La Grande, Baker and Huntington to a junction with Highway No. 5 at or near Ontario.
From a junction with Highway No. 2, at Pendleton, southeasterly through La Grande, Baker and Huntington to a junction with Highway No. 5 at or near Ontario.
However, by the 5th Biennial Report, the highway between The Dalles and Pendleton was re-designated as being part of the Old Oregon Trail Highway and not the CRH. So far, I've only seen one or two photos from that route from the report with captions calling the eastern section of the highway the Old Oregon Trail, and no text on when or why this road was re-designated as part of Route 6, but I've yet to really dive deeply into the 5th report so far...
However, by the 5th Biennial Report, the highway between The Dalles and Pendleton was re-designated as being part of the Old Oregon Trail Highway and not the CRH. So far, I've only seen one or two photos from that route from the report with captions calling the eastern section of the highway the Old Oregon Trail, and no text on when or why this road was re-designated as part of Route 6, but I've yet to really dive deeply into the 5th report so far...
But, ultimately, we have to pick a time, and for a time, the road to Pendleton was clearly considered part of the CRH, so this project will treat it as such. Even today, ODOT still has a marker on an old bridge in Rufus indicating that it is a part of Route 2, so even the state highway department seems to have never completely adopted this re-designation.
But, ultimately, we have to pick a time, and for a time, the road to Pendleton was clearly considered part of the CRH, so this project will treat it as such. Even today, ODOT still has a marker on an old bridge in Rufus indicating that it is a part of Route 2, so even the state highway department seems to have never completely adopted this re-designation.
1946 State Parks Report
1946 State Parks Report
To the east are the brownish gray slopes that mark the beginning of the treeless region of Eastern Oregon, an up-river view that has a singularly appealing charm and beauty all its own.
To the east are the brownish gray slopes that mark the beginning of the treeless region of Eastern Oregon, an up-river view that has a singularly appealing charm and beauty all its own.
For a brief time in the early spring a tinge of green spreads over the bordering hills and later they are gay with visible splashes of bright yellow sunflower blossoms, but the moisture quickly drains away from the shallow soil of the steep, arid slopes and they are soon sere and gray. Cool, boisterous winds sweep up the Gorge in the spring and early summer, but in late summer and autumn there are many quiet, delightful days, especially when the leaves of the scrub oaks and shrubs of the gulches have turned to the accustomed seasonal tints of beautiful reddish browns and rich sepia tones. These with the variable mahogany shades of the basalt cliffs and outcrops, are then harmoniously blended with the gray-brown of the steeps, all reflected with mirror like clearness in the placid water of the river.
For a brief time in the early spring a tinge of green spreads over the bordering hills and later they are gay with visible splashes of bright yellow sunflower blossoms, but the moisture quickly drains away from the shallow soil of the steep, arid slopes and they are soon sere and gray. Cool, boisterous winds sweep up the Gorge in the spring and early summer, but in late summer and autumn there are many quiet, delightful days, especially when the leaves of the scrub oaks and shrubs of the gulches have turned to the accustomed seasonal tints of beautiful reddish browns and rich sepia tones. These with the variable mahogany shades of the basalt cliffs and outcrops, are then harmoniously blended with the gray-brown of the steeps, all reflected with mirror like clearness in the placid water of the river.
In looking upon these somnolent hills in this pleasant time of the year, they seem to have gone into repose, holding an indefinable something deeper, more impressive, than the bare surfaces indicate. Then there comes to mind an inarticulate though of the mysterious, inscrutable, distant past when the vast spread of the interior Oregon Country was covered with a flora of tropical of semi-tropical luxuriance, its fauna an aggregation of many animals no longer in existence. These ranged from sheep sized horses to huge mastodons, with many other strange and powerful animals of like or intermediate sizes, and ferocious predators in sufficient numbers to balance and stabilize their existence.
In looking upon these somnolent hills in this pleasant time of the year, they seem to have gone into repose, holding an indefinable something deeper, more impressive, than the bare surfaces indicate. Then there comes to mind an inarticulate though of the mysterious, inscrutable, distant past when the vast spread of the interior Oregon Country was covered with a flora of tropical of semi-tropical luxuriance, its fauna an aggregation of many animals no longer in existence. These ranged from sheep sized horses to huge mastodons, with many other strange and powerful animals of like or intermediate sizes, and ferocious predators in sufficient numbers to balance and stabilize their existence.
All these were long since overwhelmed, their remains buried under hundred, even thousands, of feet of gravels and basalts that constitute the visible, exposed surface, now dominated by civilized mankind, who with marvelous ingenuity is progressively converting the vast area to human needs and uses, while the past sleeps, wrapped deeply in its timeless obscurity far beyond the ken of ordinary mortal understanding.
All these were long since overwhelmed, their remains buried under hundred, even thousands, of feet of gravels and basalts that constitute the visible, exposed surface, now dominated by civilized mankind, who with marvelous ingenuity is progressively converting the vast area to human needs and uses, while the past sleeps, wrapped deeply in its timeless obscurity far beyond the ken of ordinary mortal understanding.
W. A. Langille
State Parks Historian
December 5, 1945
CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway
CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway
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