Umatilla, Oregon
July 15, 2020
At this point, I am still unfamiliar with the alignment Mershon is referring to in the caption above.
Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon
UMATILLA, 0.9 m. [West of Hwy. 730 Junction] (294 alt., 345 pop.), at the confluence of the Umatilla and Columbia Rivers, was founded in 1863 under the name of Umatilla Landing as a shipping point for the Powder River and Idaho mines during the rush to the gold fields. In June, 1863, its buildings numbered 53, thirteen of which had been erected in four days. The Oregonian for June 24, 1863, reported: "Very little regard is paid to the pretended title of the proprietor, Mr. Lurchin, as any one who wishes a lot just naturally jumps it." As a result the town boasted over 100 substantial buildings within six months after its founding. Twenty-five stores supplied the needs of citizens, packers, and stampeders, and two large hotels accommodated the traveling public. Wild eyed mule skinners and gents with gold in their pokes and a hankering for whiskey roared through the streets, and freight wagons, stage coaches, and pack trains clattered in from the dusty trails.
When Umatilla County was formed in 1862 Marshall Station, forty miles up the Umatilla River, was designated the county seat, but the seat was moved to Umatilla Landing in 1865, where it remained until 1868 when it was removed to Pendleton. In the years that followed Umatilla became the shipping point for large cargoes of grain from the eastern Oregon fields, but the Oregon Railway and Navigation line, constructed in the early eighties, diverted traffic and the town declined in importance as a port.
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/across/pendleton.html
Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway
Jonathan Ledbetter (http://blog.beaverstateroads.net), February 17, 2020:
OSHD engineering drawing 3B-19-3, Columbia River Highway, Umatilla to Echo, dated July 1921. Also includes Hermiston and Stanfield. Features mileposts 191 to 206, with former mileposts 193 to 209 crossed out. Like the others, this was sliced into 8 equal 3200x2400 pieces in an attempt to avoid Facebook compressing them to death.
