Early History

When the first Euro-American explorers arrived in the Columbia River Basin in the early 19th century, they encountered Indians living in distinct bands from the headwaters in British Columbia to the mouth of the river. A total of 32 separate people groups and six major language groups have been identified in the Columbia River Basin, and there is evidence of human habitation in parts of the basin dating back 10,000 years.

1792

Captain Robert Gray enterst and names the Columbia River.  Lieutenant William Robert Broughton travels up the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean, sighting and naming Mt. Hood. 

1803

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to learn and report about western geography, climate, plants and the indigenous people encountered on their journey to find the great waterway to the Pacific Ocean.

1805

Lewis and Clark and their men spent several days at Rock Fort campsite in what is now The Dalles in late October, trading with the natives and resting between rapids.

October 28, 1805

Leis and Clark sight a Condor at the confluence of the Wind River with the Columbia

October 31, 1805

Lewis and Clark sight and name Beacon Rock

November 1805

Lewis and Clark reach the mouth of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean.

April 1806

On their return through the Columbia River Gorge members of the Lewis and Clark expedition stopped for the night near Major Creek, a small Klickitat County stream west of Lyle.

April 22, 1806

Lewis and Clark leave the Columbia River Gorge.

July 1811

A group from Astoria journeys up the Columbia River as far as The Gorge.

1825

David Douglas, a famous botanical explorer of western North America, traveled with the Hudson Bay Co. to Fort Vancouver identifying plants in the Gorge.

1844

Washougal, at the western edge of The Gorge becomes the first settlement of American pioneers in the state of Washington

1845

Settlers floated down the Columbia River from The Dalles to reach Western Oregon 

1851

The first railroad in the Columbia River Basin was built along the river in 1851. Little more than a cart on rails, it was a portage tramway on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge around The Cascades rapids. With a mule and one cart, Hardin Chenoweth moved freight and passengers around the rapids for a fee of 75 cents per 100 pounds.

1853

ES & Mary Joslyn arrived in White Salmon in 1853 from Massachusetts. They were the first settlers of the area on the north side of the Columbia east of the Cascades

January 11, 1854

Wasco County in the Oregon Territory was created as the largest county in the nation, encompassing 130000 square miles. It spanned not only the entire Columbia Gorge, but extended from the Cascade Mountains eastward to the Rockies.

1854

Settlement of Hood River area begins

February 14, 1859

Oregon admitted to the Union.

1864

City of Hood River founded

January 1886

A severe snowstorm stranded passenger trains in the Columbia Gorge and also froze the Columbia River

1896

Cascade Locks open.

1901

Spring Creek Fish Hatchery is established.

1906

Mount Hood Railroad constructed

March 10, 1908

The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway's main line between Pasco and Vancouver including the  river-level route through the Columbia Gorge becomes part of the Burlington Northern system.

1912

hood River County Library opens

1913

Construction of the Columba Gorge Scenic highway begins.

1915

Columbia Gorve Scenic Highway is completed.

Eagle Creek Campground constructed.

1918

Crown Point and Vista House built.

1921

The opulent Columbia Gorge Hotel opens for business in Hood River.

1925

Multnomah Falls Lodge constructed

1927

Portland Airport built.

1937

Christian Science Monitor urges conservation of the Columbia River Gorge.

1938

Bonneville Dam completed

January 1950

Motorists stranded on Columbia Gorge Highway during one of the worst snowstorms in Northwest history.

1957

The Dalles Dam is completed and Celilo Falls is engulfed.

1980

Mount Saint Helens erupts, sending ash as far south as Bonneville and White Salmon.

Nov 17, 1986

President Ronald Reagan signed into law an Act creating the 292,500 acre Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, between the mouth of the Sandy River on the west and the mouth of the Deschutes River on the east.

October 10, 1991

A forest fire quickly grew to between 800 and 1000 acres in the Columbia River Gorge and threatened the historic Multnomah Falls Lodge

1995

Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center opens.

1997

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum open.