260 ALL ABOUT THE COLUMBLV RIVER. 



bors, that, considerinfr their intimate relation to the general interest of com- 

 merce, seem to demand our first attention. 



Tiie Columbia and its branches water almost the entire territory, and 

 open a highway from the ocean to the lofty mountain ranges which tuim it,s 

 eastern boundary. This river heads in lat. 52° north, long. 119"^ vvest iroiri 

 Greenwich, and, after pursuing a serpentine course for fifteen hundred or 

 two thousand miles, finds its discharge in the Pacific, at lat. 46° north. 



One liundred and twenty miles of this distance are navigable for ships 

 of the largest class, but the remainder of its course is interrupted by occa- 

 sional rapids and falls, that render frequent portages necessary. 



The upper and lower " dalls" and " cascades," present the most serious 

 impediments to navigation. The former of these, situated above Clarke's 

 Fork, are caused by the passage of the Columbia through immense ledges, 

 that leave huge vertical walls of basaltic rock upon either side, and com- 

 press its waters to a narrow, chasm-like channel. There, dashing and 

 foaming in wild fury, the torrent rushes past its lateral dikes with frightful 

 velocity. 



The distance between these two " dalls" is some thirty miles. 



The " cascades " lie at the base of a mountain range of the same name, 

 one hundred and fifty miles from the Ocean. Near this place the whole 

 stream is plunged over a precipice of fifty feet descent, forming a sublime 

 and magnificent spectacle. 



Between tlie dalls and cascades, a reach of high-lands, formed almost en- 

 tirely of naked basalt, presents another barrier, through which the river 

 forces itself by a tunnel-like pass for ten or fifteen miles, leaving vast n)ural 

 piles upon the right and left, that attain an altitude of three hundred and 

 fifty or lour hundred feet. 



A few miles above the junction of the southern and middle forks of the 

 Columbia, two considerable lakes have been formed by the compressure of 

 its waters among the adjoining mountains. 



The first of these is about twenty miles long and six broad, shut in by 

 high, towering hills, covered with stately pine forests. 



Emerging from this, the river urges its way through lofty embankments 

 of volcanic rock for some five miles or more, when a second lake is formed 

 in a similar manner, which is about twenty-flve miles in length and six in 

 width. 



NoTi:. — Capt. Fremont, in speaking of the Columbia, makes use of the following 

 just observalions : 



" 'Ihn C(.hiiiibi:i is the only river which traverses the whole breadth of the country, 

 breaking ilu-ou^h all the raii,:ies, and entering into the sea. Drawing iLs waters from 

 a section of ten degrees of latitude in the Rocky Mountains, which are collected 

 into one strcaiii by three main ibrks (Lewis', Clarke's, and the North ForJc) near the 

 centre of the Oregon valley, this great river thence proceeds by a single chaiuiel into 

 the .sea, while its ihree forks lead each to a pass in the mountains, which opens the 

 way into the interior of the continent. 



"This fact, in reterence to tlie rivers of this region, gives an immense value to the 

 Colunil)ia. Its mouih is tlie only inlet and outlet to and from the sea; its three forks 

 lead to passes in the mountains ; it is, therefore, the only line of communication be- 

 tween the Pacific and the interior of IMorth America ; and all operations of war 01 

 commerce, of national or social intercourse, must be conducted upon it." 



