Longview, WA 45°F
Early travelers faced river-crossing challenges in Lower Columbia region
By Michael Perry, with assistance from Mike Clark
A couple of days after Christmas seemed like a good time to make the drive to Mt. Hood for lunch at the Blue Ox, a small bar hidden in the bowels of Timberline Lodge. This is one of Dr. Munchie’s favorite watering holes. With the abnormally dry December, there hadn’t been much snow so it was possible to make the drive without putting on tire chains. The trip took only a couple hours, but seeing the signs along the way referring to the old Barlow Road (built in 1846 for covered wagons coming west across the Oregon Trail) and the tollgates along it ($5.00 per wagon plus 10¢ per head of livestock) drove home how much we take our modern roads for granted. A trip to Mt. Hood would have taken several days before 1900, and it was next to impossible to drive a car from Kelso to Mt. Hood a century ago.
In fact, the only practical way to go any significant distance along the lower Columbia River in the late 1800s and the first decade of the 1900s was either by railroad or boat. The highway between Astoria and Portland wasn’t paved until 1916, and the Pacific Highway, running north from Vancouver, wasn’t paved until 1923. Prior to that, the dirt roads connecting towns and villages were quite primitive. One of the biggest problems was all of the rivers travelers had to cross.
Before there were bridges
In the early 1900s, the only way to move automobiles across the major rivers was by ferry. History tells us there were many such ferries in the 1800s that transported horse-drawn wagons and, later, automobiles. One of the most amazing ferries carried an entire train from Goble, Oregon, across the Columbia to Kalama, Washington; the train ferry operated from 1883 until 1908, when a railroad bridge was built across the Columbia from Portland to Vancouver.
At left, postcard from the collection of Mike Clark. After starting building of their new sawmills and the planned city of Longview in 1922, Long-Bell launched a ferry service between Longview and Rainier. They had two ferries, the Oregon and the Washington (both can be seen in this postcard photo); each could carry about two dozen cars. The ferry left Longview from a dock at the foot of Oregon Way, near where the Longview-Rainier Bridge would later be built. This photo shows the ferry Oregon at the landing in Rainier that was located between today’s El Tapatio and the Ol’ Pastime Tavern.
Below, right: Postcard from the collection of Michael Perry
Before Longview, and before the Lewis and Clark Bridge, automobiles were transported across the Columbia River on a ferry. This early 1920s postcard shows the ferry landing on the east shore of the Cowlitz in South Kelso. The ferry dock was located near McLane’s Shingle Mill on Riverside Drive (which runs along the Cowlitz from Mill Street to Yew Street). Prior to 1922, two small ferries made the run across the Columbia, but once construction of Longview began, a third ferry (a 100-foot long barge) was put into service in June 1922. The date of this photograph is unknown – perhaps a Reader reader can identify the make and year of some of the automobiles in the photo? If so, please contact MOPerry@mac.com or leave a comment in the space at the end of the story..
Early bridges
As the number of automobiles increased, the need for better roads and bridges became evident. Most people today are unaware of the early bridges along the lower Columbia River. The first automobile bridge across the Columbia between Portland and Vancouver was built in 1917 and is still in use today as part of Interstate 5. The first steel bridge across the Cowlitz at Kelso was built in 1923 (two earlier wooden suspension bridges collapsed during floods). Castle Rock’s wood suspension bridge across the Cowlitz was destroyed by fire around 1907. Other early bridges at Kalama and Longview were flimsy and outdated almost as soon as they were built.
Crossing our local rivers has become routine for most people, and one of the bridges that this region is most dependent upon is the Lewis and Clark Bridge (aka the Longview-Rainier Bridge). This bridge almost didn’t happen, though. From the start, when it was first envisioned in 1919, there was a loud objection to its construction. And when it was finally decided to build the bridge, it went through several design changes.
History’s Mysteries
When Mike Clark started collecting old postcards of Rainier and Longview he came across a card showing a proposed design of the new bridge that didn’t look anything like the one there today. That sparked his interest, and after some research he discovered some interesting facts and stories. For example, one proposal was to dig a tunnel under the river. In the course of Clark’s research, a rich history emerged of how we got up and down the river by steamboat and across it by ferry.
He and I will present a series in the Reader about the early bridges in the Lower Columbia region, using old photographs to enhance the stories.
The Rainier Bridge
Our first column (coming in CRR Feb 2012) will explain how people got across the river by ferry, followed by the concept, planning and construction of the bridge.
Your help is needed
However, the series will not be complete without you, the reader, sending in your own experiences and stories of the bridge.
We’d appreciate feedback from old-timers who lived here when the bridge was first built 80 years ago, or from people recalling how the bridge has affected them over the years. Please add a comment in the space below, or Please email clarkmikew@aol.com if you have stories or information you'd like to share.
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Mike Clark grew up in Rainier; Michael Perry in Longview. The two share an interest in local history and both collect old postcards depicting the area as it developed. On the coming months, they will collaborate on articles and share their favorite postcards with CRR readers.
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