1896 Historic Cascade Lock on Columbia River at Cascade Locks, OR

(Satellite)

Cascade Locks Historical Museum posted

This is definitely my favorite Cascade Locks historic winter storm photo, taken January 5, 1909 by K.A. Pierce. 

At the time, Alice Tomkins Fee was the 11 year-old daughter of chief locktender Valentine Tomkins. She recalled this winter storm fondly in an oral history she completed with the Oregon Historical Society in 1985:

"One year two boats were frozen in the locks for several weeks. We all learned to dance because the steward was an ex-Swiss dancing teacher. Father just thought we were crazy to be walking through a foot of snow to learn to dance, but we did- up in the Odd Fellow's Hall. Everybody in town learned to dance."

Keep the past alive and keep warm by having your own dance party tonight! 💃🧊

Forgotten Camas Washougal shared with the comment: "Let's Dance!  1909 Cascade Locks."

Mike Kluth shared with the comment: "Interesting article about the Cascade Locks."

CascadeLocks
"Cascade Locks, known initially as Whiskey Flats, is one of the oldest towns on the Columbia River. It sits on a section of the river that Lewis and Clark described in their journals as the 'great rapids of the Cascades,' a stretch of raging water more than two miles [3.2km] long was formed by a massive ancient landslide."
Before the Cascade Rapids were submerged by the Bonneville Dam, they dropped 20' (6m).
"Cascade Locks was home to the first steam engine west of the Mississippi, the Oregon Pony, was built in 1862 to carry passengers and freight past the rapids."
"By 1875 the U.S. Government approved the plans to build a set of locks to improve the navigation through the Cascade Rapids. Construction began in 1878 and the locks were completed on November 5, 1896 — and, modern-day Cascade Locks was born. The locks were an amazing achievement, with a lift chamber carved in solid rock 460 feet long, and 90 feet wide, with 8 feet of draft, deep enough for any vessel then on the river, and large enough to accommodate several at once."

OregonPony
"The Oregon Pony weighs only 8 tons, with a length of only 14.5 feet; the steam locomotive was the first of its kind to be built on the Pacific Coast and the first to be used in the Oregon Territory."
It was restored and is now in an enclosed display near the lock.

A view of the rapids and lock before the dam was built.

OregonPony

Adventure Krewe, Aug 2023