While this is mostly filmed in Washington, it is a good look at logging in the Gorge on both sides of the river in the early 20th century. It sometimes hard for me to imagine what driving the highway would have been like back then when there were, due to logging and fires, very few trees blocking the views.
Sure, we can see what it looked like from the major landmarks since there are many pictures, but driving down to Latourell from Crown Point? Even further along, today what feels like a nice drive through the forest back then would have been almost constant vistas up and down with a much clearer view of the drop that is often right next to our car.
Samuel Lancaster once wrote that the fences and walls of the highway made the drivers feel secure even when driving, at speed, along cliffs of great heights, and while in certain locations, like Crown Point and Rowena Crest, this still remains true today, it is easy for me, at least, to remember than much of the road is built along steep banks and that, before the regrowth of timber along the route, many of these banks would have looked like cliff faces from the road.
As for logging operations along the highway, Bridal Veil was clearly ground center for the Gorge during the lifetime of the highway. On the lower highway, though, logging was much more extensive and continues to this day. However, since logging operations have not ceased out there, there may be less mysterious old equipment awaiting discovery on the other side of Portland.
