The Other Cape Horn…

This is the Cape Horn between The Dalles and Celilo, not the one we think of today...

http://www.northwestphotography.org/Plate11.html
Plate 11: Cape Horn, Near Celilo
Carleton E. Watkins
Albumen silver mammoth print, 1867

http://www.northwestphotography.org/Plate80.html
Plate 80: Upper Cape Horn
Lily E. White
Platinum print, 1903-1905

This is pretty clearly west of Celilo.

The CRH East of Celilo Falls
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. 223.

Not sure when, or if ever, it was called Applegate Point…

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Photo Archive
Catalog Num: 1999.13.94BB
Condition: Good
Date:
Location: The Dalles, Oregon
Title:
Content: No. 160. Applegate Point, on Old Oregon - Trail Highway, near Celilo Ore.
Other Notes: description from above on front no correspondence "sample"
Photographer: B.C. Markham, The Dalles, Oregon
Copyright:http://www.gorgediscovery.org/photoarchive/newDetails.asp?offset=980&ID=2706

Cliffs East of The Dalles (2014)
General area of the Columbia River Highway.
Wasco County, Oregon. March 28, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

 

First two photos from Wild Beauty: Photography of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867-1957

See also…  http://recreatingthehcrh.blogspot.com/2014/03/then-now-west-of-celilo.html

Peg Willis on A.M. Northwest

Building the Columbia River Highway | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon | - Portland, Oregon | Recent Shows:

MEET THE AUTHOR

BOOK LAUNCH - Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. @ Hood County River Museum, sponsored by Waucoma Books (300 E Port Marina Dr, Hood River, OR)

Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. @ Pendleton Public Library, sponsored by Armchair Books (502 SW Dorion Ave, Pendleton, OR)

Saturday, April 12 @ Friends of Vista House Annual Training (Corbett, OR)

Saturday, June 14 from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. @ 8th Annual Gorge Ride, sponsored by Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway (The Dalles, OR)

Wednesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. @ Powells - downtown (1005 W. Burnside St., Portland, OR)

Thursday, August 7 at 7 p.m. @ The Clark County Historical Museum (1511 Main St, Vancouver, WA)

http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/Buliding-the-Columbia-River-Highway-253229081.html

 

Old Pavement, Old Lines

Old Lines (2014)
Original Pavement at Patterson Ferry Road Columbia River Highway. Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge.
Irrigon, Oregon. March 28, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

The painted lines on the road may offer some clue as to when the various sections of pavement lapsed out of service. 

In many places along the dormant / abandoned sections of the highway, one will find these sorts of stripes, one painted over the other.  Peg Willis explains why:

Sometime between Rexford's innovative striping of the highway and 1954, the centerline color had changed to yellow.  By 1958, the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads mandated white...  But after only two years, the yellow lines were back - at least on the state highways.

Peg Willis. Building the Columbia River Highway: They Said It Couldn’t Be Done. Charleston: The History Press.  2014. 135.

To read more…

Building the Columbia River Highway by Peg Willis

Building the Columbia River Highway: They Said It Couldn't Be Done by Peg Willis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By far the best book on the old highway that I've read. A great overview for people who are just getting to know the history of the Columbia River Highway and the Gorge in general, but full of new and interesting tidbits for people more familiar with the material.

I really enjoyed the biographies of the "characters" involved with the construction, larger than life individuals that made the highway possible. While these larger than life figures are often mentioned along with a few interesting details about their lives and personalities, Willis takes the time to explore their lives in more detail, which adds an compelling level of insight to the nature of the time period in the region and to the highway itself.

View all my reviews