Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1905-05-04

Portage Road Means Outlet to In.
land Empire.

"Nine miles of rails end ties and.
stretch of more than 500 miles is ope
to river navigation. The wonder of it i
that the people have been 30 long il
realizing the necessity of that nine mile
n of track and it's great value to the thre
: states of the Pacific Northwest"
This remark, made by member o
the party which inspected the Ceil'
Portage Road last week, is true in every
. sense. The comp elton of the Cascade
Locks left but one obstruction to unin
terrupted navigation on the Columba
River-that occasioned by the Celilc
Falls and The Dalles. With this i'm.
passable waterway as an obstruction to
the full development OF the great basin
drained by one OF Americas greatest
rivers, the richness of the Northwest
region, while realized, received but
little more than passive attention for
years. There were those, however, in
later years, who refused to remain pas
sive towards the development of this
latent wealth, and today the opening up
of the Northwest is assured,
Nine miles of track, laid and equipped
by the state, and without noise, has in
sured the open rive. on the Co umbia
without its construction, or at least the
promise of such. it is not improbable
that the G,vernnent would have re-
fused to expend S4,C00,C0O in the es-
| tab!ishment Of per manent free water
way around this obstruction by means
| OF the Cello Canal 1t s entirely due
to the efforts aud the pledges of the
s ate of Oregon that the Government
will build the cansl.
To the persistent efforts of the Open
River Association is due the beginning
of the Portage Road, and the fact that
the road has been built in manner
creditable to the state is the outcome of
vigilance and business methods of the
Safe Portage Railway Commission.
Many intricate problems and sltus-
items have been met with and overcome
in the construction of the road. Not
the le st of these difficulties wss the Sc
curing of the right of way. With the
O. r. & N. Railroad on one side and
the Government canal right of way on
the other, in many places not leaving
sufficient space for the construction of
the Portage Road, the task set before
the commission was no easy one. With
patient and persistent work, aided by
the friends Of TIE movement, here and
there, the o. R. e. N. tracks were st to
one de, this and that place secured,
and now the Portage Road has squlrm.
ed it's way through from Big Eddy to
Cello, and, with its terminal inclines,
will in but few days drop it's cars to
the waite Is edge and transfer the cargo
from one boat past the falls to another.
The 70 d, built within its estimated
cost, is a substantial one. Composed
of tresile and solid foundation. il has a
rock bottom practically throughout it's
entire length. It's equipment of one en-
gine and 10 cars, eight flate, four boxes,
six stock cars and one combination
coach, The "Celilo." will enable it to
take care of all traffic on the river.
Aside from the furnishing of immed-
'ate relief to the river commerce and in.
terror country. the road will materially
aid in the construction of the Govern
nent canal. Since 1t parallels the right
Of way for the latter, it will be able 10
place materials and supplies ut any
point on the canal. II
Now the Portage Road is practicslI,
those interested in Oregon's ,
development are turning towards rail-
road extension.
The necessity for this is we'll stated
oy Governor Chamberlain, State &
Treasurer Moore and J, n. Teal. 6