East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-03-01
tg..e is'.E.r.r c.,i.

Major s. w. Roessler, Y. S. engi-
neer, has made public the following
report on the Clearwater river with
a view to barge navigation"
The Clearwater river is a tributary
of Snake river, which it joins at Lew
iston, Idaho. 1t is made up of three
principal branches, known as the
Middle fork, North fork and South
fork. The Middle fork is the largest
one and the only one upon which any
steamboat or barge navigation has
ever been carried.
The North fork joins the Middle
fork Al miles and the Eouth fork rs
miles from Snake river. All the
branches have their source in the Bit
ter Root range of mountains, and to-
gether they drain a part of the west
slope of this range, extending for
about 100 miles from north to south.
Below the South fork the river
flows in the bed of a canyon, whose
average depth is about 1000 feet be-
low the surrounding prairies. There
is practically no valley along the line
of the river, until it nears Lewiston,
but the land adjacent to the river
upon the high plateau is very fertile
and produces large crops of grain.
The principal tributaries of the Middle
fork penetrate heavily timbered dis
trict, from which the sawmills on the
of tot
supply of timber.
The Clearwater river has the steep
slopes and rocky bed characteristic
of mountain streams. In the portion
in which navigation was once carried
the average slope is practically seven
feet to the mile, causing a current too
swift for small steamers to stem at the
higher stages of the river At the
lower stages of the river the obstruc-
uons are projections of lodges, iso-
lated boulders, rock and gravel bars
which create rapids and rifles.
Captain Ogden, assistant engineer
who personally inspected the river in
accordance with an act of congress
reports as follows:
The Clearwater river is a swift
mountain stream formed at the con-
fluence of its Middle and South forks
some six miles above the town of
kamiah, Idaho, and flows westerly
for about 10 miles, where it Joins the
Snake river at Lewiston, Idaho. An
index map of the river showing loca-
uons and principal towns and OBJ
structed points, is herewith given.
The stream has an average fall of
some seven feet per mile and flows
mainly through a rocky gorge OBJ
structed at many points by boulders,
isolated rocks and lodges which form
swift rifles and rapids during low
water and violent currents and eddies
I'm high water, and these conditions
of necessity confine safe navigation of
any nature largely to an intermediate
stage of the river.
AT different periods from 1879 to
1888 the river has been under I'M
provement, some $4,000 having first
been expended under project for
low water navigation. and later about
S22,OOO under project for high water
navigation. and until the construc on
of the Clearwater branch of the
Northern Pacific railway, some six
years ago, steamers operated with
more or less regularity on the first
80 miles of the river and took out
large cargoes of grain during medium
water stages of the early summer.
Since the completion of the railroad
steamer navigation has been aban-
doned.
The improvement of the Clearwater
river has been suspended for several
years by reason of the provision of
the river and harbor act of June 1S.
1902, authorizing transfer of the un-
expended balance of the Clearwater
to that for improving
the upper Columbia and the Snake
rivers.
My examination of the river was
made September % and &c, during the
extreme low water stage, and the
stretch between Kamiah and Basalt,
some SO miles in length, was covered
in small boat. on this particular
stretch there are 13 distinct rapids
and IS swift, rifles, all more or less
obstructed with boulders and rocks,
and several of the rapids are so swift
and the narrow low-water channel so
crooked that skillfully manned
sliff was safely navigated with diff
Guilty. On the stretch between Basalt
and Potlatch Junction, a distance of
four miles, there are two more OBJ
structed rapids and several swift
rifles, and from this point to the
mouth of the river at Lewiston, 15
miles further, the channel widens
and the obstructions are