The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1908-01-02
GORGE OF
THE COLUMBIA
FORMER GLACIER EDITOR WRITES
Series of Articles on Beauty and
Grandeur of Oregon Scenery by
j. II. Cradlebaugh.

The beauty aud grandeur of Oregon
scenery is the subject OF one of SER
les OF articles written by j. ii. Cra-
dlebaugh, OF the Capital Journal, for
an eastern publication, In the Christ.
mas numb # the journal Cradle
b h he "a following bit of de-
ST. tion -Ae gorgeous scenery of
Colu river:
'Otht countries have beautiful
valleys and beautiful hills, but Ore
gon has ono scenic wonder aside fiom
these that is not equalled in the whole
ring of the world, aud that is, the
grand gorge of the Columbia, where
the latter breaks through the mighty
Cascade range and sweeps unhampered
to the sea. 1t is a magnificent stream,
the htth in size in the world, and eas.
lily first In the grandeur and beauty of
its scenery. 1t rises amid the snow
crowned mountains OF british Colum-
bia, and from the character or the
country through which it flows it's
waters, except at flood, are clear and
cold, and of deep blue tint that
mirrors the floating clouds until as one
glides over its azure depths il seems
as though one were sailing over an in
verted sea.
"Fifteen miles above The Dalles and
about 100 miles east of Portland, the
river, as though preparing for it's bat.
tie with the mountain range, plunges
over the Cello tails, series Of brok-
en- and separate cataracts, but mag
niiieent In their grandeur. Below the
waters, after a brief resting spell,
plunge into the narrows, "the dalles"
and for mile or more the whole
mighty rock-ribbed channel with a
teiiii force. The river is literally
turned on edge and its vast volume
rushes channel only so feet in
width. just below is the beautiful
little city of Tho Dalles, the site of
the old Indian villoge of Wishram,
described by Washington Irving in
his "Astoria. The river here-half
mile wide and loo feet deep--sweeps
in a great curve grandly into the
mighty gorge 1t has worn through the
mountain range. The hills rise on
either side higher and higher; the
bluffs of columnar hasalt become
bolder and begin to take on fantastic
forms, rising terrace on terrace on the
Washington side and sweeping In FIR
crowned Hood on the south. The
| hills rise here, each a stepping stone
to the other. until at the Cascades the
bold bluffs tower mile above the
mighty torrent that dashes it's tre-
mendous food about their feet. For
six miles then the blue flood rushes
along at race horse speed and then
through ever widening channel flows
plaoidly on 60 lose itself IN the broad
| Pacific.
"t'or twenty miles below the Gas.
cades the scenery is grand beyond de-
scription. Towering bluffs of scoI-
umnar basalt three thousand feet high
rise on the Oregon shore from the
waters edge. Fantastic shapes of old
castles with their battlements tre-
mendous spires that stand out boldly
| where the canyons break through; !;
| Eagle Gorge, so deep and so narrow
that the sun In all its course has nev-
or found it; Multnomah falls, "a warp
tf water and woof OF sunshine, that
pours in waving biIlows OF lace a
| thousand feet down into bowl of
basalt, green with moss and waving
ferns; near it the little Bridal Veil,
SO faint, SO delicate, that 1t is blown
to aud fro across the face of the bluff
as ii floats, light and substanceless as
thistle, down tor more than 1900 feet,
vani ,hing In faint mist and losing it
sef-too fair and beautiful to touch
the earth; Cape Horn, with it's mag
nifcent columns; Castle Rock, a
Thousand feet high standing solidarity
| and aIona and tyhnaa tnn aaarca a
dozen persons have seen: Rooster
Rock, Latourelle ialls. Bridal Veil,
Horse Iail falls. each with beauty
Of its own, and then the grand vistas
of the Columbia, mile, two miles
wide, turquoise sea troidered with
emerald, and over all sky as deep
and blue and pure as childhood g eyes.
1t is all indescribable. and one can
drink in the beauty and splendor and
grandeur of it all, but none can tell. :"