The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1911-10-12

INDIAN LEGEND TELLS
OF DALLES FORMATION
Those who travel up and down the
great Columbia river valley drink
their ill of the magnificent scenery of
this mightiest of Western rivers, which
we'll has been christened, "The Achilles
of rivers" Then, if they have busi-
ness turn of mind, which, If they are
Americans, they probably have, their
attention will be directed to the great
economic Improvements that have been
wrought along the banks of the great
stream.
Chief among these are the two rail-
roads that follow the river. The canal
which makes possible water transpor-
tation around the Cascades is another
great monument Of mans activity,
while above The Dalles, the half com
pleted government work upon the locks
which will open the river from Lewis
ton to the sea, presents striking pie
ture of enterprise and activity. Also
there is the uncompleted bridge across
the Columbia, the work of the Oregon
Trunk Railroad. which will supply rail
connection between the North Bank
Road and the new Hill line up the
Des Chutes River into Central Oregon.
All this latter work is near The
Dales of the Columbia. How many
travellers interested in the present-day
activities of railroad and canal build
ers, think of the vastly interesting
history of this now active region
through which they rush on the modern
trains? For not only is the great
liver, in this section. rich in pioneer
adventure, intimately connected with
the beginnings of Oregon, but also it
possesses a rarely fascinating legend
AIRY history.
The legend Of The Dalles, passed
down from the Indians, is one of most
entertaining, and well bears the telling
in these days when this portion of the
Columbia is seen by so many and at
tracts so much attention because of
the deeds of modern men enacted on
its shores.
To pass then, from the railroad en-
gineers of today to the legendary
demons of the redman's folk lore. At
Pasco the two great forks of the
Columbia unite. There the northern
branch, now the Columbia proper, for
merly known as Clark's Fork, and the
Snake flowing from the south, meet
after draining vast area of the con-
tinent west of the Rocky Mountain
watershed. Thence the big river flows
westerly some 120 miles, until it
reaches the dreary outlying ridges of
the Cascade Range commence.
Here it encounters great low sur
face paved with enormous polished
sheets of basatc rock. These plates
came to be known as The Dalles, from
the Gallic dalles. for the Canadian
voyageurs of the Hudson's Bay Com
pany's service had hand in the
christening sof this vast region.
giving to it that peculiar mixture of
French, Patois, pure Indian, Siwash,
and angicized Indian, plus English
proper and improper, which has left
the nomenclature of today such hy-
brid and interesting affair.
The Columbia, a mile wide not far
above, finds but narrow rift in this
gigantic pavement for its passage. To
borrow the description of Theodore
Winthrop, taken from an account of
his pioneer journeyings in the middle
of the last century, 1.-The rift gradu-
ally draws its sides closer. and at a
spot now (l8S8) called The Dalles, sub
divides into three mere Sits in the
sharp edged rock. At the highest
water there are other minor channels,
but generally this continental flood is
cribbed and compressed within its
three chasms suddenly opening in the
level floor, each chasm hardly wider
than leap a hunted fend might
take"
And, indeed. the legend of the red
men asserts a diabolical origin for
these narrow channels. The wierd
explanation of natures peculiar handi-
work is as follows:
When the world was in the making,
the mighty elements warred against
each other. There were cal thquakes,
deluges, primeval storms, and furious
volcanic outbursts. And in those
strenuous and uncivilized days, man
was tiend.
The Pacific Northwest was one of
the centers of volcanic action. The
Cascades were agow with craters,
from which issued dreadful streams OF
molten lava, bearing destruction to all
they encountered.
Where are now the great and peace
fu( plains of the Upper Columbia,
along the Umatila and in the lovely
valley of the Grand Ronde, was an
enormous inland sea, filling the interior
of the continent and on the west
checked and hemmed in by rampant
of hills, just east of the desolate
plains of The Dalles. Every Winter
there were fresh volcanic convulsions,
and fresh sheets of lava were hurled
forth to harden upon the far-reaching
layers of fire hardened dalles.
As ages progressed the eruptions
and earthquakes diminished in violence
and frequency. And then came a
Winter when there was none, and fin
ally there were periods of two and
even three years when the Western
world was free from the giant con-
vulsions.
But, says the legend, the friends
continued to war as previously, despite
the peaeefulness that seemed to be
coming to the land in which they
dwelt. They were mighty monsters,
were these fiends, the mightiest of
their destructive weapons were their
tails. With these fearsone affairs
they could cleft asunder rocks and
even mountains, and wreak terrible
havoc among the ranks of their
enemies.
Stoutest in heart and tail of all the