The Volcanoes of Lewis and ClarkNovember 2, 1805
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-- The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark Map of the Journey -- Volcanoes, Basalt Plateaus, Major Rivers, etc. CALENDAR of the Journey -- October 1805 to June 1806 Along the Journey -- Pacific Northwest Maps - Columbia River, Volcanoes, Flood Basalts, Missoula Floods, Geology, etc. The Corps of Discovery -- The Journey of Lewis and Clark About the Reference Materials -- The Journals, Biddle/Allen, DeVoto, Gass, Moulton, Topo Maps, and others USGS Lewis and Clark Links -- Links to USGS Websites highlighting the Lewis and Clark Journey Resources Publications Referenced and Websites Visited |
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November 1 Columbia River Gorge, Cascade Locks to Bonneville |
November 2
Columbia River Gorge, Beacon Rock to Rooster Rock Bonneville Vicinity, Fort Rains and North Bonneville, Rapids, Hamilton Island, Pierce Island, Pierce NWR, Franz Lake NWR, Beacon Rock and Beacon Rock State Park, St. Peter's Dome, Multnomah Falls, Latourelle Falls, Phoca Rock, Cape Horn, Pillars of Hercules, Shepperd's Dell, Rooster Rock and Rooster Rock State Park |
CONTINUE
November 3 Columbia River Heading West, Rooster Rock to Columbia River Slough |
| On October 7, 1805, Lewis and Clark and the "Corps of Discovery" began their journey down the Clearwater River and into the volcanics of the Pacific Northwest. The Corps travelled from the Clearwater to the Snake and down the "Great Columbia", finally reaching the Pacific Ocean on November 15, 1805. Along the journey they encountered the lava flows of the Columbia Plateau, river channels carved by the great "Missoula Floods", and the awesome beauty of five Cascade Range volcanoes. |
| The Volcanoes of Lewis and Clark |
| To the Pacific - November 1805 |
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Columbia River Gorge Beacon Rock to Rooster Rock |
| The camp of November 1, 1805 was on the Washington side of the Columbia River, downstream of today's Bonneville Dam, near the towns of Fort Rains and North Bonneville. |
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Bonneville Vicinity:
Bonneville Vicinity: Lewis and Clark's map of the area they referred to as the "Lower Falls of the Columbia". Bradford Island was called Brant Island and Hamilton Island was Strawberry Island. In 1896 the Cascade Locks were built, and in 1938 Bonneville Dam was completed. Fort Rains and North Bonneville: In 1855 Fort Cascades was established in the Bonneville area on the north bank of the Columbia River, at the Lower Cascades (below the present site of the Bonneville Dam). A month later, Fort Rains was built to defend the Middle Cascades (above the present site of the Bonneville Dam), and 6 months later, after Fort Cascades was burned to the ground and rebuilt, a new fort was built to protect the Upper Cascades. This fort (Fort Lugenbeel) was located on the north bank of the Columbia, on a hill, across from Little Ashes Lake. Skamania County was formed in 1854 with the first county seat being located at the town of Cascades, also known as the Lower Cascades. Cascades was one of the four earliest settlements in the Washington Territory and included the fort. At one time Cascades was the largest town in the Washington Territory, and was an important steamboat stop and terminus for the portage railroad that transported goods and people around the Cascade rapids on the Columbia River. The settlement was approximately where North Bonneville is located today. In April 1893, the county government moved to the newly platted town of Stevenson, approximately 10 miles upstream. In 1894 the greatest recorded flood on the Columbia River destroyed the town of Cascades, leaving behind only a small community -- a community which sprang back to life as North Bonneville in 1933 when work began on the Bonneville Dam. North Bonneville was a spontaneously assembled community, built with whatever materials were available and put together to meet the needs of construction workers arriving by the hundreds in the area. When the Bonneville Project was completed in 1938, the town remained. It was incorporated in 1935. Construction of a second powerhouse at Bonneville Dam began in the mid-1970's, with the new powerhouse covering over 90 percent of the town of North Bonneville. The town was force to relocate west of the old town on Hamilton Island and south of Greenleaf Slough. The new town of North Bonneville was dedicated in 1978. Today North Bonneville can be reached via Washington State Highway 14. -- Skamania County Chamber of Commerce Website, 2003, and City of North Bonneville Website, 2003 |
| We now examined the rapid below more particularly [at the downstream tip of Bradford Island.], and the danger appearing to be too great for the loaded canoes, all those who could not swim were sent with the baggage by land. The canoes then passed safely, and were reloaded; at the foot of the rapid we took a meridian altitude of 59° 45' 45" |
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Rapids::
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| Just as we were setting out seven squaws arrived across the portage loaded with dried fish and bear-grass, neatly packed in bundles, and soon after four Indians came down the rapid in a large canoe. After breakfasting we left our camp at one o'clock, passed the upper point of an island [Hamilton Island] which is separated from the right shore by a narrow channel, through which in high tides the water passes. But at present it contains no running water, and a creek which falls into it from the mountains on the right [Hamilton Creek], is in the same dry condition, though it has the marks of discharging immense torrents at some seasons. The island thus made is three miles in length and about one in width; its situation is high and open, the land rich, and at this time covered with grass and a great number of strawberry vines, from which we gave it the name of Strawberry island [Hamilton Island]. In several places we observed that the Indians had been digging for roots, and indeed the whole island bears every appearance of having been at some period in a state of cultivation. |
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Hamilton Island:
Hamilton Island: Lewis and Clark's Strawberry Island is now Hamilton Island. Assertations that Bradford Island is the Strawberry Island of Lewis and Clark are not substantiated by the maps of the explorers. It is apparent from both text and maps that Lewis and Clark used the name Brant Island for what is now known as Bradford Island. Their Strawberry Island is now Hamilton Island, close to the north bank. However, on the return journey, Patrick Gass used the name Strawberry Island in error for what was then Brant Island, now Bradford. This was on the evening of April 9, 1806. [see entry of October 31, 1805, for a description of 'Strawberry Island' by Captain Clark] -- McArthur, 1982, Oregon Geographic Names |
| On the left side of the river the low ground is narrow and open: the rapid which we have just passed [below Bonneville Dam] is the last of all the descents of the Columbia. At this place the first tide-water commences, and the river in consequence widened immediately below the rapid. As we descended, we reached at the distance of one mile from the rapid a creek under a bluff on the left [Tanner Creek], at three miles is the lower point of Strawberry island [Hamilton Island]. To this immediately succeed three small islands covered with wood [two islands today, Pierce and Ives Islands]; in the meadow to the right [Hardy Creek and today's Pierce National Wildlife Refuge], |
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Pierce National Wildlife Refuge:
Pierce National Wildlife Refuge consists of 336 acres of river bottomland habitat with riparian areas, wetlands, grasslands, and hardwoods. The refuge provides habitat for Canada geese, a variety of other waterfowl, and numerous other wildlife species. Hardy Creek supports one of the last remaining chum salmon runs in the lower Columbia River drainage. The south end of the refuge can be viewed from the Beacon Rock trail. -- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website, 2003 |
| and at some distance from the hills, stands a high perpendicular rock, about eight hundred feet high, and four hundred yards round the base; this we called the Beacon rock. [Beacon Rock] |
| "... 5 miles to a timbered bottom on the Lard. Side, passed the Lowr. point of Strawbery Isd [Hamilton Island] . at 3 miles, a Isd Covd with wood below on Stard. Side a remarkable high rock on Stard. Side about 800 feet high & 400 yds round, the 'Beaten' Rock [Beacon Rock] . The mountains and bottoms thickly timbered with Pine Spruce Cotton and a kind of maple ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805, first draft] |
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Beacon Rock:
Downstream of Beacon Rock:
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| Just below is an Indian village of nine houses, situated between two small creeks [Woodward Creek and Duncan Creek]. |
| "... Passed 2 Small wooded Islands on Std. Side [Ive's Island and Pierce Island located there today] , below the lower Island on the Stard. Side at 4 miles an Indian village of 9 Houses, The river wider and bottoms more extencive. ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805, first draft] |
| "... passed three Islands covered with tall timber opposit the Beaten rock, Those Islands are nearest the Starboard Side; immediately below on the Stard. Side passed a village of nine houses ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805] |
| At this village the river widens to nearly a mile in extent, the low grounds too become wider, and they as well as the mountains on each side are covered with pine, spruce-pine, cottonwood, a species of ash, and some alder. [today this area includes the Franz National Wildlife Refuge] |
| "... here the river widens to near a mile, and the bottoms are more extensive and thickly timbered, as also the high mountains on each Side, with Pine, Spruce pine, cotton wood, a Species of ash, and alder. ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805] |
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Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge:
Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge contains more than 500 acres of river bottomland and upland riparian habitat with numerous springs, seeps and creeks, grasslands, hardwood and upland forests. Franz Lake is one of the few remaining natural wetlands in the Columbia River Gorge. The refuge provides critical habitat for tundra swans and other waterfowl and year-round habititat for a variety of wildlife species. Visitors can view the refuge from a scenic overlook on Washington State Highway 14. -- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website, 2003 |
| After being so long accustomed to the dreary nakedness of the country above, the change is as grateful to the eye, as it is useful in supplying us with fuel. [Lewis and Clark are within today's Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area] |
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Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area:
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area: Lewis and Clark have once again entered what is today the "Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area". The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular river canyon cutting the only sea-level route through the Cascade Mountain Range. The Gorge is 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep, with the north canyon walls in Washington State and the south canyon walls in Oregon State. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is located east of Portland along both sides of the Columbia River (Approximately 95 miles in length from Troutdale, Oregon, east to Biggs Junction, Oregon) Visitor Centers located at Skamania Lodge, Multnomah Falls, Gorge Discovery Center (the Dalles); and Bonneville Dam. -- U.S. Forest Service Website, 2002, and Lewis and Clark Bicentennial "lewisandclar200.gov" Website, 2002 |
| St. Peter's Dome and Rock of Ages are two lava flow features seen in the Columbia River Gorge. They are located on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. |
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St. Peter's Dome and Rock of Ages:
St. Peter's Dome: St. Peter's Dome, a majestic basalt monolith rising 2,000 feet above the mighty Columbia River. -- Oregon State Parks and Recreation Website, 2002 |
| Numerous waterfalls are within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic area. |
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Multnomah Falls:
Multnomah Falls: Multnomah Falls, plummeting 620 feet from its origins on Larch Mountain, is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States. Nearly two million visitors a year come to see this ancient waterfall making it Oregon's number one public destination. Fed by underground springs from Larch Mountain, the flow over the falls varies usually being highest during winter and spring. Multnomah Falls offers one of the best places in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area to study geology exposed by floods. Five flows of Yakima basalt are visible in the fall's cliff face. The two falls are produced because of a more easily eroded zone at the base of the upper falls. -- U.S. Forest Service Website, 2002, and Beeson and Tolan, 1987 Lava Flows and Waterfalls: The presence of prominent vertical cooling joints in most of the lava flows, combined with the weak interflow zones result in steep cliffs and abundant waterfalls. Observations of waterfalls occurring over Columbia River basalt flows have shown that falls often occur where flows are flat lying or dipping upstream. This condition allows blocks produced by vertical cooling joints to be stable until support is withdrawn by erosion of the weaker interflow material at the base of the flows. The rate of erosion of interflow material probably largely controls the rate of retreat of the falls. The amphitheater-shaped valley common to many of the falls within the gorge is due to freeze-thaw action of water from splash mist that penetrates the joints. Most waterfalls are limited to the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge because landslides modify the steepness on the Washington side. The entire region's bedrock material is tilted slightly southward. When it is water saturated, the upper basaltic layers on the north side of the river slide into the Gorge. Thus, waterfalls on the Washington side are fewer and smaller. -- Beeson and Tolan, 1987 |
| Four miles from the village is a point of land on the right, where the hills become lower, but are still thickly timbered. The river is now about two miles wide, the current smooth and gentle, and the effect of the tide has been sensible since leaving the rapid. Six miles lower is a rock rising from the middle of the river to the height of one hundred feet, and about eighty yards at its base [Phoca Rock]. |
| "... passed a Stard. Point at 4 miles [from Indian village of 9 Houses]. here the mountains are low on each Side & thickly timbered with pine. river about 2 miles wide, passed a rock at 10 miles [from Indian village of 9 Houses] in the middle of the river this rock is 100 feet high & 80 feet Diameter v[Phoca Rock], a deep bend to the Stard. Side, ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805, first draft] |
| "... at 17 miles passed a rock near the middle of the river, about 100 feet high and 80 feet Diameeter, proceed on down a smooth gentle stream of about 2 miles wide, in which the tide has its effect as high as the Beaten rock or the Last rapids at Strawberry Island ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805] |
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Phoca Rock:
Phoca Rock: Lewis and Clark named "Phoca Seal rock" for the harbor seal. [Clark noted in the winter of 1805-6 'Pho ca' rock in midl. Rivr. 100 foot high Saw Seal's] The 30-foot lone rock rises out of the river and derives its designation from the Greek word for "seal." In 1841 Charles Wilkes referred to the rock as "Hermit Islet." The basalt formation in the river was known as "Lone Rock" until the U.S. Bureau of Geographic Names established its present place name, honoring a Lewis and Clark name for the small geographical feature in the river. -- Washington State Historical Society Website, 2002 |
| "... 12 miles [from Indian Village of 9 houses] to a Stard. point of rocks on a high clift of black rocks [Cape Horn] . ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805, first draft] |
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Cape Horn:
Cape Horn: On the Washington side of the Columbia River, across from Phoca Rock, is "Cape Horn". A pullout along Washington Highway 14 is available, with good views of the Columbia River, Beacon Rock, Cape Horn, Phoca Rock, and the Oregon side of the Columbia. Lewis and Clark passed by Cape Horn on November 2, 1805. |
| On the Oregon side of the Columbia River, downstream from Phoca Rock, is the "Pillars of Hercules". |
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Pillars of Hercules:
Pillars of Hercules: On the Washington side of the Columbia River, across from Phoca Rock, is "Cape Horn". A pullout along Washington Highway 14 is available, with good views of the Columbia River, Beacon Rock, Cape Horn, Phoca Rock, and the Oregon side of the Columbia. Lewis and Clark passed by Cape Horn on November 2, 1805. On the Oregon side of the Columbia River, downstream from Phoca Rock, is the "Pillars of Hercules". |
| Further downstream on the Oregon side is "Shepperd's Dell" and the volcanic dome "Bishop's Cap". |
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Shepperd's Dell and Bishop's Cap:
Shepperd's Dell State Park: In 1915, a local dairy farmer named George Sheppherd gave all that he had (this tract of land) to the City of Portland as a memorial to his wife. Today, thousands of visitors along the Historic Columbia River Highway visit this beautiful spot, with its roaring waterfall cascading down steep cliffs into Youngs Creek and out to the Columbia River far below. The upper fall is around 42' tall. The lower tier is around 50' tall. One of the most beautiful and historic highway bridges crosses the canyon here, but you can't see or appreciated it unless you leave your car and take the short trail to the falls. Shepperd's Dell State Park is located along Historic Columbia River Highway, 14 miles east of Troutdale, Oregon. -- Oregon State Parks and Recreation Website, 2002 |
| We continued six miles further, and halted for the night under a high projecting rock [Rooster Rock] on the left side of the river opposite the point [Point Vancouver] of a large meadow. |
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Point Vancouver:
It can be accurately stated that Washougal is the "crossroads to discovery" in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after Capt. Robert Gray, a Boston fur trader, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River in May of 1792, the famed British explorer George Vancouver traveled to the region to verify Gray's discovery. In October of 1792, Vancouver directed a young Lieutenant named William Broughton to lead a party of men in a long boat up the Columbia and to explore its head waters. Broughton came as far as present day Washougal and landed near the east end of Reed Island. He named Mount Hood after a British admiral and Point Vancouver after his commanding officer. -- City of Washougal Website, 2003 |
| "... 4 miles [from Cape Horn] to a Stard. point of a large bottom [Point Vancouver]. Encamped on the Lard Side river about 2 miles wide Country thickly timbered we Encamped behind a large rock in the Lard. Bend [Rooster Rock], a Canoe with 7 Inds. came down & Encamped with us ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805, first draft] |
| "... we encamped under a high projecting rock on the Lard. Side, here the mountains leave the river on each Side, which from the great Shute to this place is high and rugid; thickly covered with timber principalley of the Pine Species. The bottoms below appear extensive and thickly covered with wood. river here about 2 1/2 miles wide. ... The ebb tide rose here about 9 Inches, the flood tide must rise here much higher ..." [Clark, November 2, 1805] |
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Rooster Rock and Rooster Rock State Park:
Rooster Rock State Park: An interpretive sign marks where the Corps camped. Enjoy three miles of sandy beaches and a swimming area. Rooster Rock State Park is located 22 miles east of Portland, Oregon, along Interstate 84. -- Washington State Tourism Website, 2002, and Oregon Parks and Recreation Website, 2002 |
| The mountains, which from the great shoot to this place are high, rugged, and thickly covered with timber chiefly of the pine species, here leave the river on each side; the river becomes two and a half miles in width, and the low grounds are extensive and well supplied with wood. The Indians whom we left at the portage passed us, on their way down the river, and seven others who were descending in a canoe for the purpose of trading below, encamped with us. We had made from the foot of the great shoot twenty-nine miles today. The ebbtide rose at our camp about nine inches, the flood must rise much higher. We saw great numbers of water-fowl, such as swan, geese, ducks of various kinds, gulls, plover, and the white and gray brant, of which last we killed eighteen. |
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The Camp - November 2, 1805:
Near today's Rooster Rock State Park. |
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