Historic Hood River
Bonneville Dam Construction
2-2-2021
Notes
I try to avoid these panoramas but this one shows so much about how the Bonneville Dam project reshaped the Columbia River. I never realized quite how much dirt was moved or how the river’s sloughs on the Washington side were modified.
Charlott
The one thing I notice is the house that Sam Hill built for his mistress Mona Bell. On the Oregon side of the river you see that little island of green trees. You can barely make out the roof top of the house on it. Mona Bell have quite the interesting life story.
nails
A little disorienting. What is the river with the bridge across it in the upper central part of the photo?
Kyle
One of these days, I’m going to make it to Mona Bell’s ruins.
L.E.
I just learned recently that over 7,500 railroad cars of gravel were hauled from the Bingen/White Salmon Gravel Pit to the construction of Bonneville Dam. The gravel pit was in the area of the hospital.
L.E.
When I was a kid, my dad leased a farm below Bonneville Dam. It was bottom ground, with sloughs or no sloughs, depending upon the River level. Good hay and grazing ground, depending on the River level.
It wasn’t until I was older and moved to the east end of the Gorge, that I realized that terrain no longer existed behind the dam.
ArthurB
The "river" across the way is actually a slough of the Columbia River. It’s helpful to look at the Google map of the area to see the "after" state. I should add a link.
Kenn
Nails, the bridges on the east side are the SP&S railroad (finished in 1908} and highway 14 At that time 14 was 730, the highest numbered highway in the federal system..
JEC
The SP&S railroad tunnel next to the north end of the dam is oddly numbered "Tunnel 1.5". I think this must be the result of the line being relocated, to accommodate the dam and its construction, requiring a new tunnel between tunnel 1 ( Cape Horn ) and tunnel 2 ( at Drano Lake ).
L.E.
@JEC, is it numbered 1.5 because it is a fairly new tunnel? I can remember when it was built.
I bet it was built when the second power house was built in the 1970’s. I know that construction totally changed how I remember the north bank of Bonneville.
JEC
L.E.; yeah, the railroad probably was relocated for the construction of the second powerhouse. Instead of renumbering the twelve tunnels between Cape Horn and Wishram, it was probably easier to take half measures in numbering the new tunnel. BTW, is the flat land to the left of the bridge nails mentioned is today’s Cascade Island?
ArthurB
I think that flat land JEC asks about is where North Bonneville is now. Here’s a map link: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6395687,-121.9504346,13.88z
You should be able to follow the slough on the map and in this picture. Google calls it "Hamilton Island".
Charlott
Mona Bell’s ruins are posted plus the fact that entire hill where her home was is a poison oak haven.
Kenn
Before tunnel 1 1/2 the rails were alongside the highway through the original town of N Bonneville. There was similar tunnel renumbering on the OR side when OWR&N added tunnel 1 1/2 between Hood River and Mosier in 1903 and 1 1/4 at Bonneville.
Kenn
I no longer get past comments by hitting "comments" ???
(as though computer problems are not new to me)
ArthurB
Kenn, most browsers have stopped supporting RSS feeds, but you can add an addon usually to take over that function. Search the add-ons for your browser for an RSS Feed Reader, and that should take over tracking the comments. I wish I had time to install a comment feed tracker as a sidebar in HHR, but that will have to wait for now.