Historic Hood River
Dugout Canoes
8-10-2018
Notes
Here’s another image from when Benjamin Gifford was building his reputation with images of Native American themes.
Category: default
Tags: canoe, Columbia River, dugout canoe, Gifford, Native American, photogravure, the Dalles
Tags: canoe, Columbia River, dugout canoe, Gifford, Native American, photogravure, the Dalles
Charlott
Where could this be? Could that possibly be Miller’s Island on the right, as that appears to be a channel of the river that is fairly narrow. That outcropping in the middle of the photo has somewhat the appearance of just below the mouth of the Deschutes where you make the swing around to Celilo. The landscape looks much like that area.
I have never thought of the canoes being as large as these. Doubt if we ever know the real story here.
L.E.
We saw the beauty and creativity of baskets. I wonder if the watercraft showed the same type of artistry?
Good guess on possible location Charlott.
L.E.
Are these shovelnose canoes?
http://www.burkemuseum.org/blog/shovelnose-canoes-once-again-journey-columbia-river
Arthur
Those look very similar, L.E.
Here’s another Gifford print which may be from the same photo shoot (taken at Celilo): https://www.loc.gov/item/90710756/
L.E.
Since it is pretty obvious no large trees grow along the river bank, I wonder if these canoes are made upriver, downriver, or up one of the tributaries.
Longshot
I would guess that this is one of the islands that makes up Celilo Falls. The Indians must have gotten out to the islands somehow and using canoes would have been a reasonable way of doing so. That could be Stacker Butte in the hazy background.
Charlott
Yesterday I just happened to view a considerable number of photos of the natives at Wishram. Pretty exciting as there was a photo that showed a canoe just like these.
So since this does still appear to me to be in that vicinity I think that these canoes were at least used by the Indians that were right around Wishram and Celilo Falls.
We know that there were not the trees available in that area. Wondering if there might not have been some barter going on. Maybe fish for canoes?
L.E.
I was just reading some Lewis and Clark history in the Celilo area and came across this written by Clark.
"The face of the Countrey, on both Side of the river above and about the falls, is Steep ruged and rockey open and contain but a Small preportion of erbage, no timber a fiew bushes excepted, The nativs at the upper falls raft their timber down Towarnehooks River [Deschutes River] & those at the narrows take theirs up the river to the lower part of the narrows from this Creek, and Carry it over land 3 miles to their houses &c. at the mouth of this creek … "