Historic Hood River
Ice Jam at the Dalles
10-22-2018
Notes
When the Columbia ran free it could carry ice all the way from British Columbia to the Dalles, where it would jam in the narrow stretch of the river. Now the dams filter the river very effectively, collecting all the escaped windsurfing and kiting equipment.
Buzz
Looks like breakup on the Yukon every year. And thank God for Bonneville Dam. We don’t want all the escaped windsurfing equipment coming down here. LOL.
L.E.
What year?
This photo is featured in this article about The Dalles winters.
http://historicthedalles.org/category/weather/
The article says it is believed the photos of river ice were from the 1930’s.
Benjamin Gifford lived in The Dalles 1897-1910. (Dates vary on arrival)
He returned to Portland and in 1919 turned the business over to his son. He died in 1936.
L.E.
I agree. Buzz. We don’t want all that wind surfing equipment produced by oil coming down the river to the ocean.
Dale Nicol
No ice skating today!
Arthur
This photograph is from a 1912 folio of Gifford’s work.
L.E.
I have a photo of family on the lower Columbia, dragging a big sled loaded with cream cans across rough jagged ice. They couldn’t ship their dairy produce by boat and had to try and get the milk to the creamery.
Longshot
Wonder how noisy this would have been?
kmb
I would have been tempted to caption this picture: "When hell freezes over…". It would have been something to see this in person.
Longshot
I remember seeing such on the Colorado many decades back. It was held by a dam and not a narrow spot in the river though.