Historic Hood River
Rock From The Rock
3-31-2021
Notes
This Cross and Dimmitt postcard seems to be the companion to this one. I think the photographer was perched near Crown Point, looking down on the salmon cannery near Rooster Rock. You can also see a mill by what is now called the Corbett Viewpoint.
Category: default
Tags: cannery, Columbia River Highway, Cross and Dimmitt, Crown Point, fishing, mill, postcard, Rooster Rock
Tags: cannery, Columbia River Highway, Cross and Dimmitt, Crown Point, fishing, mill, postcard, Rooster Rock
Charlott
This cannery was owned by Samuel Elmore. He had quite a resume in the fishing industry. A native New Yorker he first was employed by R. D. Hume who owned and operated a number of canneries. Eventually Elmore bought out Hume. The cannery at Rooster Rock was owned by only Elmore. There was a specific problem with this cannery. As you see there is a channel that comes into this somewhat of a bay. There was a continual problem with it silting in. Eventually the cannery was moved across the river to Ellsworth in Washington.
Little by little the salmon industry dwindled. Believe it or not at one time there were 12 canneries between Astoria and Portland. As the salmon runs dwindled tuna became the big fish item. A number of the Astoria canneries converted from processing salmon to canning tuna.
L.E.
Reed Island out there in the river. I once read the memories of a lady who had lived on the island as a child. She said they had no fresh water and had to haul their drinking water from Corbett.
This is also the area that Lt. Broughton reached when he was exploring the river for Captain Vancouver. He named the point on the north shore, near today’s town of Washougal, Point Vancouver.
Broughton could see the mountains rising on both sides of the river, and assumed the river would become unnavigable.
This is the area Sacajewea wanted to come back to, to spend the winter because the roots were so abundant.
nels
Is this a flood stage photo, or normal water level?
kmb
This may be a companion postcard to the earlier Image 2589, but the pictures are different, apparently taken at different times. In the above photo, you see the line of piles that goes from the cannery out to the sand bar island. I don’t see this feature or the sand bar island in the earlier photo 2589. Perhaps the water level was higher in the earlier photo and this was all under water.
L.E.
I am guessing it is spring or early summertime. The Washougal bottom ground is flooded. That’s where Steigerwald Refuge is now located.
Ellsworth, where the salmon cannery was relocated is not in view. It is too far down the river.
Kenn
The tram out to the river was added when the bay silted in preventing boats from reaching the cannery as in earlier days.
Kenn
Steam or smoke is probably from digging the newer present RR tunnel. The original still exists for half its length.