Historic Hood River
Steamer at Flood Stage
1-28-2014
Notes
The flood of June 1894 was the greatest ever recorded on the Columbia. Flow at the Dalles was estimated at 1.2 million cfs, roughly 10 times today’s flow. Waters reached right up to the train depot, leaving passengers from the steamer Regulator with only a sort walk to town.
Many communities along the river still have markers indicating how high the waters reached in 1894. For Hood River, that marker is on Stanley Rock at Koberg Beach.
charlott
This photo tells so much, doesn’t it. Shows just how high that river got during that flood.
Shows how the logs were brought in from the hills via the railroad and then rolled to the river to form log rafts.
Good photo of the old train station.
Looks like they need to get a crew in there to upright that pole
Large group of people, no doubt part of them either boarding or unboarding the Regulator. Yes, always a dog hanging around.
It was the Regulator that ran the rapids at Cascade Locks.
It appears they need to get a crew up there and right that pole that is leaning.
Also shows how close to the railroad the cottonwood trees were in that era.
Buzz
A photo of the marker at Stanley Rock would be of interest to me.
l.e.
Finally!!! A HR photo that we actually know takes place during the 1894 flood.
I have been reading 1894 spring issues of The Dalles Chronicle.
In the June 1, 1894 issue, the railroad has been washed out both east and west of The Dalles. The telegraph lines are out. The only connection with the outside world are two steamers. The Regulator and Dalles City which make daily connections to Portland by using a wagon road at Cascades. But only a limited amount of freight can be transferred at Cascades because of water conditions, so it is mostly passengers and the mail.
l.e.
When I figure out Google Drive, I will share what I have saved about the flood.
Arlen Sheldrake
Great photo. Arthur, can you read the railroad name on the side of the flat car(s)? Also, those don’t look to me to be logs, they look like poles for phone or electric wires headed somewhere when shipping is again available. I wonder if anyone has put together a book on this amazing flood…..
Appears that the boat is under power to stay at the "new landing".
Buzz
With no experience with paddlewheelers, I am impressed with the expertise of this captain. It appears this guy has maneuvered this good sized steamer into a tight spot, has a ramp to shore for loading and offloading, is holding it in place with the paddlewheel running in reverse against the current and is doing all this with no visible help from smaller boats or visible lines to shore to help hold him. Maybe I am missing something, but he looks pretty competent to me.
Kate
When researching the early Hood River settler’s: E.L. and Georgiana Smith, I read that the flood caused all exports of strawberry shipments by train to be cancelled – many farmers left the strawberries unpicked and had no money…Smith’s general store manager. George Crowell (sp?) gave many credit until the next harvest. Rough times in Hood River.
Longshot2
It looks like it says "Union Pacific" on the flat car to me. I wonder if the poles were raw poles going out or treated poles coming in? The tags on the ends would indicate that they were a finished product.
Arthur
Unfortunately the high-res scan doesn’t show much more detail than you see here. I think Longshot is correct about the "Union Pacific" label on the flatcar. Not sure I see tags on the end of the logs, but can’t be sure.
Can you imagine backing the Regulator out of that spot?
charlott
My great-grandfather wrote a fairly good account of that flood in Biggs, Oregon. He almost got into problems with the ferry, which he owned and operated. When the water got high he brought the ferry over the railroad tracks and tied it up to the porch of the house. He completely forgot about getting it back across the railroad tracks when the water started going down. When he remembered it, he had very few inches between the tracks and the ferry.
l.e.
This isn’t very organized but I have to leave so I will put this link here in hopes that it works.
https://drive.google.com/?authuser=0#folders/0BxvbFeImNZs0eEMtc1R3STBDV1E
It is May 28 through June 2 1894. The 30th was Remembrance Day so no paper that day.
Longshot2
Has anyone ever seen any kind of snow/water estimates of the Columbia basin for the winter of 1893-94? From the link that I.e. posted it sounds like there was still a lot of snow in the Cascades in June that year.
l.e.
This is an add for The Regulator from the June 1894 The Dalles Chronicle.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0q0eWOgV7d25yeYHCAHuY_PmKpjCZfqPuEaw6CJ8UI/edit
Jeffrey Bryant
Hood River Glacier, 1927-03-17, page 10, “Old Photo Recalls Freshet of 1894”
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1927-03-17/ed-1/seq-10/
Arthur Babitz
Thanks Jeffrey, that would be this image.