Historic Hood River
Swiping The Dalles
Notes
The Dalles has a long and fascinating history, so I couldn’t resist giving it the “swiper” treatment. Of course the history of this area stretches way back before 1860, but the 1860 land survey is the earliest geolocated imagery I could find. You can compare it with 1935, and with 2025 (after the Dalles Dam). Click this link for The Dalles Comparator 1860 1935 2025.
The military reservation and some of the early farms stand out, as well as a small cluster of “downtown” buildings. The location of Mill Creek on the 1860 survey leaves me scratching my head. It matches the modern(er) views in the lower left part of the map but seems to wander as it approaches the Columbia. Hopefully The Dalles historians will weigh in about whether that creek has moved during the interval between 1860 and1935. It might be a mapping error, but it seems unlikely the surveyor would be so far off in one of the few places people could easily check his work.
The road to the right is labeled “Road to Walla Walla”. The fork to the southeast roughly follow the modern route 197. I understand 3 Mile, 5 Mile, 8 Mile and 15 Mile Creeks derive their names from how far down the road they cross measured from the town (or the fort?).
I like the measurement in the Columbia River:Â “2 miles 3 chains 85 links”.
Pat A
From 2nd street to the Columbia River, mill creek flows through a square concrete culvert about a Thousand feet long.
It plugged during the 1996 flood and the water washed down to the Napa store and filled the basement and Ch. Urness garages.
The railroad built trestles over it for many decades before it was filled in.