River of Romance is Home to Indian Legend
Taken from The Sunday Oregonian written by DeWitt Harry for the July 23, 1922 edition of the newspaper.

Show the ordinary garden variety American citizen a picture of the hills that line the Rhine and the most obvious remark will be "how romantic." It is difficult to perceive romance when it is right at hand. This matter of perspective afflicts all sections of our country, likely none more so than the Pacific Northwest. While most of the romance of this district is of a comparatively recent date, the legends of the Indians go back so far as to compare favorably with the myths of other countries. Therefore, while the mighty Columbia a far more beautiful stream than the Rhine it cannot show many ruins lining its banks, but it is a river rife with Indian legend.

Realization of the possibilities of developing the scenic values of the Columbia is of very recent date. The building of the famed Columbia River Highway proved a success beyond even the fondest dreams of its creators. Now it would seem that this most beautiful river was entering on yet another phase of its development. California early saw the wisdom of capitalizing its natural resources, and Oregon seemed to be following this same line. Those who got on the job early and began catering to the wants of the visitor along this great highway have profited.

Tourist Haunt Develops.

The European, like the Californian or the concessionaires in the great national parks of the 1920's made the most of the tourist and cared for their creature comforts. Today fine hotels and inns render service that is appreciated and that is profitable. Along the old highway the pioneers in this line first established places to serve dinners and offer rooms to the tourists. Now with the exception of a few places most of the establishments catering to the traveler can be found along the interstate. Those who would like to spend a few weeks in view of the marvelous river can easily find a place to suit their needs.

The side trips and the amusements are ample, it would seem, and opportunity for sport and recreation was in the 1920's receiving additional attention as new trade was being developed. It does not seem too much a stretch of the imagination to vision this a river of romance and as a favored haunt of the world tourist coming to spend weeks instead of days among the real scenes of legendary interest as unfolded in Indian lore. Gradually the available building sites along the river were being exploited and developed.

As the highway continued to draw increasing numbers of visitors new places of entertainment were being opened up. Admittedly the attractions are far superior to those of many mountain and ordinary tourist resorts. Not only was the commercial side of the tourist trade being developed, but individual lovers of the beautiful were locating along the Columbia. Fine homes were built nestling among the groves that crown the bluffs with unsurpassed views and inspirational outlooks.

The Columbia is now lined with great estates occupying every available site, interspersed with the tourist hotel and the public works. Old ruins which were there have long since disappeared, but there are romantic tales a-plenty. It is to be regretted that more attention was not paid to the Indian legends that feature this river. Unquestionably the most vivid of them all is the "Bridge of the Gods," that massive structure which spanned the Columbia at Cascade Locks and whose fall created the rapids and inundated the forests whose dead tree trunks could still be seen in the 1920's protruding from the surface of the river as the fish swam among the branches beneath. 

Though there are no old castles on the tops of the huge cliffs, there are sites innumerable where the Indians kept watch and lived in their nomadic style in days gone by. Living in a country rife with life centuries before foreigners came and it is so attractive today on account of its scenic appeal the man who decides to build on the banks of the Columbia should experience the finest of sensations. The Indians called it the "Great River," and their tales of the mountains are replete with simple explanations of the beginning of the world. Like the myths of the Greeks, to the Indian the mountains were the abode of the gods, and those that line the Columbia bristle with legends of sacred things.

The Great Spirit Located.

It must have been just below Crown Point on the high bluffs that the Great Spirit divided the land between the tribes, those who were to dwell in the plains and those who were to take over the valleys of the coast. According to one legend, the Great Spirit shot two arrows, one west and one north, and sent the chiefs to find them. The Great Spirit likely stood on these bluffs when he shot the arrows, and this marked the start of two of the greatest tribes the Multnomahs or Willamettes and the Klickitats. The Multnomahs or Willamettes founded their empire near where the Willamette and Columbia rivers join, below Portland and roamed and ruled the country to the Cascade mountain line, the Klickitats lived in the Washington interior north of the Dalles. There is also the Chinook people who lived along the Lower Columbia and north to the mouth of the Willapa, and the Walla Walla who lived upriver at the mouth of the river that takes their name.

According to this same legend, the Great Spirit raised the mountain barrier that the river afterwards cut through, as a sign of peace between the tribes, but left a bridge of stone across the river so that the tribes might visit each other and yet be friends. It was because of the evil things that the tribes did that the bridge was destroyed and disaster came to them and many died of a mysterious plague. Some of these things undoubtedly happened, for when the first fur trappers and explorers came to Oregon they found the once numerous horde of native people sadly decimated.

Legends Found Interesting.

The ancients tell of obtaining fire from mysterious sources. According to another of these tales, also local to the Columbia, a fair maiden had the only fire during one period when the sun was taken from them on account of their badness. Some sought to steal the fire from her, but she fled and because the braves were stiff with cold, they could not catch her. But her heart was moved by the plight of her people, and she sought out the Great Spirit to give them some fire and the Spirit agreed with her and built a public fire so they could to warm themselves at a point on the high bluffs along the Columbia.

The maiden who thought so unselfishly of her tribe she was given eternal youth and beauty by the Great Spirit and soon after all the chiefs came and they fell in love with her. Two of these chiefs, one who was the leader of the Klickitats and the other of the Willamettes, became intense rivals and fought for her hand. Not only did they engage in personal conflict, but they sent their warriors to fight against each other and there was much suffering. Thus the great river, no longer remained a sign of peace, and this was one reason set forth in the legends for the destruction of the Bridge of the Gods by the Great Spirit.

When the bridge was broken down the tribes could no longer fight because they were separated by the great river. Further chapters of this tremendous fight tell how the warring chiefs were turned into mountains of fire (Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood) and they threw rocks at each other (erupted), but they could not throw them far enough to hit each other and, when the boulders fell short, some fell into the great river which created the rapids. 

Another of the many legends of the river concerns the mysterious Chinook wind. This warm wind is one of the real oddities of the Columbia, as it comes at all seasons and, when it arrives in the winter, it melts the snows and causes floods. According to the myth there were five Chinook brothers and five Walla Walla brothers, the Chinooks were the warm-wind boys and the Walla Wallas their cold-wind rivals. They were always fighting and when they did get angry they would blow so hard that great fir trees would be pulled up and thrown about like weeds.

This made it very hard for those not concerned in the quarrels. Finally the rival sets of brothers came to a showdown and fought it out, "Old Coyote" was the judge and was empowered to cut off the heads of those who were thrown in a wrestling match. The Chinook brothers lost out and all were beheaded. The oldest Chinook warrior had a son and as the years went by, his mother taught him that he must revenge his father and uncles. This young Chinook boy grew up to become a very strong man and one day he then went up the great river, where he found his grandparents cold and hungry on account of the winds the Walla Wallas kept sending down from the north.

The Chinook warrior became angry and challenged the five Walla Walla brothers to another wrestling match and took them one at a time and as he threw them to the ground Old Coyote beheaded them, like he did to his father and uncles. The last one of the Walla Wallas to fight him was left alive, and they decided to take on the wind-blowing between them, with the understanding that the Walla Walla warrior was only to blow lightly and never freeze people again, while the Chinook warrior blew his hardest and thus made the winters along the great river only a little cold.

These are only two of the legends that concern the Columbia, but there are many more. The bluffs that line the river cannot be surpassed for natural beauty, and now the freeway, brings in the people to inhabit the slopes of the river. Many who would undoubtedly like to know some of the romance and legends of the river. Remains of the old Indian camps could be found at many places back in the 1920's. One of the little known bits of the Columbia is the section between the mouth of the Sandy river and Crown Point.

The old highway there is some distance back from the bluffs and does not get into the gorge of the great river until after Crown Point. Along this section of the river is some of the best available land for development into home sites or tourist enterprises. There are some stretches of bench land, comprising several hundred acres, lying on a natural shelf over 500 feet above the river level. These benches have been known since the earliest, days of the state, and the old orchards planted by the pioneers yet produce some of the finest fruit known. 

The trails used by the Indians to reach the river level for their fishing and other expeditions are still there and there may still be indications of their camps where their tribal headquarters were established. Likely most of the legends of this district had their inception near here, for the character of the formation is such as to give visual proof.