tively, of Columbia River, authorized by the emergency river and harbor act approved June 6, 1900, as follows:

Columbia River between the foot of The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington: with a view to the construction of a canal and locks to overcome the obstructions to navigation.

The object of the proposed improvement is definitely stated by the act, and attention is invited to the accompanying papers, particularly to Captain Harts's survey report of November 30, 1900, in which the subject is thoroughly discussed. The estimated cost of the necessary work is given as $3,969,371, or, in round numbers, $4,000,000. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN M. WILSON,
Brig. Gen., Chief of Engineers,
Ú. S. Army.

Hon. ELIHU ROOT,

Secretary of War.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF COLUMBIA RIVER BETWEEN THE FOOT OF THE DALLES RAPIDS AND THE HEAD OF CELILO FALLS, OREGON AND WASHINGTON, WITH A VIEW TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANALS AND LOCKS.

ENGINEER OFFICE, UNITED STATES ARMY,

Portland, Oreg., June 22, 1900.

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of letter dated Office of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, June 13, 1900, assigning to me the duty of making a preliminary examination under the following-quoted provision of the act of Congress approved June 6, 1900:

Columbia River between the foot of The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington: with a view to the construction of a canal and locks to overcome the obstructions of navigation.

Having previously visited the locality personally, the data already at hand is sufficient to enable me to report, without making further examination, that the Columbia River between The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington, is worthy of improvement to the extent of making a survey with a view to the construction of a canal or canals and locks to overcome the obstructions to navigation.

CONDITION OF RIVER.

The Columbia River is navigated by ocean vessels drawing 20 feet of water from the mouth of the river in the Pacific Ocean up to the mouth of the Willamette River, a distance of about 100 miles. From the mouth of the Willamette River up to the town of The Dalles, Oreg. (near the foot of The Dalles Rapids), a farther distance of about 110 miles, the Columbia River can be navigated by river steamboats drawing up to 8 feet of water. From the foot of The Dalles Rapids up to Celilo Falls, 12 miles, navigation in the Columbia River is completely obstructed at all times by reason of the gorged condition of the channel, obstructing rocks, and powerful currents and eddies. At Celilo Falls there is also a sheer fall of 20 feet at low water. In the 12 miles

between The Dalles, Oreg., and Celilo Falls there is a total fall in the river of 81 feet at low water, and at high stages the fall is about 60 feet. From Celilo Falls up to Wallula, Wash., about 115 miles, the Columbia River is not now used by boats, but was formerly navigated by light-draft steamboats up to about twenty years ago, when the boats were withdrawn from the river on account of the construction of the railroad of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, which railroad parallels the river from Troutdale, Oreg. (a small station 18 miles east of Portland), to Wallula, Wash., a distance of about 200 miles. From Wallula up to the mouth of Snake River, about 10 miles, navigation in the Columbia is much impeded at low water.

From the mouth of Snake River up to Priest Rapids, about 73 miles, light-draft steamboat navigation in the Columbia is fairly good. Priest Rapids cover about 10 miles of river, with a fall of about 72 feet in this distance, and are not considered navigable for commercial purposes. Until improved they will probably form the head of practicable unbroken navigation in the Columbia from Celilo Falls upstream. From the foot of Priest Rapids to the boundary of British Columbia, about 350 miles, navigation is much obstructed by rocks and rapids. As above indicated, the Snake River empties into the Columbia about 125 miles above Celilo Falls. From its mouth up to Riparia, Wash., 67 miles, the Snake is navigated only during the high-water period of each year. From Riparia up to Lewiston, Idaho, 71 miles, the Snake is now navigated practically all the year round. Lewiston is usually considered to be the present head of navigation on Snake River. From the foregoing it will be seen that the country bordering the Columbia from Celilo Falls up to Priest Rapids, and from the mouth of Snake River up to Lewiston, Idaho, would have water transportation at least during a portion of each year, except for the obstructions in the 12 miles between The Dalles, Oreg., and Celilo, Oreg.

COMMERCE.

The country along and adjacent to the Columbia from Celilo up to Priest Rapids, also that along and adjacent to the Snake River up to Lewiston, is capable of producing very large quantities of wheat, and is also suitable for cattle and sheep raising. Wheat is now the chief product of the country. Such as is now raised is taken by rail to Portland and Seattle and exported to Europe and Asia. Were it possible for steamboats to be passed around the existing obstructions in the Columbia between The Dalles and Celilo, wheat could be brought from the wheat-growing districts of eastern Washington and Oregon and western Idaho, above referred to, direct to Portland by water, and there loaded in ocean vessels. This would undoubtedly materially reduce the cost of getting the wheat to the ocean vessels and also probably greatly increase the acreage, as transportation facilities would then be afforded sections which now have not even rail transportation. These wheat-growing regions, including the fertile Palouse and Walla Walla countries of Washington and the Camas and Cold Spring prairies of Idaho, are chiefly the sources which have made Portland, Oreg., one of the principal wheat-exporting ports of the United States, and any improvement of the Columbia River that will give continuous water transportation from these localities to the sea may properly be regarded as of public importance,

COST OF SURVEY.

It is estimated that the contemplated survey, with plans and estimates of cost of improvement, may be made for not to exceed $5,000, and it is proposed to pay the expenses, if the survey is authorized, from the previous appropriation for improving the Columbia River at Three-mile Rapids, Oregon and Washington, provided that course be deemed proper. The sum of $221,000, approximately, of former appropriations is still available.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. W. HARTS,

Captain, Corps of Engineers.

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

Brig. Gen. JOHN M. WILSON,

(Through the Division Engineer.)

[First indorsement.]

U. S. ENGINEER OFFICE, PACIFIC DIVISION,
San Francisco, Cal., June 27, 1900.

Respectfully forwarded to the Chief of Engineers.

The opinion of the district officer that the Columbia River between The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington, is worthy of improvement to the extent of making a survey with a view to the construction of a canal, or canals, and locks to overcome the obstructions to navigation is concurred in, and the estimate for said survey with plans, not to exceed $5,000, is recommended.

S. M. MANSFIELD,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers,
Division Engineer.

[Second indorsement.]

OFFICE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS,

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.

U. S. ARMY,

July 7, 1900.

This paper relates to preliminary examination authorized by the emergency river and harbor act approved June 6, 1900, as follows:

Columbia River between the foot of The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington: with a view to the construction of a canal and locks to overcome the obstructions to navigation.

The locality is reported to be worthy of improvement to the extent of making a survey to determine the cost of the improvement proposed, and I recommend that a survey be made to that end, the expenses of said survey to be paid from the balance of appropriations available for improving Columbia River at this point.

JOHN M. WILSON,
Brig. Gen., Chief of Engineers,
Ü. S. Army.

[Third indorsement.]

WAR DEPARTMENT,

July 9, 1900.

Approved as recommended by the Chief of Engineers.

ELIHU ROOT,

Secretary of War.

SURVEY OF COLUMBIA RIVER BETWEEN THE FOOT OF THE DALLES RAPIDS AND THE HEAD OF CELILO FALLS, OREGON AND WASHINGTON, WITH A VIEW TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANALS AND LOCKS.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Portland, Oreg., November 30, 1900. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report, in compliance with the instructions contained in letter dated Office of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, Washington, July 11, 1900, assigning to me the duty of making the survey of the Columbia River between the foot of The Dalles Rapids and the head of Celilo Falls, Oregon and Washington, with a view to overcoming the obstructions to navigation by means of canals and locks, as called for by the emergency river and harbor act of Congress approved June 6, 1900.

Description.-From Alaska on the north the Cascade Range of mountains extends parallel to the Pacific coast about 100 miles inland as far south as San Francisco Bay. This range of mountains offers an almost unbroken barrier to easy communication between the coast on the west and the wide productive regions of Idaho, eastern Oregon, and Washington lying between the Rocky and Cascade mountain ranges. From the international boundary line on the north, as far south as the Sacramento River, in California, the only important low break in the barrier formed by the Cascade Range is the Columbia River Valley. This valley offers the only natural line of communication between the Pacific coast and the country east of the Cascade Range where there is not involved a lift of several thousands of feet over these mountains. It thus affords an outlet for the products of the interior, which outlet will unquestionably always be the "line of the least resistance."

The geographical location of the Columbia River Valley and its exceptional advantages for a line of transportation have added to its natural importance in proportion as the country it drains has developed from an almost uninhabited wilderness to a productive and prosperous region. There appears much appropriateness in calling this interior region the "Inland Empire," by which name it is often known.

The Columbia River rises in the southwestern part of British Columbia, flows in a southerly and westerly direction through the State of Washington until it reaches the northern boundary of Oregon, and then flows westward for about 300 miles between the States of Oregon and Washington until it empties into the Pacific Ocean. This river, as is well known, is the greatest on the Pacific coast of North America, and, with its tributaries, drains an enormous area, much of which is mountainous country, estimated to contain 245,000 square miles, 182,000 square miles of which lie east of the Cascade Mountains. This latter area is about equal to the combined areas of all the New England States, including also New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The drainage basin of the Columbia River stands second in the United States in point of size and commercial importance. It receives from the prairie regions of Idaho by way of the Snake River (which itself drains a vast area) the drainage from the Clearwater basin, from Cold Spring and Camas prairies, and from the other eastern prairie regions of Oregon and Idaho. From the Willamette Valley, in northwestern Oregon, it receives the drainage of another great area through the Willamette River. The drainage ENG 1901-220

from the fertile regions of the eastern part of Washington and Oregon, including the Palouse and Walla Walla countries, reaches the Columbia through many smaller tributaries, among which are the Yakima, Des Chutes, Umatilla, and Walla Walla rivers. The largest of its tributaries, however, are the Snake and Willamette rivers.

The head waters of the Columbia and of the Snake, as well as of the greater number of their tributaries, are in the Rocky and Cascade mountains, which are usually covered throughout the greater part of the year with snow, and therefore the Columbia is subject to very high floods during each summer, caused by the melting of the snow in the mountains. These floods complicate the problem of navigation and increase the difficulties of improving these rivers. These changes in discharge occur with fair regularity, however, in point of time. Low water follows the harvest season, the lowest stages being usually in October and November. During the holidays there frequently occurs a "freeze-up" east of the Cascade Mountain Range, and in the early spring small rises follow; then comes the high water, usually commencing about April 15 and lasting ordinarily about two or three months.

Navigation.-From the ocean up to the mouth of the Willamette River, about 98 miles, the Columbia is navigated, even at its low stages, by ocean vessels drawing up to 20 feet of water. Portland, a city of over 90,000 inhabitants, is located about 12 miles up the Willamette River, or about 110 miles in all from the ocean, and is the main shipping port and commercial center of this region. From the mouth of the Willamette River up to Three-mile Rapids, 3 miles above the town of The Dalles, Oreg. (which latter place is on the Columbia 88 miles above the mouth of the Willamette), the Columbia is navigable, without difficulty, at all stages below extreme high water, for vessels drawing up to 8 feet. From Three-mile Rapids up to Celilo, Oreg., a distance of about 10 miles, all continuous navigation is interrupted at all stages by falls, rapids, and contracted channels through which the water is forced with great velocity. Above Celilo the river is again navigable for boats drawing 3 to 4 feet loaded (although with some difficulty at low-water stages on account of many rocks and shoals) up as far as Priest Rapids (in southeastern Washington), a farther distance of 198 miles; and Snake River, flowing into the Columbia at Ainsworth, Wash., is also navigable for light-draft boats as far as Asotin, Wash. (7 miles above Lewiston, Idaho), 146 miles above Ainsworth.

The Columbia for 10 miles below the mouth of the Snake and the Snake for about 53 miles above its mouth are now, however, so obstructed by shallow water and rocks and bowlder ledges as to be practically unnavigable at extreme low water, usually for a short period in the autumn, but with these exceptions navigation in the portions mentioned is not especially difficult. The opening to navigation of the 10 miles of the Columbia River, between Three-mile Rapids and Celilo would, therefore, give an unbroken length of about 540 miles of the Columbia and Snake rivers that could be navigated the greater part of each year, and thus provide water communication with tide water and furnish transportation facilities in regions that now have practically none. The Columbia River and its tributaries before the railways were built were for a great many years the only means of connection between the ocean and the interior regions tributary to these streams.