The Cascades Rapids (sometimes called Cascade Falls or Cascades of the Columbia) were an area of

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

along

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. Through a stretch approximately wide, the river dropped about in . These rapids or cascades, along with the many cascades along the Columbia River Gorge in this area of Oregon and Washington, gave rise to the name for the surrounding mountains: the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

. In 1896 the

Cascade Locks and Canal The Cascade Locks and Canal was a navigation project on the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, completed in 1896. It allowed the steamboats of the Columbia River to bypass the Cascades Rapids, and thereby opened a pas ...

were constructed to bypass the rapids. In the late 1930s, the construction of the Bonneville Dam led to the submerging of the rapids and most of the 1896 structures.

Fishing site

The rapids were an important fishing site for Native Americans, who would catch salmon as they swam upriver to spawn.

Obstacle on Oregon Trail

Wrecked in the Rapids from Eleven Years in the Rocky Mountains 03

They also posed a major obstacle to the development of the Oregon Trail; initially, pioneers would gather at The Dalles to await small boats to carry them to the Willamette Valley; in 1845, Sam Barlow and his associates built a road around the south side of

Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portlan ...

, which allowed travelers along the Trail to bypass the rapids on the last leg of their journeys.

Boat portage

Boat travelers were required to either

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

boats and supplies or pull boats up with ropes.

Conflicts over portage rights

Conflicts continued thereafter between the Chinookan natives and Europeans and Americans, who generally refused to recognize the natives' authority over passage through the area. By 1813–14, fur traders passing through were resorting to violent force against the Indians. Although more diplomatic approaches eventually prevailed, a malaria outbreak in the 1830s so reduced the populations of the Cascade and other Indian tribes, that they ceased to be a powerful force along the river. However, three forts, Fort Cascades,

Fort Raines Fort Raines (spelled "Rains" on interpretive signs) was a United States Army blockhouse built in October 1855 to protect the portage road around the Cascades Rapids. It is located on the Washington (U.S. state), Washington side of the Columbia Riv ...

and

Fort Lugenbeel A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

were constructed between present day Stevenson, Washington and North Bonneville over 1855–6 to protect the portage road around the rapids. Natives burned Fort Cascades in 1856, but it was rebuilt. This attack prompted the construction of Fort Lugenbeel.

Steamboat navigation

The Cascades were a significant barrier to river navigation. Steamboats could not go upriver through the rapids, and could be brought downriver only at great risk, although this was done a number of times by highly skilled captains. A canal and lock around the rapids was completed in 1896 at what is now Cascade Locks, Oregon. By 1938 the rapids were gone, submerged under the Bonneville Reservoir as it formed behind Bonneville Dam. Bonneville Lock at the dam, completed in 1937, replaced the old Cascade Locks around the rapids.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Columbia River Gorge History of transportation in Oregon History of transportation in Washington (state) Native American history of Oregon Native American history of Washington (state) Landforms of Skamania County, Washington Rivers of Hood River County, Oregon Rapids of the United States Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Washington (state) Submerged waterfalls