• Home
  • Archives

Dave Knows Portland

Subscribe to Dave Knows Portland by Email

October 31, 1805: Lewis and Clark Reach the Cascade Rapids

October 31, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Cascade RapidsIntrepid explorers Lewis and Clark faced one of their toughest challenges when, on October 22, 1805, they reach Celilo Falls. The falls were the beginning of a 55 mile stretch of rapids, falls, and generally dangerous river conditions.

It took the explorers two days to portage several miles around Celilo Fall’s 38 foot drop. At The Dalles the non-swimmers portaged, and the foolhardy swimmers decided to shoot the rapids in their canoes . . . and they survived!

Finally, on October 31, 1805, the expedition reached the grand Shute, later known as the Cascade Rapids,

The rapids were the . . .

. . . final barrier to the broad, swift, flat waters of the lower Columbia. What Lewis and Clark called “the great Shute” was a four-mile stretch where the river ran “with great velocity fo[a]ming & boiling in a most horriable manner” (Oct. 31, 1805). ) The party cleared the last of the Cascades on November 2, at times portaging along a well-used Indian trail.

Filed Under: History, Oregon, The West, This Day in History

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Dave Knows Portland Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in