Items of Interest May 29, 1915 Issue

Items of Interest

With the completion of the Dalles-Celilo canal, which removes the last barrier to the free navigation of the Columbia river and its tributaries from the Pacific ocean 479 miles inland to Lewiston, Idaho, the people of the Columbia basin have just commemorated the importance of the event in a series of celebrations which are participated in by government and state officials, representatives of commercial, agricultural, and civic organizations, and the citizens of all the communities along the great waterway.

Beginning at Lewiston, Idaho, on the Snake river, on May 3, the official party, on a fleet of steamers, started on a voyage to the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Ore., participating in local celebrations at all points, and reached their destination May 8. The formal opening of the Dalles-Celilo canal took place Wednesday, May 5, on the arrival of the party at Big Eddy, Ore., under the auspices of United States government engineers, officials of the northwestern states, and commercial organizations. The importance of good roads was featured in connection with the opening of the canal, and recognition was given to the Pacific, Columbia, central Washington, and central Oregon highways, emphasizing the relation between these routes and the open river.

The watershed of the Columbia river and its tributaries embraces an area of approximately two hundred and fifty thousand square miles in the United States, and an additional fifty thousand in British Columbia, making a territory larger than the German empire. The two most important tributaries of the Columbia in Oregon are the Des Chutes and Willamette rivers. The Willamette drains the valley of that name, a district about the same size as Belgium but having less than one tenth the population of that country. It is rich in undeveloped opportunities. With the completion of the canal the Columbia river and its tributaries will have approximately 2,136 miles of water navigable for river craft, most of which lies in the United States.

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