The older sections and business portion of the city lie on the level plain at the junction of the Columbia and Willamette, extending on both sides of the latter river. Overlooking this on the north and west are a series of heights, ranging up to twelve hundred feet, which are mainly occupied by the newer residence districts and by several public parks. From Portland Heights, one of the finest of these parks, we had a most inspiring view of the city and much of its environs at sunset on the day of our arrival. The viewpoint was reached by comparatively easy gradients, the road winding through the beautiful park, famous for its varieties of trees. Just below us lay the city, so near at hand that streets and buildings were plainly recognizable, and just beyond the great river and endless hills and mountains.
COLUMBIA HIGHWAY NEAR EAGLE CREEK
From photo by The Weister Co., Portland, Oregon
Climbing a little higher we came to Council Crest, twelve hundred feet above the river, famed as Portland’s “show hilltop.” Here one has much the same view of the city and river as from the Heights and it was perhaps the best point to catch the full majesty of Portland’s “Mountain of Destiny,” silver-crested Hood, standing stern and beautiful against the rosy background of a matchless sunset. It is fifty miles away as the crow flies, but it seems much nearer, so near that in the momentary enthusiasm that fills the beholder, he feels he might reach it on foot in an hour or two. Violet-tinted shadows half hide the lowlands between and serve to obscure everything that might distract attention from the solitary mountain which George Palmer Putnam, an enthusiastic Portlander declares in his charming book, “The Oregon Country,” “somehow breathes the very spirit of the state it stands for; its charm is the essence of the beauty of its surroundings, its stateliness the keynote of the sturdy west. It is a white, chaste monument, radiantly setting for its peoples round about a mark of high attainment.”
On Council Crest, Willamette Heights, King’s Heights, and other elevations, are many of the fine homes of the city, though it hardly seemed to us as if in this regard Portland is the equal of other western cities of her class. In the older residence sections our guide pointed out many matchlessly ugly wooden houses which he said were residences of the early millionaires, many of whom are now dead. He also pointed out in Irvington Addition the homes of many whom he declared were the wealthiest business men of the city, but these places appeared quite modest. In response to our remarks to this effect, our pilot seemed somewhat annoyed and declared that Portland “multis” believed rather in spending their money in business blocks than in residences. Perhaps he is right, for Portland certainly has many astonishingly fine business structures that would do credit to any city in the world. We were especially delighted with a newly completed bank building done in white marble along purely classic lines, quite as fine as anything of the kind we ever saw. Other skyscrapers, the theatres, several hotels, and many public buildings, were architectural masterpieces built with evident disregard for cost. Nearly all of these, we were told, had been erected in the last seven or eight years, and there is no slackening in the march of solid improvement.
Multnomah County has voted a bond issue to improve its main highways, aside from the Columbia River Road, and this work was in progress in many places about the city. There are not many drives aside from the Columbia Highway of great interest to the tourist whose time is limited. We followed well-paved streets to the ferry leading to old Vancouver in Washington, just across the Columbia. We saw workmen giving the finishing touches to the great steel wagon-bridge which now spans the Columbia at this point, forming a most important link in the Pacific Highway. The last spans, which were assembled on the shore, were floated to position on the piers the next day and the stupendous feat of engineering was nearly complete.
There is nothing of particular interest in Vancouver, which was founded nearly a hundred years ago by fur traders of the Hudson Bay Company. It is at present practically a Portland suburb, though the fact that it is in another state will preclude annexation by the larger city. The new bridge will greatly facilitate inter-communication and will probably have an immediate effect in increasing the population and prosperity of Vancouver.
We are accustomed to think of the Columbia Highway as comprising the spectacular stretch of road between Portland and Hood River, but as I have elsewhere intimated, the larger plan of Oregonians contemplates an improved road running along the river from Astoria on the coast to Pendleton, three hundred and thirty miles eastward. The portion from Portland to Astoria has been graded, but at the time of our visit was in poor condition and we considered it hardly advisable to attempt it in face of threatening rains. This road, while commanding much wonderful scenery of river and mountain, does not approach the wild and enchanting beauty of The Dalles road and no attempts will be made to beautify the road bed as has been done to the east of Portland. It will, however, when paved be an easy and delightful run to Astoria, Oregon’s oldest settlement. Near the site of this town, Lewis and Clark camped in 1806 while exploring the Columbia River, and five years later the present town was founded by John Jacob Astor, during the famous expedition of which Washington Irving became historian. In 1812 Astoria was captured by the British, who held it until 1818—a critical period in Oregon history, when the chances of the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack appeared about equal. Astoria’s chief industry to-day is salmon fishing and canning, which occupies a season of about one hundred days during the summer and early fall.
From Astoria a circular tour may be pursued along the ocean shore by the way of Gearhart, Tillamook, and Dolph, back to Portland or to Salem if the Pacific Highway is the route to be pursued to the south. This, they told us, is a very rough, trying trip at present, but the proposed highway improvement along much of the route will rapidly alter conditions. The run of fifty miles to Government Camp on the western side of Mount Hood is not difficult and plans are being perfected to carry the road around the southwestern slope of the mountain to Hood River, making the return trip by the Columbia Highway, a total distance of about one hundred and fifty miles.