Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/113



In the making of Oregon its waterways have ever been a dominant factor. The earliest attention of the white man to the Pacific Northwest was centered on the hope of finding here a water passage leading through the continent. On the first maps the "Strait of Anian" is a conspicuous feature. The "Oregon" or "The River of the West" was the second source of attracting influence the region possessed. With Thomas Jefferson the leading object for projecting the Lewis and Clark exploration was to secure a "direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce."

The rivers were the white man's main highways when he first occupied the country as a fur trader. When the home-builders came and began agricultural development the obstructions that interrupted the navigation of these rivers became more and more serious handicaps to progress. The building of railroads was a partial relief, but the realization of the full serviceableness of these natural highways of commerce was a consummation from which a resolute people was not to be deterred.

The coincidence of the completion and opening of The Dalles-Celilo Canal, making an open river of the Columbia as far as Lewiston, Idaho, and of the transference to the United States government of the canal and locks at Oregon City, giving free transportation on the Willamette, was unique. The occasions were celebrated. This "Open Rivers Number" of the Quarterly aims to secure a wider and more enduring publicity for the historical papers prepared for the commemoration of these epoch-making achievements.