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Nearly ten years ago, to be exact, on the 3rd day of June, 1905, a number of "open river" enthusiasts of the Northwest celebrated the completion of the Oregon Portage Railway around the obstructions of the Columbia River. The last spike was driven home by the Governors of the three Northwest states, Chamberlain of Oregon, Mead of Washington and Gooding of Idaho. In addition to these gentlemen directly representing the states concerned, Mr. W. D. Wheelwright, Mr. W. J. Mariner, and the speaker, also lent their aid in tying down the rail that allowed the first locomotive, the "C. H. Lewis," to pass over an unbroken line of steel from Celilo to the Big Eddy. The "Mountain Gem," under the command of Captain W. P. Gray, made the trip from Lewiston to Celilo loaded with men and women, among them Senator Heyburn. The significance of that occasion lay quite as much in what was hoped for in the future as in what had been accomplished. The construction of a railroad nine miles long was not of much consequence; but the spirit behind its building carried a lesson which all could understand.

Today we have come together to celebrate the consummation of the efforts, the hopes, the dreams of more than forty years. From the peerless city of Spokane, from Idaho's seaport Lewiston, from the twin cities of the Columbia, Pasco and Kennewick, from Umatilla, from Walla Walla, from Pendleton, representatives of the Inland Empire have come to rejoice. From The Dalles, from Portland, from Astoria by the Sea, from city and farm in every section drained by the mighty Columbia River, this throng has gathered, moved by a common impulse to commemorate an event of the utmost consequence to the Northwest—the opening of The Dalles-Celilo Canal. While the, completion of this great engineering work—great even in this day of great things—is in itself well worthy of