Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/189



THE DALLES-CELILO CANAL 171

During and following the days of activity on the Upper River it became necessary to transfer steamboats over the Falls and through The Dalles to the Middle River ; and when- ever attempted this has been accomplished successfully, though with great risk. The plan usually followed was that of running the falls and upper stretch of The Dalles during the extreme high water of June when the rock reef at the lower stretch of The Dalles acted as a dam and held the river back so as to submerge the upper obstructions, and of tieing up at what was called the "mess house" there until lower water in Sep- tember or October before running through the more tortuous and dangerous lower gorge. The upper Dalles (Ten-Mile Rapids) measure about 2500 feet in length, and the lower (Five-Mile Rapids) measure about 9500 feet in length.

The first boat to be brought down in this way was the OKANOGAN in the summer and fall of 1866. Capt. Thomas Stump was her commander, and the usual significance of his name is certainly in rather direct contrast with the speed of that initial and adventurous trip. In the year 1870 the Nez Perces Chief and the Shoshone were both brought over the Falls on the same day, June 28th, by Capt. Sebastian Miller, known as "Bass Miller" among the elect. This was rather tame sailing for him because he had earlier in the year piloted the Shoshone through the Box Canyon of the Snake River, that boat having been built by the Oregon Steam Navigation Com- pany near old Fort Boise.

The next to go through was the largest boat of all, the Har- vest Queen, of 200 feet length and 37 feet beam, and the entire distance was made during eleven days and was attended with some romance. It was made in mid-winter, Feb. 8th-i8th, 1 88 1, Capt. Jas. W. Troup being in the pilot house and Chief Engineer Peter DeHuff at the throttle. It was upon that occasion that Capt. Troup in a moment of either anxiety or rapture is said to have called down through the tube to his engineer; "Pete, if you love me back her, back her hard." This incident is not literally vouched for, however, either as