Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/212



192 HENRY L. TALKINGTON

could be reached only by courier ; a strong tribe of Indians led by the greatest Indian warrior known in history Chief Joseph. The little rifle pit near our city library and the location of the, old stockade at Mount Idaho are about the only grim re- minders of those stirring times, but only the few survivors can tell us of the brave deeds of the brave men and equally brave women who participated in that conflict. History has recorded little,

THE CELILO CANAL.

On October 12, 1877, the, Secretary of War approved of a plan for a canal and locks on the Columbia River where it passes through the Cascade Range. This project was completed and opened for navigation in 1896, but this did not aid very materially in up-river navigation, as it was ob- structed again at The Dalles-Celilo, 45 miles further east. The latter project has begun by an Act of Congress of March 3, 1905, and has just been completed. The original act pro- vided for a canal about eight and one-half miles long, with four locks 250 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a depth of seven feet over miter sills. The plan, however, was subse- quently changed, making the depth eight feet, the width sixty- five, the length of locks 300, with a width of forty-five feet (50 feet for Ten-Mile Lock). The canal has a lift from the lower river to that above the falls of 81 feet, this elevation being overcome by the locks.

WHAT THE COUNTRY MAY MEAN TO THE OPEN RIVER.

There are eight counties, three in Washington and five in Idaho, tributary to the headwaters of navigation. At present these counties are served by four railroads, and the upper Snake, all leading to this section.

The Northern Pacific runs through Whitman and Latah counties, the one the largest grain-producing county in Wash- ington, the other one of the largest in Idaho.