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==History==
==History==


Archeological evidence suggests that [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] lived along the lower Columbia River as early as 10,000&nbsp;years ago, including near what later became [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]], on the Columbia River about {{convert|70|mi|km}} east of the Columbia Slough.<ref name="Taylor Sandy">{{cite web |last = Taylor | first = Barbara | title = Salmon and Steelhead Runs and Related Events of the Sandy River Basin - A Historical Perspective | publisher = Portland General Electric | date = December 1998 | url = http://www.portlandgeneral.com/community_and_env/hydropower_and_fish/sandy/history/sandy_river_history_full.pdf |format = pdf | accessdaymonth = October 7, |accessyear = 2008 }}</ref> By 2,000 to 3,000&nbsp;years ago, the [[Clackamas (tribe)|Clackamas Indians]] had settled along the [[Clackamas River]], which empties into the Willamette River about {{convert|25|mi|km}} south of the slough.<ref name="Taylor Clackamas"/> The Clackamas tribe was a subgroup of the [[Chinookan languages|Chinookan]] speakers who lived in the Columbia River Valley from [[Celilo Falls]] to the Pacific Ocean. Clackamas lands included the lower Willamette River from [[Willamette Falls]], at what later became [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]], to the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia River.<ref name="Taylor Clackamas"/> The Columbia River [[floodplain]] near the mouth of the Willamette contained many stream channels, lakes, and wetlands that flooded annually. Chinookan tribes hunted and fished there and traveled between the two big rivers via the protected waters of the slough.<ref name="BES history"/> Their main food sources were salmon, [[sturgeon]], and [[camas (plant)|camas]].<ref name="BES history">{{cite web |date= 2005|work=Columbia Slough: Current Characterization Documents| title = Chapter 3: A Brief History |publisher= Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland
Archeological evidence suggests that [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] lived along the lower Columbia River as early as 10,000&nbsp;years ago, including near what later became [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]], on the Columbia River about {{convert|70|mi|km}} east of the Columbia Slough.<ref name="Taylor Sandy">{{cite web |last = Taylor | first = Barbara | title = Use by Indians | work = Salmon and Steelhead Runs and Related Events of the Sandy River Basin - A Historical Perspective | publisher = Portland General Electric | date = December 1998 | url = http://www.portlandgeneral.com/community_and_env/hydropower_and_fish/sandy/history/sandy_river_history_full.pdf |format = pdf | accessdaymonth = October 7, |accessyear = 2008 }}</ref> By 2,000 to 3,000&nbsp;years ago, the [[Clackamas (tribe)|Clackamas Indians]] had settled along the [[Clackamas River]], which empties into the Willamette River about {{convert|25|mi|km}} south of the slough.<ref name="Taylor Clackamas"/> The Clackamas tribe was a subgroup of the [[Chinookan languages|Chinookan]] speakers who lived in the Columbia River Valley from [[Celilo Falls]] to the Pacific Ocean. Clackamas lands included the lower Willamette River from [[Willamette Falls]], at what later became [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]], to the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia River.<ref name="Taylor Clackamas"/> The Columbia River [[floodplain]] near the mouth of the Willamette contained many stream channels, lakes, and wetlands that flooded annually. Chinookan tribes hunted and fished there and traveled between the two big rivers via the protected waters of the slough.<ref name="BES history"/> Their main food sources were salmon, [[sturgeon]], and [[camas (plant)|camas]].<ref name="BES history">{{cite web |date= 2005|work=Columbia Slough: Current Characterization Documents| title = Chapter 3: A Brief History |publisher= Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland
|url= http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=63584 |format=pdf |accessdaymonth = October 2, | accessyear = 2008}}</ref>
|url= http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=63584 |format=pdf |accessdaymonth = October 2, | accessyear = 2008}}</ref>


Revision as of 02:57, 9 October 2008

Template:Geobox

The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, 19 miles (31 km) long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland suburb of Fairview, it meanders west through Gresham and Portland to the Willamette River, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia.[1] Its watershed lies in the Portland/Vancouver Basin ecoregion, part of the Willamette Valley ecoregion designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[2]

The 32,700-acre (132 km2) watershed of the slough includes about 30 miles (48 km) of secondary waterways,[1] several lakes and ponds, Fairview Creek, and the Smith and Bybee Lakes Wetlands, the largest protected urban wetland in the United States.[3] About 175 bird species and 26 fish species use the watershed.[1]

Historically, floods from the Columbia and the Willamette often altered the network of wetlands and channels near the slough. European Americans, who began settling in the area in the 19th century, built artificial levees to allow urban development in the floodplain; they straightened the waterway and diverted streams from natural channels into underground pipes. In 2008, about 158,000 people live in the watershed, which is also home to many industries and businesses, Portland International Airport, and Port of Portland marine terminals.[1]

In 1978, at the request of Oregon legislators, U.S. Congress stripped the Columbia Slough of its "navigable" status, enabling the land to be dedicated to recreational use, and ending the channel dredging. It is an important component of the 40 Mile Loop for several proposed trails and wildlife areas.[4]

Course

The Columbia Slough begins at Fairview Lake in the city of Fairview and immediately enters the city of Gresham. Less than 1 mile (1.6 km) later, it enters the city of Portland and continues generally westward for about another 18 miles (29 km) to its confluence with the Willamette River.[5] Throughout its course, the slough is nearly flat. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) lists identical elevations, 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level, for its source and its mouth.[6][7] Daily tides cause reverse currents on the lower 8.5 miles (13.7 km) of the slough,[8] which lies entirely within Multnomah County.

Running slightly north of and parallel to U.S. Route 30 (Sandy Boulevard), the slough flows by Zimmerman House Historic Park on the left about 17.5 miles (28.2 km) from the mouth and Big Four Corners Wetlands on the right shortly thereafter. About 14 miles (23 km) from the mouth, the slough passes Prison Pond Wetlands near Inverness Jail and connects to Johnson Lake Slough, all on the left. Shortly thereafter, it flows under under Interstate 205. From here and for most of the rest of its course, the slough runs parallel to and slightly north of Columbia Boulevard. Passing Johnson Lake on the left, it crosses the Colwood National Golf Course and flows by the Portland Air National Guard Base and Portland International Airport on the right and Whitaker Ponds Natural Area on the left. Shortly thereafter, it receives Whitaker Slough from the left and crosses the Broadmoor Golf Course. Between 9 miles (14 km) and 8 miles (13 km) from the mouth, it receives Buffalo Slough from the left and the Peninsula Drainage Canal from the right.[8][9]

In the next stretch, the Columbia Slough flows by Portland Meadows horse racing track on the right and crosses under Interstate 5 about 7 miles (11 km) from the mouth. Beyond the interstate, to the slough's north lies Delta Park, Portland International Raceway, and the Heron Lakes Golf Course. Until flooding destroyed it in 1948, the city of Vanport occupied this site. To the south is the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant.[8][9]

The slough flows through the Wapato Wetland and by the Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area on the right at about 3 miles (4.8 km), then by Pier Park on the left and the former St. John's Landfill on the right. Shortly thereafter, it turns sharply north for the rest of its course. It receives North Slough, connected to Bybee Lake, on the right, and passes through the Ramsey Lake Wetlands and Kelley Point Park before entering the Willamette River 1.25 miles (2.01 km) miles from its confluence with the Columbia River.[1][8][9]

Map of the Columbia Slough's route through Fairview, Gresham, and Portland. The slough begins at Fairview Lake (right) and flows generally west to its confluence with the Willamette River (left). The route has been artificially straightened by orienting each of the panels differently. The compass rose marks north for each. (Zoom in)

Geology

The Columbia Slough is part of the roughly 770-square-mile (2,000 km2) Portland Basin, which lies at the northern end of the Willamette Valley of Oregon and extends north into Clark County in the state of Washington.[10] The region is underlain by solidified lavas of the Columbia River Basalt Group that are up to 16 million years old.[11] Covered by later alluvial deposits, the basalts lie more than 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface within the basin.[10] About 10 million years ago, eruptions of Cascade Range volcanoes to the east sent flows of mud, ash, and eroded volcanic debris into the Columbia, which was powerful enough to carry the material downstream.[12] Deposited above the basalt during the Miocene and early Pliocene, these loose sands and gravels formed part of what is known as the Troutdale Formation. Extending to the Tualatin River Valley to the south and into Clark County on the north, the formation is an aquifer that is the primary source of drinking water for Vancouver, Washington, and an auxiliary source for Portland.[13]

The Portland Basin is being pulled slowly apart between faults in the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) on the west side of Portland, the East Bank fault along the east side of the Willamette River, and other fault systems near Gresham further east. About 3 million years ago, many small volcanoes and cinder cones erupted through the thin, stretched crust of the basin and in the Cascade foothills to the southeast. Ash, cinders, and debris from these Boring Lava Field volcanoes added another layer of sediment to the Troutdale formation.[14]

About 15,000 years ago, cataclysmic ice age events known as the Missoula Floods or Bretz Floods originating in the Clark Fork region of northern Idaho inundated the Columbia River basin many times. These floods deposited huge amounts of debris and sediment. Water filled the entire Columbia Gorge to overflowing and turned the Willamette Valley into a lake 100 miles (160 km) long, 60 miles (97 km) wide and 300 feet (91 m) deep. The floodwaters ripped the face off Rocky Butte in Portland and deposited a 5-mile (8.0 km) gravel bar, Alameda Ridge, that runs parallel to and slightly south of the Columbia Slough.[15]

The faults associated with the expanding Portland Basin are capable of producing significant earthquakes. More than a thousand earthquakes, many too small to be felt, have been recorded in the basin since 1841. In 1962, one centered about 7 miles (11 km) north of Portland was estimated at between 4.9 and 5.2 on the Richter scale.[16]

History

Archeological evidence suggests that Native Americans lived along the lower Columbia River as early as 10,000 years ago, including near what later became The Dalles, on the Columbia River about 70 miles (110 km) east of the Columbia Slough.[17] By 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, the Clackamas Indians had settled along the Clackamas River, which empties into the Willamette River about 25 miles (40 km) south of the slough.[18] The Clackamas tribe was a subgroup of the Chinookan speakers who lived in the Columbia River Valley from Celilo Falls to the Pacific Ocean. Clackamas lands included the lower Willamette River from Willamette Falls, at what later became Oregon City, to the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia River.[18] The Columbia River floodplain near the mouth of the Willamette contained many stream channels, lakes, and wetlands that flooded annually. Chinookan tribes hunted and fished there and traveled between the two big rivers via the protected waters of the slough.[19] Their main food sources were salmon, sturgeon, and camas.[19]

When Lewis and Clark visited the area in 1806, the Clackamas tribe consisted of about 1,800 people living in 11 villages.[18] Epidemics of smallpox, malaria, and measles reduced this population to 88 by 1851, and in 1855 the tribe signed a treaty surrendering its lands.[18] The history of the Multnomah tribe of Chinookan people who lived on Sauvie Island, across the Willamette River from the mouth of the slough, is similar. Lewis and Clark estimated that 800 people lived in five villages on Sauvie Island in 1806.[20] By the 1830s, diseases carried by white explorers and traders reduced the native population by up to 90 percent throughout the lower Columbia basin.[21]

See also

Works cited

  • Bishop, Ellen Morris (2003). In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-789-4

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference BES was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Thorson, T.D. (2003). "Ecoregions of Oregon (front side of color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs)" (pdf). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-06-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Reverse side here
  3. ^ "Smith and Bybee Wetlands". Metro. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  4. ^ Little, Charles E. (1990). Greenways for America. JHU Press. p. 78. ISBN 0801851408. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  5. ^ City Street Map: Portland, Gresham (Map) (2007 ed.). G.M. Johnson and Associates.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference gnislake was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference gnismouth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c d Bureau of Environmental Services (2002). "A Paddler's Access Guide: Columbia Slough" (pdf). City of Portland. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  9. ^ a b c Houck, Michael C., ed. (2000). Wild in the City. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 279–319. ISBN 0-87595-273-9. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b Evarts, Russell C. (2004). "Geologic Map of the Saint Helens Quadrangle, Columbia County, Oregon, and Clark and Cowlitz Counties, Washington". United States Geological Survey. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Washington DNR" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ Bishop, pp. 132–40
  12. ^ Bishop, pp. 174–75
  13. ^ Bishop, pp. 174–75
  14. ^ Bishop, pp. 192–93
  15. ^ Bishop, p. 226–29
  16. ^ Bishop, pp. 248–49.
  17. ^ Taylor, Barbara (December 1998). "Use by Indians" (pdf). Salmon and Steelhead Runs and Related Events of the Sandy River Basin - A Historical Perspective. Portland General Electric. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b c d Taylor, Barbara (1999). "Indian Use" (pdf). Salmon and Steelhead Runs and Related Events of the Clackamas River Basin: A Historical Perspective. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ a b "Chapter 3: A Brief History" (pdf). Columbia Slough: Current Characterization Documents. Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland. 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Multnomah Indians". Lewis and Clark Interactive Journey Log. National Geographic. 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Bureau of Planning (2001). "Guild's Lake Industrial Sanctuary Plan" (pdf). City of Portland. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

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