Astoria’s Bold Gambit on the Snake River
A delegation of marine experts is surveying the Snake River to pioneer new steamship routes connecting Lewiston to the Pacific Coast.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Astoria has just cause for grievance at Portland, in that there has been small inclination in the past to work together for the commerce of the Columbia River. This year, by the completion of the Dalles-Celilo canal and locks, a new factor is to be reckoned with—Lewiston, Idaho, and the Snake River. A party representing the Port of Astoria, including Marine Architect Curtis, Engineer Hodgman, and Captain Arthur Riggs, is spending about seven days making an inspection of the Snake River between Lewiston and its mouth, preliminary to the building of steamers to be operated between Lewiston and Astoria. These investigations will include soundings and current readings at all points where the navigation of the river presents problems. The data will be used in an appeal to congress for the further improvement of the Snake River. It is the intention to have the boats built during the winter so that the through service to Astoria can be inaugurated early next spring.
“Astoria has built municipal docks that would be a credit to even Portland. It needs business for the new docks, and instead of sitting down and whining because it does not come, it gets up and goes after it.”
This reflects the ongoing, century-long struggle to balance river navigation, commerce, and environmental impacts on the Snake River. Just as Astoria fought for its own economic viability, modern communities along the Columbia and Snake continue to debate the future of the river's dams and shipping infrastructure.
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