The River Highway Revolution
The Port of Astoria proposed a new steamship line to bridge the Columbia and Snake rivers, linking Kennewick's inland commerce to the ocean.
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.
The Port of Astoria commission has instructed its ways and means committee to ascertain facts with respect to the establishment and operation of a line of independent steamboats on the Columbia river from Astoria to Pasco and Kennewick and eventually on the Snake river to Lewiston, Idaho, and Asotin, Washington. The tentative plan is to build or purchase light draft boats with a carrying capacity of 500 tons that can be operated through the Celilo canal. It was the unanimous opinion of all present that an independent steamship line between Astoria and interior points would be a great stimulus to the commerce of the Columbia river and that the scheme would work nicely in connection with the municipal docks now under construction at Smith’s Point. Engineer Walsh stated that the Grace line of steamships had announced its intention of making Astoria a port of call. Governors of Oregon, Washington and Idaho recently named a joint committee to gather information with a view to the location of highways to be used in connection with river traffic, and to report on eligible sites for public wharves. The members of the committee include Samuel Hill of Maryhill and Geo. F. Richardson of Kennewick.
“It was the unanimous opinion of all present that an independent steamship line between Astoria and interior points would be a great stimulus to the commerce.”
The dream of a fully integrated water-highway-rail transport system once defined the economic future of the Tri-Cities. The infrastructure projects discussed here foreshadowed the large-scale river management that would later be cemented by the damming of the Columbia and Snake rivers.
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