Building The ‘King Of Roads’ Documented
In Book Reprint
BOOK REVIEW
 This was named the Tunnel of Many Vistas, at Mitchell Point on the Columbia River. It had five great windows that looked out over the Columbia and the rugged peaks of the Cascade Range. At this point, cliffs extended almost to the water’s edge, with a railroad track between the river and the cliff at the base. In order to maintain an easy grade and go around the face of the cliff by the shortest route, it was necessary to bore this tunnel 100 feet above the railway track. Lancaster wrote, “This work will compare favorably with that of any road construction in all the world.” |
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Samuel C. Lancaster was the man who directed the original construction of the 73-mile Columbia River Highway, including its three tunnels, 18 bridges and seven viaducts. Beginning in Portland , it was the first paved highway to begin on the West Coast and head east. When completed, it connected the Pacific Northwest to the "inland Empire" and the last barrier overland to the Pacific Ocean was removed. Sam Lancaster was recruited by his good friend, the eccentric millionaire Sam Hill, and the two traveled together to Europe in 1908, studying highway engineering and construction techniques. In plotting the highway, Lancaster took advantage of every viewpoint the river gorge had to offer, curving it around places such as Crown Point and making sure it passed near places such as Multnomah Falls. The Columbia River Highway, called the "King of Roads" by the Portland Oregonian, was considered to be a broad thoroughfare, 24 feet in width! Multnomah County spent 1.25 million dollars to pave it and a few other trunk roads leading into Portland. It was completed in 1915, with no federal money spent on it, and highlighted the 1916 Portland Rose Festival. Following the completion of the work, Lancaster published his book, The Columbia, America's Great High way. It went into three editions, the last one published in 1926. In the original Preface, Lancaster writes, "I was profoundly impressed by [the Columbia's] majestic beauty and marveled at the creative power of God, who made it all. "The ever-changing lights and shadows from morning until night, made pictures rare and beautiful..., and I wondered if it were possible for some of them to be preserved by the new process of color photography. This proved to be entirely practical... And we were able to accomplish this... "While going back and forth over the Columbia River Highway during its construction I carried my camera in a rain-proof bag in all kinds of weather, that I might be ready when God painted the pictures." In addition to incorporating these pictures, 26 colored and 88 black and white, into his book, Lancaster told the story of the region and the natives, early missionaries, fur traders, soldiers and early pioneers. The third, 1926, edition of Lancaster's book, The Columbia, America's Great Highway through the Cascade Mountains to the Sea, has now been reprinted by Schiffer Publishing. Read the story of the building of the highway in the chief engineer's own words, and illustrated with his own photographs. This reprint, printed in 2004, is available from Schiffer Publishing, 4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310; (610) 593-1777 or online at www.schifferbooks.com. It is priced at $12.95. Donna Miller Return to Index |
