| This view is from a roadside memorial that commemorates the upstream
end of the natural navigable river (prior to construction of the dams) near
the western end of the Columbia River Gorge near Portland. Under the direction
of the British Admiralty, Captain GeorgeVancouver was sent to explore the
Pacific Coast of North America. Vancouver sent the ship, HMS Chatin commanded
by William Robert Bouden, to explore the navigable extent of the Columbia
River. The ship reached this point of the river in late October of 1792.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached this point in late fall of 1805. |