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British Columbia; some 1o5,000 sq. m. belong to the valley of the Snake and 11,700 to that of the Willamette. The source of the river is partly in the Yellowstone See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, partly near the Titon peaks, and partly in the See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine-clad mountains of British Columbia. Some See also:

AMERICAN

American geographers regard the See also:

head as that of the See also:

Clark See also:

FORK (Lat. furca)

Fork, but it is most generally taken to be in British Columbia about 8o m. north of the United States See also:

LINE

line. From this point it runs some 150 M. to the north-west to the " Big See also:

BEND

Bend," and then in a See also:

GREAT

great See also:

CURVE (Lat. curvus, bent)

curve southward, enclosing the superb ranges of the Selkirks, See also:

CROSSING

crossing the See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

international line near the boundary of See also:

Washington and See also:

IDAHO

Idaho, where it is joined by the Pend Oreille river, or Clark Fork, already referred to. This latter river rises in the Rocky Mountains west of See also:

Helena, See also:

MONTANA

Montana, falls with a heavy slope (1323 ft. in 167 m.) to its confluence with the See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

Flat-head, flows through See also:

Lake Pend Oreille (27 m.) in See also:

NORTHERN

northern Idaho, and runs in deep canyons (falling goo ft. in 200 m.) to its junction with the Columbia, which from this point continues almost due south for more than See also:

roe m. Here the Columbia is joined by the See also:

SPOKANE

Spokane, a large river with heavy fall, and enters the " Great See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

Plain of the Columbia," an See also:

AREA

area of some 22,000 sq. m., resembling the " parks " of See also:

COLORADO

Colorado, shut in on all sides by mountains: the See also:

Moses range to the north, the See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

Bitter See also:

Root and Cceur d'Alene on the See also:

east, the See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

Blue on the south, and the Cascades on the west. The See also:

SOIL

soil is See also:

rich, yielding great harvests of See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain, and the mountains rich in minerals as yet only slightly prospected. After breaking into this basin the river turns sharply to the west and skirts the northern See also:

mountain barrier for about 105 M. Where it strikes the confines of the Cascades, it is joined by the Okanogan, turns due south in the second Big Bend, and flows about 200 M. to its junction with the Snake near Wallula. After the confluence of the Snake with the Columbia the greater river turns west toward the Pacific. Throughout its course to this point it may be said that the Columbia has no See also:

flood plain; everywhere it is cutting its See also:

bed; almost every-where it is characterized by canyons, although above the Spokane the valley is much broken down and there is considerable timbered and fertile See also:

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")

bench See also:

LAND

land. Below the Spokane the See also:

CANYON (Anglicized form of Span. canon, a tube, pipe or cannon; the Spanish form being also frequently written)

canyon becomes more steep and rugged.

From the mouth of the Okanogan to Priests Rapids extends a superb canyon, with precipitous walls of See also:

black columnar See also:

BASALT

basalt loon to 3000 ft. in height. The finest portion is below the See also:

Rock See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island Rapids. In this See also:

PART

part of its course, along the Cascade range in the Great Plain and at its passage of the range westward, rapids and cascades particularly obstruct the imperfectly opened bed. In the See also:

LOWER

lower Columbia, See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation is first interrupted 16o m. from the mouth at the Cascades, a narrow See also:

GORGE

gorge across the Cascade range 4.5 m. See also:

long, where the river falls 24 ft. in 2500; the rapids are evaded by a See also:

canal constructed (1878–1896) by the Federal See also:

government, and by a See also:

PORTAGE

portage railway (r89o–1891). Fifty-three See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles above this are the Dalles, a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of falls, rapids and rock obstructions extending some 12 M. and ending at Celilo, 115 M. below Wallula, with a fall of 20 ft. There are also impediments just below the mouth of the Snake; others in the lower course of this river below Riparia; and almost continuous obstructions in the Columbia above Priests Rapids. The See also:

commerce of the Columbia is very important, especially that from See also:

Portland, See also:

Vancouver, See also:

ASTORIA

Astoria, and other outlets of the Willamette valley and the lower Columbia. The grain region of the Great Plain, the bottom-land orchards and grain See also:

field on the plateaus of the Snake, have not since 188o beendependent upon the See also:

WATER

water navigation for freighting, but in their See also:

INTEREST

interest costly attempts have been made to open the river below the Snake uninterruptedly to commerce. The Columbia is one of the greatest See also:

salmon streams of the See also:

WORLD

world (see See also:

OREGON

OREGON). The See also:

TONNAGE

tonnage of deep-See also:

sea vessels in and out over the See also:

bar at the river's mouth from 1890–1899 was 9,423,637 tons. From 1872–1899 the United States government expended for improvement of the Snake and Columbia $6,925,649. The mouth of the latter is the only deep-water See also:

HARBOUR (from M.E. hereberge, here, an army; cf. Ger. Heer and -beorg, protection or shelter. Other early forms in English were herberwe and haiborow, as seen in various place names, such as Market Harborough.. The French auberge, an inn, derived through

harbour between See also:

San Francisco and Cape Flattery (700 m.), and the only fresh water harbour of the Pacific See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast.

To facilitate its entrance, which, owing to bars, tides, winds, and the great See also:

DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. discharge, modern decharge, from a med. Lat. discargare, to unload, dis- and earn care, to load, cf. " charge ")

discharge of the river, has always been difficult, a great See also:

JETTY

jetty has been constructed (1885–1895, later enlarged) to scour the bars. It was about 4.5 miles long, and in 1903 See also:

WORK

work was begun to make it 2'5 miles longer. The tides are perceptible 15o m. above the mouth (mean See also:

TIDE (O. Eng. lid, cf. Ger. Zeit, time or season, connected with root of Sanskrit a-diti, endless)

tide at Astoria c. 6.2 ft.), the See also:

AVERAGE

average tidal flow at the mouth being about 1,000,000 cub. ft. per second; while the fresh water outflow is from 90,000 to 300,000 cub. ft. according to the See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of water, and as high as 1,000,000 cub. ft. in See also:

time of flood. Improvements were undertaken by the Federal government and a See also:

state See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission in 1902 in See also:

order to secure a 25-ft. channel from Portland to the sea. In 1792, and possibly also in 1788, the river mouth was entered by See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain See also:

Robert See also:

Gray (1755–1806) of See also:

Boston, See also:

Mass., who named the river after his own See also:

VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel. " Columbia," which name has wholly supplanted the earlier name, " Oregon." In 1804–1805 the river was explored by Meriwether See also:

Lewis and See also:

William Clark. Upon these discoveries the United States primarily based its claim to the territory now embraced in the states of Oregon and Washington.

End of Article: COLUMBIA RIVER

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