The first white men to traverse this stretch of the Columbia River were the explorers, Lewis and Clark and their companions. They arrived from the vicinity of Lewiston, Idaho, on October 22nd, 1805, traveling by water in pirogues hewn and burned from the trunks of trees cut near the forks of the Koos-koos-kee or Clearwater River. Captain Clark personally guided the passage of those clumsy canoes through the, "Short and Long Narrows" (now known as Ten and Five Mile Rapids)[1] without mishap, his men being stationed at intervals on the rocks with ropes made of elk skin to lend assistance if necessary, while the Indians lined the edge of the channel staring in wonder at both men and boats. Their equipment and scientific instruments were all carried for the sake of safety along the trail on the north side of the River. The following spring when returning these explorers did not attempt to bring their canoes above Three Mile Rapids below The Dalles, but proceeded along the north side of the River, some on foot and some upon horses.
The first white man to portage on the south side of the River where the Dalles-Celilo Canal has been dug was also an explorer at the time, although a fur trader associated with the North- West Company of Canada. This was David Thompson, already mentioned, and the first to build any trading post upon its waters, and a very remarkable man. He upon that occasion traveled down stream in a large canoe built of boards sawed from cedar trees near Kettle Falls and sewn (not nailed) together, and manned by a crew of seven experienced voyageurs, but did not dare to run through these Dalles during the extreme high water of that year. His canoe was carried over the portage and put into the water at Big Eddy about 8 A. M. on July 11th, 1811, and on July 3ist he returned across the same path, but had to stand guard all night to prevent serious depredations by the residents of Wishram. He had been on a visit to the mouth of the River where "Fort Astoria"
- ↑ Five and Ten Mile Rapids are so designated by the government engineers, being that distance from the boat landing at the City of The Dalles. This is in perpetuity of the method of naming Three Mile, Five Mile and Ten Mile Creeks during 1850-60 along the Portage Wagon Road around The Dalles.
