I'm a displaced Oregonian, but even after all the years living in Spain I still have vivid memories of the Colombia River. From living near Astoria and sturgeon fishing, to rafting, boating and Croppie/Crappie fishing trips, to living in Eastern Oregon and always passing through The Gorge - the Colombia River truly was the river that plays in the background of many of my memories.
But I wonder how many people - Oregonians amongst them - realize that the actual name for this mighty river is Catholic in origen, and relates to St. Columba (see the post on St. Columbkille: There Is A Grey Eye) and the Virgin Mary.
In 1775, the Spaniard Bruno de Heceta was placed in charge of three boats, the Santiago (St James), San Carlos (Saint Charles) and the Sonora. His mission was to sail up the Pacific Coast to not only discover new land for the Spanish crown, but to also offset the encroachment of the Russians.Initially, Bruno de Heceta thought the Columbia River was the Juan de Fuca Straits, however he quickly realized that in fact it was the mouth of a large river. However, Bruno de Heceta was unsuccessful in his attempts to enter the river, which as any local knows that the Columbia bar can be particularily difficult to navegate.
Neverthless, Bruno de Heceta named the area the "Bahía de la Asunción" or "Assumption Bay," in honor of the Virgin Mary's Assumption into Heaven.
Bruno de Heceta went on to explore the coastal lands of Oregon and Washington, naming them for Spain.
It is upon that backdrop that, as as many school-children know, Captain Robert Gray in 1792 sailed into the Pacific Northwest aboard a ship called the Columbia, (although more correctly called the Columbia Rediviva) to trade for fur and "discovered" the mightiest river of the west.
The Columbia Rediviva was, according to Wikipedia, "originally built in 1773 by James Briggs at Hobart’s Landing on North River and named simply the Columbia. The ship was then rebuilt in 1787, this is where the rediviva comes from as this means revived. The ship was decommissioned and salvaged in 1806. A replica of Lady Washington and is located at Grays Harbor Historical Seaport in Aberdeen, Washington. The name was re-used by the Space Shuttle Columbia by NASA."What is often forgotten - or perhaps overlooked in history courses - is that the Columbia Rediviva was named after the Irish and Scottish patron saint St Columba (St Columbkille), in recognition of the Gaelic saint also being viewed as a sailor - after all he did sail in the sixth century AD from Ireland to found a monastery on the island of Iona in Scotland (for the full story on this read St. Columbkille: There Is A Grey Eye).
As an aside, the song Roll on Columbia was ...
part of the Columbia River Ballads, a set of 26 songs written by Guthrie as part of a commission by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the federal agency created to sell and distribute power from the river's federal hydroelectric facilities, in particular the Bonneville Dam and Grand Coulee Dam. At the time, the agency was facing a controversy because several counties in Washington and Oregon had begun construction of their own dams on the Columbia, outside of the federal jurisdiction. On the recommendation of Alan Lomax, the BPA hired Guthrie to write a set of propaganda songs about the federal projects to gain support for federal regulation of hydroelectricity.
As part of the effort, Guthrie, who was from Oklahoma and knew little about the Pacific Northwest, was driven all around Washington and Oregon to gain inspiration from the sites of the Columbia and its tributaries. Guthrie was glad he was able to tour and get a feel for the area, commenting that "these Pacific Northwest songs and ballads have all got these personal feelings for me because I was there on these very spots and very grounds before."
Of the Columbia River Ballads "Roll on, Columbia" was by far the most popular. Because of the song's message and popularity, it was established as the official folk song of the State of Washington in 1987.
Lyrics
Chorus:
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn
So roll on, Columbia, roll on.
The song begins with the chorus and it is sung after each verse. The phrase "darkness to dawn" is a reference about how hydroelectric power was bringing electricity to homes in rural areas, which had never had it before.
Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew
Canadian Northwest to the oceans so blue
Roll on Columbia, roll on
The Columbia River rises in British Columbia, in the alpine forests of the Cascades and northern Rockies. The river runs from southern Canada to the Pacific Ocean at the border between Washington and Oregon.
Other great rivers add power to you
Yakima, Snake, and the Klickitat, too
Sandy, Willamette and Hood River too
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
This verse talks about some of the Columbia's tributaries. These rivers themselves are fairly grand and they add to the Columbia's prowess.
Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Thomas Jefferson's vision of Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United State would extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, began to be realized when the Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the mouth of the Columbia in 1805.
It's there on your banks that we fought many a fight
Sheridan's boys in the blockhouse that night
They saw us in death but never in flight
So roll on Columbia, roll on
Later in the 19th century, when white settlers followed the Oregon Trail westward, they were met with resistance from the Native Americans. This verse talks about a battle with a congress of the northwestern tribes in the area surrounding Cascade Locks on the Washington bank of the Columbia. If the Indians had taken this blockhouse, they would have continued on into Oregon and to the Willamette Valley. However, they were stopped when Philip Henry Sheridan sailed across the river from Fort Vancouver with reinforcements and cannon.
At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks
The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks
Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Bonneville Dam, the first dam built on the Columbia, had locks built into it so ships could navigate past it. There was a lot of concern that the dams would prevent the shipment of goods and passengers along the length of the river.
And on up the river is Grand Coulee Dam
The mightiest thing ever built by a man
To run the great factories and water the land (in some versions reads "To run the great factories for Ol' Uncle Sam")
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Grand Coulee Dam, the second dam built on the Columbia was the biggest slab of concrete in existence at the time of its construction. The electricity it generated was used in many kinds of industry, and the water in Lake Roosevelt, Grand Coulee's reservoir, was used for irrigation.
These mighty men labored by day and by night
Matching their strength 'gainst the river's wild flight
Through rapids and falls, they won the hard fight
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Construction of a river-spanning dam is not easy. The river must be diverted while it's being built. The workers had to create channels for the water to flow around the construction site and make sure the areas would stay dry. For the time, building Grand Coulee and Bonneville was one of the greatest achievements of the United States.
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