Historic Columbia River Highway
The Dalles, OR

This is the largest city in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, with a population of about 12,000. Recreation here includes windsurfing, white-water rafting, fishing, and camping. Much of the town's past remains in its 19th-century churches and homes.

The Dalles is French for 'the trough,' more specifically, the trough of the Columbia River. Before the dams, The Dalles was a dangerous area for boats due to whirlpools and rapids. The Dalles is one of the oldest inhabited locations in North America, serving as a center of Native American trade for at least the past 10,000 years. Lewis and Clark arrived in The Dalles in 1805, and the first homes were built in the 1830s.

Known as the end of the Oregon Trail, The Dalles was where pioneers loaded their wagons onto rafts or barges and floated down the Columbia to the mouth of the Willamette River, then upriver to Oregon City. The Barlow Trail was constructed later to permit an overland crossing.

The Dalles was also the site of Fort Dalles. Established in 1850 to protect immigrants after the Whitman massacre, it was the only military post between the Pacific Coast and Wyoming. The only building left of Fort Dalles is the Surgeon's Quarters, which has been incorporated into the Fort Dalles Museum (541-296-4547).