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Rock, Water, and Gravity: Alchemy Along the Willamette

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Rock, Water, and Gravity: Alchemy Along the Willamette Portland State University PDXScholar Metroscape Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Winter 2015 Rock, Water, and Gravity: Alchemy Along the Willamette Andrée Tremoulet Portland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/metroscape Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Tremoulet, Andrée (2015). "Rock, Water, and Gravity: Alchemy Along the Willamette," Winter 2015 Metroscape, p. 6-12. This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Metroscape by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Photograph: Mark Gamba Rock, Water & Gravity: Alchemy Along the Willamette by AndréeTremoulet ven those who know it well are Proponents claim that the Willamette challenged to find a single word Falls Legacy Project will transform this Ethat conveys the enduring power part of the metropolitan region by com- and magnetism of Willamette Falls. Cen- bining access to an unparalleled natural turies before European or American set- resource and an historic site with new tlers had set foot in the region, it was an economic activity. Ultimately, the project important site for fishing, trading, and will include public access to the falls, a community gatherings for Native Ameri- restored urban fabric that extends his- can tribes and bands. Later, the falls were toric downtown Oregon City, and a new a magnet to early industrialists and city mixed-use development for dwellers, do- builders of the 1800s, who harnessed ers, diners, drinkers, artists, makers, stroll- its energy to power mills that processed ers, cyclists, nature-lovers, and, potential- lumber, wool, grain, and paper. ly, boaters. With the possibility of up-close public This vision is rooted in four core values, access now surfacing for the first time derived from and vetted through a robust in more than a century, Willamette Falls public planning process: public access, If we do it is the inspiration for a new partnership economic development, healthy habitat, right, it might involving state, regional, and local public and historic and cultural interpretation. agencies and a private developer to rede- “It will attract people not just from attract people velop the former 22-acre Blue Heron Pa- around the region, but it will attract peo- from around per Company mill site just southwest of ple from around the country,” says Metro the world. downtown Oregon City—a project called Councilor Carlotta Collette (Metro Coun- — Carlotta Collette the Willamette Falls Legacy Project. cil District 2). “If we do it right, it might attract people from around the world.” Page 6 Metroscape The Magnetism of the Falls To understand the excitement about the project, you have to experience Willamette Falls. The river roars and sends up plumes of mist as it plunges down a The river 40-foot drop. The sheer quantity of water roars and cascading over the basalt ledges makes sends up Willamette Falls second only in volume Joseph Drayton, U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1841 plumes of mist to Niagara Falls among North American things: a source of energy for powering as it plunges waterfalls. Its Chinuk Wawa name, t Nwata, refers to “the thundering heartbeat of industry and an obstacle to river traffic. In down a 40- the falls,” according to Michael Karnosh, 1827, John McLoughlin, a fur trader with foot drop. Ceded Lands Program Manager of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the putative Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. “Father of Oregon,” decided to move his Karnosh says that the falls and the area headquarters from Astoria to Fort Van- around it is one of the region’s most cul- couver. He blasted a mill race through the turally significant places to the 27 tribes basalt near the falls for a saw mill to serve and bands that are members of the Grand the fort. Later, he built a gristmill. By 1829, Ronde. According to a Santiam Kala- the settlement that would become incor- puya legend, in ancient times, Coyote and porated as Oregon City in 1844 (earning Meadowlark created the falls by dropping it the epithet of “first incorporated city a rope across the river. The rope formed west of the Rockies”) began to take shape the falls as a place where the people could around the falls. catch salmon and other fish that would The falls were also a site for early exper- otherwise be beyond reach, deep in the imentation in harnessing hydropower for river. electricity. In 1889, the nation’s first long- In 1889, the “Because of the abundance of re- distance transmission of electricity oc- nation's first sources, it became a gathering and trading curred there. Power generated at the falls long-distance was sent from Oregon City to Portland‘s place,” explains Karnosh. The band built transmission scaffolding for fishing and either traded Goose Hollow, a distance of approxi- salmon for other goods with their neigh- mately 12 miles. Today, Portland General of electricity bors or allowed them to fish from their Electric operates one of the nation’s old- occurred platforms in exchange for a quarter of est currently running hydroelectric facili- there. their catch. ties at the site. Today, the falls still play an important Although the falls were a boon to in- role in community life. Karnosh says that dustry, they were an obstacle to river traf- “Tribal people are closely connected to fic. To solve this problem, People’s Trans- the falls. The Grand Ronde still go up to portation Company built Willamette Falls the falls in boats, still swim behind the Locks in 1873, amid ill omens and corpo- waterfalls, and catch lamprey. The Grande rate intrigue. Tribal members refused to Ronde does the first spring ceremony for work on its construction for fear of awak- the Chinook at Willamette Falls.” ening the monster whose tongue, legend To white settlers, the falls meant two held, was buried on the west side of the Metroscape Page 7 Who’s Who The Public Partners falls. A rail company attempted to sabotage the Oregon City opening of the locks by monopolizing all the • Led land-use master plan and rezoning of the site riverboats that might use it. After several chang- • Approved $100,000 investment annually for 10 years • Identified one-time capital investment for Riverwalk im- es in private ownership, the federal government provements purchased the locks in 1915. Until it was put in Clackamas County “Caretaker Status” by the U.S. Army Corps of • Contributed $100,000 to land-use master plan and federal Engineers in 2006, it had been the oldest con- lobbying efforts tinuously operating multiple-lift lock system in Metro the country. • Led site due-diligence efforts In the latter half of the 20th century, paper • Contributed more than $450,000 to fund environmental production became the pre-eminent industrial assessments, survey, appraisal, title research, structural use on the Oregon City side of the falls. Mills investigations, and historical analyses operated under a succession of corporate own- • Contributed $400,000 to land-use master plan ers, including Hawley Pulp and Paper, Publish- State of Oregon ers Paper Company, and Smurfit Stone Contain- • Contributed $5 million in state lottery funds for Riverwalk er Corporation, the nation’s largest producer of development, contingent upon the availability of funds from other sources to complete its design and construction cardboard box materials. In 2000, Smurfit sold • Provided a $65,000 brownfield grant for an environmental the mill to the employees and a New York pri- assessment vate equity fund through the formation of an • Provided photo documentation and consultation on historic Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The result- elements ing Blue Heron Paper Company recycled used • Designated project as a “Regional Priority” to receive sup- paper and produced newsprint, bag papers, and port from state agencies specialty paper products. Property Owners Alchemy: From Liability to Asset Falls Legacy, LLC: George Heidgerken, principal Faced with a declining market and increased • Purchased 22-acre site from bankruptcy trustee in May costs, Blue Heron Paper Mill announced its clo- 2014 sure on February 24, 2011. The initial impact on • Dedicated a 120-foot-wide waterfront easement for the Oregon City was dark and dramatic. The loss Riverwalk in December 2014 • Committed to pay 20 percent of the design and prelimi- of 175 jobs and the closure of the city’s largest nary engineering expenses for Riverwalk—approximately for-profit business was a significant blow, says $900,000 Mayor Doug Neeley. The closure came on top • Committed to pay at least 20 percent of the future main- of the temporary construction-related closure tenance and operation expenses of the Riverwalk in per- of the nearby Arch Bridge, a vital path to down- petuity town Oregon City. In December 2011, the U.S. Portland General Electric Army Corps of Engineers closed the Willamette • Owns one of the nation’s oldest currently operating hydro- Falls Locks permanently due to safety concerns. electric facilities at the site In the short term, state and local agencies • In December 2014, dedicated an easement that provides a partnered to create a one-stop location for in- public right-of-way across the dam, offering an electrifying formation and up to two years of job training view of the falls assistance available under the Federal Trade Act U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the displaced workers. The Oregon City • Owns Willamette Falls Locks, constructed in 1872 by a pri- vate company Main Street Program responded with a robust • Closed locks in 2011 due to safety concerns calendar of special events to draw more cus- • Consulting with community on the future of the locks, per tomers downtown and also worked with the city the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act Page 8 Metroscape to secure $2.5 million for street enhance- economic development, healthy habitat, ments from the Oregon Department of and historic and cultural interpretation.
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