The Corps Portland District office traces its beginnings to April 17, 1871, when Maj. Henry M. Robert stepped off the steamship Oriflamme onto Portlands bustling waterfront. Robert was there to open the Corps Portland Engineers Office--the forerunner of Portland District. He rented a single room in the Portland First National Bank Building as office space; installed one desk, one paper case, one map case, and four office chairs; then hired a clerk for $150 a month. The goals of the local office were loftier than the actual facility: to eliminate impediments to navigation in the regions rivers and to obtain a precise knowledge of the territory. The regions network of waterways provided the means to export wheat and mining rushes, to import supplies, and to transport passengers. But boats had to be portaged around Cascade Rapids and Celilo Falls with mule-powered tramways. Drifting sandbars caused vessels to run aground and sometimes sink. Snags and debris in the rivers were constant dangers to shipping and coastal harbors were far from safe. For more information, visit our History of the Portland District module at: nwp.usace.army.mil/About.aspx
Posted on: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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