Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1824, there was trouble with the Indians at Celilo. Their control of the portage practically prohibited other Indians from traveling between Celilo and the lower Cascades. They acted as traders, purchasing commodities from the Indians above Celilo and other commodities from those below the lower Cascades, thus acting as both buyers and sellers, making a profit out of both ends of the transaction, and keeping the trade wholly in their own hands. Until about 1883 transportation companies had and exercised substantially the same control as did the Indians in the earlier days. Prior to the time of the completion of the railway along the Columbia River traffic could be handled only by steamer, and a portage around Celilo Falls was necessary. Competition on the river was impossible, as the company controlling the portage would not transport goods over its road for steamboats other than its own. Even with the completion of the railway and the substitution of rail for water transportation, this obstruction in the river continued dominant, and not only prevented the use of the river for navigation, but also helped to maintain high rates by rail.
Thus we find that whether the portage was in the hands of Indian or Anglo-Saxon it served its hold-up purpose equally well. Indeed it would be difficult to capitalize and put in exact figures the value which in the past this obstruction to commerce has represented to those in control of it. It would run to a magnificent amount, and, if it could have been continued indefinitely, with the growth and development of this country it would have become a prize well worth striving for. Perhaps the history of this portage will serve to explain why so much opposition to similar projects, such as the Panama Canal, and indeed to the improvement of waterways generally, is made.
So far as Celilo is concerned, however, the shackles are broken. The river is free at last, and tolls based on the control of this portage will no longer be levied either by red
