St. Helens

INTRODUCTION

Viewing the city of St. Helens from the Columbia River, with its iconic basalt courthouse and clock tower rising elegantly above the docks and pleasure boats, it is hard to imagine an expanse of nearly impenetrable, first-growth forest. The craggy face of the basalt cliffs loomed in the north, while a length of beach met the river to the south. Locals say that the explorers Lewis and Clark camped here in 1805, under a particular tree that was protected for the next century, and then cut down—its story lost. Here, 86 miles from the river’s mouth on the Pacific Coast, early pioneers found a deep-water port near untouched timber, with a mild climate and a river full of salmon and sturgeon the size of small children.

But this newfound paradise already belonged to someone else.

Along this stretch, the Chinook Indians had dwelt for thousands of years—establishing mature societies in synch with the cycles of river and forest. Explorer George Gibbs, who mapped the area, wrote in 1877, The position of the Tsinuk [sic] . . . was most important. Occupying both sides of the great artery of Oregon for a distance of 200 miles, they possessed the principal thoroughfare between the interior and the ocean, boundless resources . . . and facilities for trade almost unequalled on the Pacific.

Newcomers arrived with diseases unknown to the Indians. From 1829 to 1834, thousands died from smallpox, measles, and influenza. Nathaniel Wyeth, who settled on Sauvie Island in 1834, wrote that [A] mortality has carried off to a man [the island’s] inhabitants, and there is nothing to attest that they ever existed except their decaying houses, their graves and unburied bones, of which they are in heaps.

More waves of outsiders arrived. Oregon historian Joseph Gaston wrote in 1912 that they at first detected no differences among these people of the forest and plain. They were all simply Indians. Soon, the differences became more evident. The Upper Chinookan people along the Columbia lived in villages with a governing headman, who acknowledged the power of a regional chief such as Chief Comcomly and, later, Chief Cassino. In this area, Gaston named 59 unique groups whose tribal names were connected to their village sites. Collectively, those who lived on or around Sauvie Island were the Wapato people—named for the abundant root vegetable.

Some 25,000 to 35,000 pioneers entered the Oregon Territory between 1850 and 1855. They pushed the United States government to relocate remaining natives from the land they wished to settle. In 1850, Congress passed the Oregon Indian Act, through which the president appointed a board of commissioners to make treaties and give homeland rights to the non-native settlers. By 1910, the few remaining tribal members were relocated to the Grande Ronde Reservation in a merciless walk called the Oregon Trail of Tears. The St. Helens–area Chinook refused to be grouped with the others and went unrecognized for decades when reparations were paid.

For the non-native settlers, the decision to move west was not for the weak. St. Helens pioneers risked death to venture into an untamed wilderness of dense forests, dangerous currents, and perceived and real enemies. They sailed around Cape Horn from Maine and Massachusetts, or they journeyed overland, jostling across the prairies and mountains on a raw wagon road in arduous conditions. The new arrivals were European, Canadian, and American, and among them were sea captains, traders, shopkeepers, laborers, homemakers, industrialists, and farmers. Everyone was from someplace else.

Newcomers, particularly the sea captains, saw wealth in the timber. They had traveled the world and knew of potential markets. They bought and built mills, then used their own vessels to transport cargo worldwide. On May 16, 1850, the Oregon Spectator advertised that the Town of Milton is situated on the lower branch of the Willamette River, just above its junction with the Columbia. The advantages of its location speak for themselves. All we ask is for our friends to [come] and see the place. For particulars apply to Crosby & Smith, Portland and Milton.

Soon after came Uncle Sam’s offer of free land through the Donation Land Claim Act. Thousands more arrived, and multiple Columbia River town sites, including St. Helens, were surveyed and platted. The numbered north-to-south streets on today’s map were not part of the original plan, which used the names of the seasons, various trees and flowers, and the local chief.

For a time, St. Helens was in strident competition with the Little Stump Town (as founder Henry Knighton derisively called Portland) as upriver shipping’s major port. In 1847, Portland was home to about 100, and were it not for the clever one-upmanship of Portland politicians and the dollars they poured into seizing the title, St. Helens might be the size of Portland today.

The Knighton, Muckle, McCormick, Perry, Ross, Crouse, and Kelley families were the visionaries who built up St. Helens and nearby Houlton—creating an economic and social network in which they and others could prosper. The city would bounce back from disasters such as floods, fire, and economic downturns. Brick and basalt buildings would replace the fragile wood frames. Rails and wagon roads would open up trade and transportation. Families would know friendship and hardship, society and tradition, and through it all, work. Somehow, even through the Great Depression and the war years, local mills, forests, and factories continued to employ hard-working folks—earning St. Helens the nickname Payroll City.

The decades rolled by, and St. Helens and Houlton merged and became two distinct districts—Downtown and Uptown—with restaurants, local shopping, and chain outlets. Never too big that they would ignore the old-school favorites, locals patronize such long-standing businesses as Dari Delish, Semling’s, Richardson’s, the Klondike, the Kozy Korner, Bertucci’s, Zatterberg’s, Sherlock’s, and the West Street Grocery. The country estate of Hamlin and Nellie McCormick, now within the city limits, is today’s McCormick Park—a favorite attraction for its picnic areas, playgrounds, baseball diamonds, trails, and skateboard and BMX tracks.

Even as it matures, St. Helens still recognizes its roots. In 1984, many blocks of familiar businesses and homes were included in the designation of the St. Helens Downtown National Historic District, and leaders continue to seek ways to capitalize on its unique waterfront history. Locals congregate in the plaza and at Columbia View Park for the Spirit of Halloweentown celebration, the Fourth of July fireworks, and music festivals such as 13 Nights on the River. They also join the fun runs and sample food and crafts on lazy summer days.

Today, much of the workforce commutes 30 minutes