Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

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chameleon
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Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by chameleon » October 15th, 2015, 8:46 am

early high bridge on eagle creek cropped 1.jpg
Given it's nearing the centennial of the construction of the Eagle Creek Trail in the Gorge (1916), I thought I'd share a photo I was lucky enough to find in an antique store a couple years back. It's a fiber-based print of what must be the original bridge over Eagle Creek where High Bridge is today. And it's made of wood (of course)! :) Anyway, I thought my fellow Gorge buffs might enjoy seeing it. In my opinion, it's one of the most iconic Gorge images around.
early high bridge on eagle creek for ph.jpg
And here's an article I wrote up on it for examiner: http://www.examiner.com/article/eagle-c ... mbia-gorge

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Bosterson
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by Bosterson » October 15th, 2015, 11:16 am

Very neat. Nice find, Zach!
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chameleon
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by chameleon » October 15th, 2015, 11:30 am

Thanks! Yeah, I really love the photo. I've got a lot of cool old Gorge postcards and various articles and prints now, but it's definitely one of the neatest pieces I've found. :)

Limey
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by Limey » October 16th, 2015, 7:18 am

I found this to be very timely after Chameleons post. Today's historic hood river post.http://historichoodriver.com/images/201 ... 3-0025.jpg
Chameleon, do you by chance have this picture in your collection? It would be nice to positively identify the spot.




Marilyn

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miah66
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by miah66 » October 16th, 2015, 8:24 am

Great pics, all! I love looking at them an imagining what life was like then. Imagine how raw and wild the Columbia Gorge was in those days, no dams or highways.
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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by Waffle Stomper » October 16th, 2015, 4:49 pm

Wonderful find.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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chameleon
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by chameleon » October 16th, 2015, 6:04 pm

Thanks guys! I knew there had to be some others who loved old images of our wonderful area! Marilyn, no I haven't seen that pic before, but it's fantastic! Given it's a weister studio photo, I imagine it'd probably be possible to track down the exact location, if the Oregon Historical Society has an inventory of their pics. Wherever it was,that's a lot of dapper fellows for one small bridge! Luv that simple bridge design!

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Splintercat
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by Splintercat » November 13th, 2015, 10:36 pm

Hey Zach -- hope you don't mind, but I couldn't resist a comparison...

Image

...and it looks like the leaning tree might (ironically) be the sole survivor of the past century in this scene..! I'll have to take a better comparison photo next time I'm up there. I'm always fascinated by trees that quietly survive over the years as generations of frail humans come and go...

Tom :-)

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retired jerry
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by retired jerry » November 14th, 2015, 6:31 am

good comparison photo

the distance between the two vertical cliffs of the left is slightly bigger on your picture, so you're closer, but it's real close to the same?

funny that the leaning tree is the one that survived. A little bigger diameter in your picture. The branches that had needles on them are just snags in your picture. 95 years probably too short a time for a new tree to grow and then ground slides so it leans.

(peabody stage #8 :) )

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Guy
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Re: Eagle Creek's Original High Bridge

Post by Guy » April 17th, 2017, 6:04 am

The old leaning tree has finally succumbed to gravity and fallen across the gorge. It's still rooted in though & looks like it will continue to live!

Image
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