Oral History

Columbia Slough Memories

"There was always something to do in old St. Johns. Fishing along the banks of the Willamette River, Gatton Lake, the Columbia Slough and River. In the early summer months one could walk to the Bybee Dam where you could catch crappies and bass, some of which weighed in the neighborhood of two pounds. Catfish were thick along the Willamette, the best spot seemed to be where Shaver had their log rafts tied up near Terminal #4. The lakes west of the flour mills abounded in ducks and geese and other game.

The Willamette River was so clean in those days. . . " George Tennant in St. Johns Heritage, Volume 5, Jan. 1997

"A memorable event occurred during that time [around 1934] when a young whale took a wrong turn and swam up the Columbia River. It got sidetracked into the Columbia Slough and there it stopped. No doubt it was bewildered. It became top priority for everyone to see. Traffic was at a standstill all daylight hours. Folks parked and walked tothe site. A man in a boat shot and killed the whale. It was hung in the City Hall for a short time until the odor became unbearable!" June Armstrong Cusic in St. Johns Heritage, Volume 5, Jan. 1997, 29.

"I remember when a whale was seen in the Oregon Slough. It was later killed with a harpoon. . . " Earl Stevens, born 1903, Kenton History, 146.

"In summer my mother took us to Five Mile Lake. . . There was a raft with a diving board on it and when we dove under, Duke [their dog] would bark and go down after us. As we got older, we could cross the tracks and swim in Three Corner Lake. It ws deeper and steeper, without shallow places and had no beach area." Elsie NaSmythe Norris, St. Johns Heritage, Volume 5, Jan. 1997, 31.

"All the land below Reno Street where Sitton School is now was a playground for us. It had hazelnuts galor, pussy willows and wild roses. There were lots of little mounds in the ground and we were 'kings of the mountains'. Some low spots had depressions that held water and we named them as lakes. Many a fanciful day was spent there. The trees on the other side of the railroad tracks were thick and it was dark among them so we called them the black woods. We'd go over a stile, cross the tracks and meander up a hill. The hill was later cut off to build the St. Johns incinerator which now houses the Portland Archives. Coming down we'd be on the road which led to the slough. It was a dusty old road bordered by a split rail fence and could be followed o you would eventually come out at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers." Florence Denton Evans, St. Johns Heritage, Jan. 1997, 37-38.

"There were some tough kids in the project [St. Johns Woods wartime federal housing project]. Some areas I wouldn't venture into without being accompaniedby my big sister. There was a gully that ran north from Oswego down to the slough which I used as a shortcut. I would hurry on through it, on the lookout for marauding toughies." June Eilenstine, St. Johns Heritage, Jan. 1997, 45-46.

"A wooded ground between the sloughs ended at Catfish Point [there were three inlets to the slough near Ramsey Lake]. The current of the Columbia Slough and the back water of the mud slough formed a wide space of water. On the down stream an island with willows and cottonwoods again separated the flwoing current and the still water which ended at the St. Johns Landfill was called the Blind Slough. Mud turtles sunned on the fallen treees and dead heads in this still slough near Smith Lake that had once connected to Bybee Lake.

Van De Bouvier rowed in his scow and the collie dog chased the cows to the basin adn they plunged in and swam over to Smith Lake. The faces of the gallant herd swimming the slough were photographed by a reporter for the Saturday Evening Post and their picture was on the cover in 1916. . .

My grandmother, Lizzie Cook and my mother, Nadean Holmes and I caught catfish on throw lines and angle worms in the Ogden Slough in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Dan drove their lively horses from Dan's Restaurant on Ivanhoe and Burlington Street to the best fishing places on the Columbia Slough. Bamboo fish poles were tied to the side of hte buggy. Mr. and Mrs. Dean came home with sixty catfish on a string. The two bachelor brothers on Oswego and Seneca Street were fishermen on nice days. Ernie Milhon and "mudcat" Johnny Jewston lived on the slough, weather permitting. A fisherman cut down a bee tree on the slough to get its store of honey. . . .

Evergreen, cedar, yew and fir were in the uncleared woods along with wild cherry, maple, alder and ash. Scotland wild roses and blackberry bushes covered the sunny spots. Violets, starts, johnny jump-ups, daisies and trilliums were everywhere. Wood loving birds retreated there - robins, chick-a-dees, sparrows, blue birds, canaries, blue jays, woodpeckers, thrushes, sapsuckers, gross beaks, wrens, finches, Oregon cat birds, hummingbirds and swifts. Swallows fastned their mud nests on the barn eaves. Bobwhite quail, whip-poor-wills, pigeons, turtle doves, pheasant, crows and hawks stayed near the fields.

Skunks and cottontail rabbits hid in the thickets, but liked to be seen. Pine squirrels munched in the trees. "Grey-diggers" perched on the track rails and burrowed in the fields. Bald head eagles flew above from the coast range to the mountains of the Cascades. . .

Rising water in the June freshet flooded the slough and lakes. Pools became spawning beds for crappies, perch, bass, sun fish, chubs, catfish, mudcats, carp, suckers, crawfish and rare flying fish. Sandy Scales said the Columbia was the Sandy River, one and the same time at an early time.

At daybreak, fish jumped as far as the eye could see. The hungry fish were catchnig ladybugs, snails, earth worms, cut worms, caterpillars, dragon flies, moths, grass hoppers, butterflies, flies, bees, mud dobbers, mice, frogs and minnows. Sandhill cranes stood in Bybee lake waiting to catch a fish.

Kingfishers flew close above the water. A flying fish skimmed in flight. A flying squirrel crossed over. The Oregon Fishing Guide advertised the best bass fishing slough to be the Bybee Slough.

Al Krutsky trapped beaver, otter, mink and muskrats in Smigh Lake to sell the pelts to fur buyers. . . Owing to its loss of water, Smith Lake has lost its wter fowl. Willow and alder brush has sprung up in Smith Lake. . .

Gypsies came to the woods of East St. Johns in horse drawn wagons and stayed a good part of the summer. In 1915, the Gypsy women offered to tell your fortune and asked that you cross their hand with silver. They carried their babies in their arms. . . "Through the Eyes of Bro. Holmes O.S.M." St. Johns Heritage, Volume 5, 48-51.

"In the summertime we would walk down Denver as far as we could go, we would cross the railroad tracks, and cross the dirt road which was Columbia Blvd. and there [in a lake with a beach on the east side of Denver, going north] we would go swimming. It even had a beach." Virginia Angerstein Brown, born 1909, Kenton History, 115

"When I was a kid, the slough sometimes came up to Columbia Blvd. which was nothing more than a dirt road. . . . We spent our childhood on the slough, Triangle Lake and down around the railroad tunnel and played football in parks." David Schatz, born 1924, Kenton History, 131.

"We used to fish for catfish in the slough. They were the best! We would carry home strings of catfish we caught out of the slough. There were a lot of house boats along that body of water." Howard Mcpherson, Kenton History, 138

"When I was a kid I would play on the wooden viaduct (Denver Avenue overpass). It was wooden for years and then in later years they rebuilt it using concrete." Howard Mcpherson, Kenton History, 139.

"The Denver Avenue overpass was a wooden trestle. The Trestle was for the streetcar tracks which ran down to Swifts. . . " Geraldine Hooker Mayhead, born 1915, Kenton History, 155

"Columbia Slough Road was what we now call Columbia Boulevard. Peninsular Avenue was the main street everyone used to reach Columbia Slough Road." Minnie E. Marchant, born Jan. 24, 1897, Kenton History, 141.

"Joe Caldwell crawfished in the slough. He sold them to Jake's Crawfish. Jakes put them in tanks and kept them alive. When I was a kid I fished down there. Old Joe used to live below the tunnel in a houseboat. They moved him out after WWI. They towed him down the slough, under the trestle, down around the river and brought him up in the slough." Earl Stevens, born 1903, Kenton History, 144

I went fishing on Saturdays with my friend, Sam. We hd old cane poles and we used our mothers' hairpins and curl[ed] them up to make pole eyes. We were real Huckleberry Finns. We would fish underneath the trestle that went over the slough. It was a wooden trestle then. We caught a lot of crappies. We couldn't fish there on Sundays because the 'townspeople' were under there. They wouldn't let you." Earl Stevens, born 1903, Kenton History, 145.

"I couldn't describe to you the amount of ducks that were around East Delta Park. There were lakes down there year-round. East Delta Park, in the 1930s, was overloaded with them.

My dad would shoot ducks when we had the truck garden. He would shoot them and let them fall, then go home. About a half hour later he would go back and pick them up like he was picking tomatoes. We always had duck." Bernie Canepa, born 1927, Kenton History, 158

"We also rode our bikes to various fishing spots. The Columbia Slough whih was horribly polluted, was a favorite spot. We fished for crappies, carp, bullheads and catfish. We also went to '3-corner' or Smith Lake. We didn't fish in Mocks Bottom but we did explore and build rafts there." Raymond Guimary, born 1928, Kenton History, 162

Airport Memories

"Aero" planes were few so when one flew over we all looked. Swan Island was Portland's main airport. It was banked above the river and had a road all the way around it. Cars could park and watch the river traffic and planes coming and going. It was a wonderful place to be proposed to! I had that happen as did many others. They would hold airshows and we would sit on the bank along Willamette Boulevard to see the show." June Armstrong Cusin in St. Johns Heritage, Volume 5, Jan. 1997, 28.

Vanport Memories/wartime housing

"I barely remember the flood that destroyed Vanport on Memorial Day 1948. The rains had been very heavy that spring, and our section of St. Johns Woods was on a low elevation, close to the Columbia Slough. I remember my father reassuring my mother that our area was not in danger of being flooded." June Eilenstine, St. Johns Heritage, Jan. 1997, 46.

"Down north of Willis Blvd. and west of Chataqua, the government built 'defense homes.' They called it University HOmes. They had units for people with kids and units for people without kids. They were built to house shipyard workers. Some of the units were singles and some two-stories. The living room was open and the kitchen was in one corner of the unit. No wall separated the two rooms. They cooked on a two-burner hot plate and the oven was a square metal box you would set on the burner if you wanted to bake anything.

When we married, we lived in St. Johns Woods, another wartime housing project. Those units were somewhat larger. They were cold units, though. They were all single houses. The gold fish froze in the house during the winter of 1949-1950. All the plants froze in the living room. We had an oil circulating heater in our unit." David Schatz, born 1924, Kenton History, 134.

Farming

"We had about 200 cherry trees. We sold the cherries to canneries. If it happened to rain just as they were ripened, there went the crop. All the pruning and spraying that my dad did went all for naught. We had a few of those instances and it wasn't fun." Virginia Angerstein Brown, Kenton History, 120.

There were dairies all over the Kenton Pensinsula area (K Hist, 138).

"There were farms down on the north side of Columbia Boulevard. The Flagoni (sic) and Molinari families were down there. We used to fish behind Molinari's place. We used to eat the old man's carrots while we sat fishing. We went through a hundred foot row one summer. So, the old man planted a row closer to us just for us. The Molinaris had ovens outdoors in which they baked bread. Occasionally they would give us a loaf of bread to take home." Earl Stevens, born 1903, Kenton History, 146.

Japanese

"I remember the tiny market on Denver and Lombard that the Okazaki's had. They were relocated when the war started, or shortly after. When the war was over they came back to the neighborhood. They were hard workers." Muriel Kirker Shelb, Kenton Resident since 1936, Kenton History, 126.

"In the store where Baxters used to be was a Japanese family who ran a grocery store. During the war they were interned. . . " David Schatz, born 1924, Kenton History, 129.

"I remember Okazaki's store. It reminded me of the little fruit stands we used to see down on Columbia Boulevard. The Okazakis worked very hard. They went through a lot of hell during the second World War. They were good people." Marge Sandberg Davis, born 1926, Kenton History, 150

"I remember the Second World War and when they picked up all the Japanese. They put them into a stockade over at the P.I. Building. There were quite a few Japanese around here. In fact, there was a Japanese who owned a hog ranch right next to our truck farm. The Japanese had to leave their land. I remember they had beautiful trucks and equipment. I am Italian and the United States was at war with Italy, but no one ever said anything to me about my ancestry." Bernie Canepa, born 1927, Kenton History, 157

Recreation

"Delta Park, in my day, was always flooded in the winter. The first thing I remember being down there was a golf course. It was in what is now East Delta Park. They had a nice clubhouse with a lake. People around here used to 'party' down there. You could make reservations, and with $15, you could rent the clubhouse. That was back in the 1920s and early 1930s." Earl Stevens, born 1903, Kenton History, 145.

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