Mrs. Charles L. McNary...distinguished guests...ladies and gentlemen. Not far from where I stand is the Great River of the Pacific Northwest, the mighty Columbia. The Columbia River is remarkable...and fascinating. I can hear the waters of this gigantic, turbulent force, moving toward the sea. On both sides of this great inland waterway, are huge brown ramparts...stark and solid against this bright April sky. In the swift-moving waters of the Columbia are the snows of the Canadian mountains...the soft ice from the long-placid lakes of the north country, as well as the waters of the Spokane, the Snake, the Umatilla, John Day, Salmon, Clearwater and Kootenai...to name a few of the rivers that give themselves at last to the Great River.

Not far from where I stand...another great hydroelectric project soon will harness the Columbia---the Mcnary Dam, which will join Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams, to furnish hydro-electric, dependable navigation facilities...flood control...and additional irrigation water supply for the expanding economy of the Pacific Northwest. When the McNary Dam is completed, it will overcome the most serious obstacles to navigation now in existence between the mouth of the Columbia River and the confluence with the Snake River---namely, Umatilla and Homily Rapids. McNary Dam, which will be located near the foot of the Umatilla Rapids...which is in a region of light rainfall...and the pool created above the dam, will make possible more economical irrigation of some 380,000 acres of land.

The Pacific Northwest has several million acres of land which are useless today simply because they lack water! The soil is good...and irrigation will eventually transform this land into fertile farms and orchards. Not far from here, on the margin of this plain in Umatilla County, is the small town of Irrigon. Located in an arid country, Irrigon is green and productive, and in many ways resembles certain sections around Portland. The fertility of Irrigon is proof of the part water plays in reclamation of land.

Upon the completion of the McNary Dam, the 380,000 acres of land in this section will not immediately become irrigated soil. However, it will be watered as speedily as possible after completion of the dam. That is in the future. But it is the future to which we are looking forward. The younger generation will benefit in years to come by the plans we have made...and put thru...during the last two decades. The reclamation of land in the Pacific Northwest has been a long time in coming about. For more than half-a-century, irrigation made slight progress. It wasn't until 1915, that the Oregon Reclamation Congress was organized to promote and control reclamation and irrigation. During the last quarter century, the amount of irrigated land has doubled...and in 1940, more than one million acres of Oregon's farms were watered. Another million acres can be reclaimed or farmed thru irrigation. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, irrigation projects are being developed and more dams are to be built on the Columbia...the Snake...the Willamette...the Deschutes...and many other rivers in Washington, Montana, Idaho and Oregon.

Pacific Northwest rivers are, perhaps, today most important in our economy, as sources of power to run factories and to provide light and heat for our homes. Since 1930, the two great power dams at Bonneville and Grand Coulee, have been constructed. Grand Coulee generates more electricity than any other plant in the world---and Grand Coulee and Bonneville together, produced nearly 28 Billion kilowatt hours in 1945---an increase of almost a hundred times in six years. The total amount of electricity produced in the Pacific Northwest in 1954, was approximately 56-billion kilowatt hours. Of that power, ten percent was produced in Oregon. The tremendous development of hydroelectric power has not only contributed to the expansion and increased productivity of such Pacific Northwest industries as lumber manufacturing, but it has also made it possible to establish new industries such as aluminum manufaturing...one-third of the nation's output of that important metal being produced in the Pacific Northwest in 1945.

During the war, the value of Bonneville and Grand Coulee was beyond measure---for the atomic bomb plant at Hanford, Washington, could not have operated without great quantities of electric power; nor could have the other war industries and services which together used two-thirds of all the power used in this region. Now---with the completion of the McNarey Dam – more abundant electrical energy can be turned to the uses of peace, to strengthen our economy...and to provide conveniences and comforts for homes and daily living.

The Pacific Northwest knows what the Grand Coulee and Bonneville Dams have done for the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Abundant electrical energy and reclamation work has brought tens of thousands of persons within our borders; which, in turn, has increased our wealth. When McNary Dam joins Grand Coulee and Bonneville, BILLIONS more kilowatt hours will be added to that staggering total of electrical energy already being released from giant turbines. Moreover, transportation for both river and ocean-going ships will make for better distribution of merchandise that can be shipped more economically by water. The Columbia River has always been an important artery of transportation. During pioneer days, when the Pacific Northwest was an un-mapped frontier, it linked far-flung towns and trading posts in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Water commerce has increased appreciably since the completion of Bonneville Dam and the improvements of the river channel. Today, it is possible for ocean-going steamships to ascend the Columbia for two hundred miles inland from the Pacific Ocean---a feat Martin d'Aguilar would have considered impossible when he first sighted the Columbia in 1603.

Yes, the Columbia is a remarkable river. It sustained the indians and early pioneers, for fish was the main item of diet in those days. Then, as now, Salmon have been abundant. Since 1866, when the first cannery in the Pacific Northwest was built on the Columbia, fishing has contributed to Oregon's wealth and diet. Washington has also profited by the Salmon.

I have given a rather short history about the Columbia River; and have done so, because I know that many of you listening to this program are newcomers to the Pacific Northwest and will welcome a few facts about the Great River, which is vital to our daily living.

The Columbia isn't the sole property of Oregon...no more than it is controlled by Washington or Idaho. It is the Pacific Northwest's River...the dam which we dedicate today at the foot of the Umatilla Rapids, is a lasting tribute to a native Oregonian---the late Charles Linza McNarey...former United States Senator and distinguished citizen. The name McNarey is synonymous of pioneer...for Charles McNarey's forebears settled in the Willamette Valley when it was a wilderness. Charles McNarey was raised on the soil of Oregon; and he pulled himself up by his own boot-straps. He won his education without patrimony or subsidy; and he prepared himself for the legal profession. Later, he became an instructor in law at Willamette university; and then a member of Oregon's State Supreme Court. When Charles Linza McNarey became a United States Senator, he urged the construction of the Bonneville Dam---and sponsored it. Today this gigantic structure stands as a monument to his energy and his vision. It stands also as a great concrete and steel testimony to the regard held for him by his contemporaries in Congress... and by a president of opposite political faith for his economic enjoyment Important national legislation bears Charles L. McNarey's name as author. His party found him worthy to be its candidate for vice-president. While his memory is still fresh as a man who was tireless, brilliant, constructive, and deep enough to last always among the new living, there is dedicated in McNarey Dam a reminder to posterity of a great and warm-hearted man of our times. Let it be recorded on the Fifteenth Day of April, 1947, that McNarey Dam shall represent the energy and power of a great American Statesman who gave energy and power indeed...in thought...and in accomplishement.....Charles Linza McNarey, native son of Oregon.