Here is your one-stop source for all historical expedition documents and downloads. My collection is still missing a few important documents, and I’ll add them to this page as I find them. Click image to download an 9.1-MB PDF of … Continue reading
The Columbia River Historical Expedition yielded much positive publicity for the Great Northern. The Morning Oregonian, for example, followed the expedition with articles almost every day of the trip, five of them on the front page. Other major newspapers along … Continue reading
On July 23, after the overnight ride from Astoria, the expedition returned to Spokane to dedicate another monument and attend another Indian Congress. The monument was inspired by the Great Northern monuments built for the Upper Missouri and Columbia River … Continue reading
July 22 was in some ways the climax of the Columbia River Historical Expedition, as the group spent the day dedicating the grandest monument built as a part of the Great Northern’s historical tours–and also the only one not immediately … Continue reading
In addition to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway’s main line from Spokane to Portland, it also had a branch line from Portland down the Columbia River to Astoria. From Astoria, the line proceeded about 8 miles west toward the … Continue reading
After an overnight train trip from Spokane, the expedition arrived in the railroad town of Fallsbridge, Washington, on the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway on July 20. Fallsbridge got its name from the Oregon Trunk bridge across the Columbia River … Continue reading
After passing by Glacier Park without stopping, the Columbia River Expedition arrived in Bonners Ferry, Idaho on the morning of July 19th to dedicate a monument to the explorers who first crossed Idaho. On one side, the monument reads, “Down … Continue reading
After an overnight trip, the group arrived in Fort Union for a second Indian Congress organized by the GN. The eleven tribes that participated in 1925 all returned and were joined by representatives of the Cheyenne tribe from the Northern … Continue reading
After an overnight trip from Chicago, the Columbia River Special arrived in St. Paul at 6 am the next morning. After presumably eating breakfast, they departed the train at 7:30 am for a quick trip to the Minnesota Historical Society … Continue reading
For students and others who lived east or south of Chicago, the Columbia River Historical Expedition began in Chicago on the morning of Thursday, July 15. Echoing the subject of the students’ oratory, they heard a lecture from historian and … Continue reading
