On May 5, 1915, The Dalles-Celilo Canal on the Columbia River in Klickitat County opens to traffic. "Open River" (Oberst, 81) celebrations are held all along the Columbia. The�U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the eight-mile long canal to eliminate a portage around rapids at The Dalles and Celilo Falls. The results of the project will prove disappointing because of seasons of slack water on the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Passengers and freight moved up the Columbia by steamboat as far as the The Dalles where cargoes were transported around, then up to Celilo Falls where the portage was repeated. The Oregon Short Line (later the Oregon Steam Navigation Co.) built the Oregon Portage Railroad to handle the portage, but upriver communities chaffed at this monopoly on river traffic.

In 1905, Congress responded to demands for a canal and two locks at Celilo Falls. One half of the length of the canal was blasted out of solid rock. The final design featured five locks with a total lift of 90 feet. The project was completed in 1915 amid celebrations that included a mock wedding of "Miss Columbia to Mr. Snake of the states of Idaho and Oregon" (Oberst, 82).

The riches of year-round river traffic did not materialize because of seasonal low water.� The Dalles Dam opened in 1957 and flooded the canal. The construction of other Columbia River and Snake River dams allowed river traffic to reach Lewiston 12 months a year.

By David Wilma, February 14, 2003