"Natty Bumppo" wrote in message
om...
I'm writing a short story for a class...it takes place in the Pacific
Northwest and I would really appreciate help with an answer to this
question:

Is it possible and likely for a small boat to paddle or row a great
distance up the Columbia River?

I'm trying to decide how a small group or early 19th-century
travellers might make it upriver from Vancouver, Washington to a
location near present-day Walla Walla, Washington...but I don't know
anything about paddling or rowing upriver on the Columbia. Would they
row? Could they?

Getting upriver in the beginning of the 19th century (how Lewis and Clark or
the Hudson's Bay brigades traveled) was in, I think, largish pirogues or
York boats. Propulsion was by a method that fit the season, the weather,
your payload, and the particular section of the river.

Springtime would be the worst, fighting strong currernts and dodging
floating logs and debris. Getting upstream should get progressively easier
as the summer progressed. If your party is traveling upriver to settle,
they'll have to leave late enough to make the upriver trip and arrive early
enough to prepare for winter. Preparing for winter in Walla Walla should be
a lot easier than for winter in a lot of places I can think of. You're on
your own for inventing shelter and food supply for them.

For propulsion, I suppose sail was preferred. Next was the oar, probably by
rowers sitting side by side. It shouldn't take more than a couple of clicks
on Google to get typical number of seats. Where swift current combined with
exposed gravel banks, they cordelled, a 19th century word that's been
replaced by 'tracking.' To cordel upriver, the brigade walks and climbs
along the bank, drawing the boat with a line. Maybe a rudder- or pole-man
in the boat kept the boat clear of the bank and obstacles. To get around
some particular obstruction or to get up shallow stretches, maybe they'd
pole. Maybe they'd cordel wading. As a last resort, they'd portage,
unloading the boats, packing the cargo on their backs. I doubt that there
are any portages on the stretch of the Columbia you're interested in.

Travel like this would be heavy. It would have to be a pretty large and
well-financed party to do it.

Small-party live-off-the-land-firearm-axe-sleeping-robe travel would
probably be by bark canoe with the same propulsion sail+paddle+cordel+pole.
Unless it was a large canoe, paddling would be much less effective that
rowing, and travel would be arduous.

Keep in mind that travel this way took very unusual people. The voyageurs
could run a 200 pound pack a couple of miles across a portage or row for
sixteen hours a day for weeks at a stretch. To get a party of ordinary
human beings up the Columbia would take an heroic fictional leap.

I think that if you Googled Lewis & Clark, Columbia River, and Hudson's Bay
Company travel for the era you're interested in, you'll be able to assemble
a plausible story that would satisfy all but an expert in the field.

Best, of course, would be for you to drop out of school for a year, get a
canoe and a pole, and travel the river.

Post your TR here.

Hth,
Fred Klingener