White Salmon History from The Enterprise

BINGEN-WHITE SALMON HISTORY HAS COLORFUL PIONEER BACKGROUND

Two of the first white men to visit the area now known as Bingen and White Salmon were the famous explorers, Lewis and Clark. They were impressed by the great number of white-fleshed salmon which they saw being caught and dried by the Indians at the mouth of a nearby river and so they named the river "White Salmon."
When the first white settlers began trickling into the Columbia Gorge area in the 1850's, the Columbia River was only about half the size it is now and it remained that size until the completion of the Bonneville Dam in the 1930's.
Early settlers in this area were the Jewett's and the Suksdorfs who bought land here in the 1870's.
The Suksdorfs were of solid German stock and were determined to preserve their German heritage here on the banks of the Columbia River which reminded them so much of their native Rhineland.
The Jewett family settled in the now White Salmon area and a feud began between the two families which, some say, started the over location of the post office.
The two families disagreed on almost every issue and so the area became two separate towns with the Suksdorfs settling in Bingen (which they named after Bingen on the Rhine in Germany) and the Jewetts, up on the bluff, retaining the name White Salmon for their town.
The bitterness remained for many years and a marker is left in the name of the railroad station. Since neither town would accede in the matter, it became the only railroad station in the United States to bear the name of two towns - "Bingen-White Salmon."
Dairying and stock raising on a small scale were the first sources of livelihood in the area. The largest early day dairy was owned by the Suksdorf brothers who pastured herds of dairy cattle near the Camas Prairie. A.H. Jewett established the first nursery in the area and sold many trees to the new settlers as they came in, thus the start of numerous orchards.
Travel to and from the White Salmon-Bingen area was almost completely by river boats until the railroad was completed. The boats docked 200 yards west of (where the) White Salmon-Hood River Bridge is now and anyone wishing to go to White Salmon walked a flight of 625 steps to the top of the hill. Dock road was used primarily for horse drawn wagons.
At one time Sam Hill tried to buy the Jewett land on which to build his mansion. The agreement was written up and signed, but when Sam Hill proposed a drink to celebrate his new purchase, the agreement dissolved as Mrs. Jewett strongly opposed drinking. He was to have paid $80,000 for the land on which could have been build the now famous Maryhill Museum.
In the 1890s, White Salmon merchants were active in buying and selling wood. This activity brought more money into the communities. Woodcutters received $1.25 per cord for cutting and the same price for delivering the wood to the dock on the river.
In 1910 many people of means bought acreage in the area and with them came the desire for better educational facilities and cultural activities. In 1912 the Leo Theatre was built where Sampson Electric Company is now. At that time silent pictures were in vogue.
For many years White Salmon was a flourishing resort area. Vacationists were coming in from the entire Willamette Valley. The Eyrie, then a well-known resort, was built by C.W.J. Reckers. At this time vacationists could leave White Salmon by horse-drawn vehicles for the Guler hotel in the Trout Lake Valley. About 1905 the Washington Hotel was completed in White Salmon and did a flourishing business for about ten years. The Washington Hotel was built by J.W. Lauterbach and stood where the grade school on Main street is now.
The first road to the Portland-Vancouver area was completed on this side of the river in 1924. It was possible to make the trip before this on a roundabout trail, which took much longer.
The Bingen-White Salmon area is once again undergoing a major change. Project Proud is giving a fresh new look to the towns and with the unification of many of their facilities the circle may be closing to unite the two towns in a way that even the Suksdorfs and Jewetts would approve.