A Canoe Trip Down the Columbia River: 1938

Collection

Identifier: Coll 945

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of an 8-page reminiscence by Paul H. Howe about a canoe trip that he took in 1938 down the Columbia River from Trail, British Columbia, to Portland, Oregon, with his friend Tuck Hart. Howe's reminiscences detail preparation and planning for the trip; the landscapes he and Hart traveled through; the pair's activities; and encounters they had. The reminiscences discuss having to detour around construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, and later pass through the Rock Island Dam. Howe also discusses the subsequent history of dam-building on the Columbia River. The reminiscences include photographs taken during the trip.

Dates

circa 1997

Creator

Howe, Paul H. (Paul Henry), 1916-2001 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Paul Henry Howe was born in 1916 in Baroda, Michigan. He studied mechanical engineering at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. He moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1937. The following year, he canoed down the Columbia River from Trail, British Columbia, to Portland, Oregon, with his friend Tuck Hart; the pair traveled about 860 miles in 26 days.

Howe worked at Northwest Natural Gas for 35 years and served as senior vice president of the company. He was also a longtime member of the Portland Public Schools Board.

Howe married Mary C. Cook in 1944; the couple had two children. Howe died in October 2001.

Sources: Obituary in the Oregonian, October 11, 2001; vital records on Ancestry.com.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder in shared box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Reminiscences by Paul H. Howe (1916-2001) about his 1938 canoe trip down the Columbia River. Howe worked for Northwest Natural Gas in Portland, Oregon, and was a member of the Portland Public Schools Board.