Willamette Falls - Where the Future Began

Where the Future Began reveals the dramatic story of cultures, risk-takers, and entrepreneurs tapping into "one of the great geologic secrets of North America." Willamette Falls, among the largest waterfalls in the nation, was the last stop on the Oregon Trail, the birthplace of a state, and a place where dreamers unlocked the potential of electricity, and changed the world forever. Today, Willamette Falls continues to inspire.

[@Oscaregarciaiii123]

Both my grandparents worked in the abandoned paper mill in the 50s. My grandfather Santiago V. Is also a listed latino pioneer and is one of this first latinos to arrive in Oregon.

[@ryanlaws6182]

Theres no treasure more valuable than knowing family and the roots of where you've come from.

[@janaprocella8268]

@@ryanlaws6182 That is so very very true I believe that we have a very Lost Society due to its culture of trying to rid itself from the past. People saying oh you should forget the past. Using slanderous things like saying you live in the past that makes you lost. It's not true what makes you lost and confused is not understanding the past, your past yes your own past like I've heard before people don't hate history they hate their own history. )STAYING LOST(

[@stevestroh2267]

My step dad was a lock operator at WF Locks from about 1961 to 1992. He was there during thr 1964 flood. There use to be a mark on the wall inside one of the buildings showing how high the water was. After he retired from the locks, he went to work as a security guard at Blue Heron, so he worked a good 40 years near the falls.

[@kerrywilliams3753]

My dad, Larry Williams, worked 20-hour days at Publisher's during the 1964 flood. I walked down to see the river.

[@xNightHawk32]

I kind of wish they didn’t develop around the Willamette Falls. Only to pay witness to the wonder and beauty of the Falls. I bet it must have looked really beautiful before we developed it. I wonder what it must have looked like? To stand on the banks of the river, to watch the salmon jump out of the water. Or to fly over them on a paramotor, man that would be awesome! I would have loved to see what that was like! 😃 When you look at it today, compared to what it once looked like… it doesn’t look good. Too many decaying and abandoned structures. - But I hear they’re going to turn that area into something really cool. I hope I get to see what becomes of the Willamette Falls in my lifetime. Great video! 👍🏻

[@anymaru]

They've supposedly been planning to do something with the Oregon City side of the falls for many years. I don't understand why nothing has been done.

[@marywhitney5044]

@@anymaru As far as I know, the Grand Ronde Tribes, have purchased the site and will call it tumwata village.

[@susiesundquist9483]

I love this video about how the Willamette falls came from and how Oregon was a state !!

[@paulmonaco1148]

I've lived in Portland for nearly 65 yrs, and had NO idea about the history of Oregon City. Very informative, and makes me proud to live where so much history exists.

[@janaprocella8268]

You have begun to look things up haven't you

[@paulmonaco1148]

@@janaprocella8268 LOL... Like a sponge for local information... hahahaha.

[@captainfanta8641]

So here is more. The falls were a place where three tribes lived in relative peace. The Clackamas on the Clackamas side of the Willamette below the falls. The Multnomah on the other side of the river below the falls, and the Kalapuya up top.

[@tleav61]

I drive the Willamette everyday on my way to work. I pass by the old mills everyday. It would be nice to do something with the old broken down buildings at the falls. Quite an eyesore actually. Other than that, it’s a beautiful site and a privilege to be able to drive to work that way. Great video on the history.

[@carey_metv]

Mission Mill museum in Salem is a cool place to visit.

[@de4ndre3dwards]

i agree! we should make a park around it like the Tom McCall Waterfront but for Willamette Falls

[@williamhelsley472]

They, Willamette Falls Legacy project, is working on opening up the area.

[@DeeReal559]

Guys the paper machine in west linn is in full go mode!!! Trust me! 💯

[@shipwreckhubbard326]

My family came across on the Oregon trail in 1846 they first settled at willamete falls.

[@jerryhanson3903]

Same here I used to go sturgeon fishing off the wall back in the 80s and 90s

[@johnstewart8849]

So, where’s their video??

[@tarriegibson1193]

It's amazing that my ancestors fished here for 14,000 years . I have lived close to here my whole life pretty much.

[@rasmussenmortuary8771]

I lived in OC in the late 80's never knew the history of the falls. Great video

[@timbarnett3898]

We lived just houses from original Oregon trail going into Oregon City an last wagon circle to end trip on Oregon trail. We loved old couple that lived exactly on Oregon trail (Holcomb road)! When Russia tore down Communist wall in Berlin, this old couple's daughter an two son (now young adults) were freed from Eastern iron curtain to come home to visit mom an dad. We brought couple an all five to dinner of salmon, steelhead, Turkey dinner severed with elk meat Swiss steak, dressing, etc, the works just like Thanksgiving but better! All 3 kids never imagined food like this, ever! They started crying, then our old couple started crying, then my mom an sister started crying! I looked at dad, Tears of joy of being free an realizing what freedom can give, he says! I hugged her next to me, daughter turned into me an just held me sobbing! Dad an I looked at each other both know what this moment meant for all at that table, Freedom!

[@barrydysert2974]

Thank you for sharing. 🖖

[@timbarnett3898]

@@barrydysert2974 So, you know what they built at Clackamette Park an End of Oregon Trails last Wagon circle! What else, a McDonald's!

[@mikewhite9818]

Contrast that to the evil sweeping America now.

[@msdustismith8919]

That's a wonderful story. A true story of families and happiness, real human lives of obstacles and triumphs.

[@thatsmuzik2570]

I remember the 64 flood. Our neighbor was motoring around our yard in his boat. We lived down in Willamette by the river and the pastures were flooded. I remember having to stand in line and get a flu shot as a 3 year old. Dad was an electrician at Crown Zellerbach for years and knew everyone in West Linn and Oregon City, it seemed like.

[@gardenlovers2]

Great history video. I can't believe you covered so much. Thank you.

[@tocahill]

That was great. Thank you for making.

[@magapickle01]

I grew up there and this video was very well done . Didn't know the significance though till watching this video !

[@chuppoacobra]

I ended up kayaking a couple years back right at the paper mill area seen at 2:35. To the right where you see that dark sand beach, we stopped there for lunch and walk around the ruins of the old power plant that are strewn all about, half buried in the sand. Cast iron beams, pipes, giant turbines from a 100 years ago all left to time. It was really spooky...haunting might be a better word to use. Looked like a scene from the end of Planet of the Apes. It was AWESOME!!! We took some really neat pictures there. For decades I have driven up and down 205 and along 99 and never even knew that these ruins were down there. Unreal!

[@hunglo666]

excellent video lots of info that i had no idea.. i just went kayaking for the first time right next to those beautiful falls, so powerful when your up close. you can rent kayaks right next to them, highly recommend it

[@philthycat1408]

It wasn't the Lamprey they came for, it was the demand for Beaver.

[@markblix6880]

That's filthy!

[@Redpawdave]

Wonderful story. My Grandfather, Lawyer Perry Barnes, born in Anderson, California, walked, as a young man , to Oregon City in 189X. He got a job as night watchman in the original power plant and worked for PP&L until retirement. My grandmother travelled with her parents from Leavenworth Kansas, by train, to Oregon City. Last name Reams, and opened a furniture store in Oregon City. My grand parents married and bought a 6 acres on the west side of the river just outside of the small unincorporated village of Willamette. They lived in a large tent, on the property (wood floor and stove) for 10 years while he planted a filbert and walnut orchard by day, and worked at the power plant at night. The sound of the generators took his hearing but he loved and was very proud of his job and his orchard, which provided enough income to pay his property taxes. Once a house was built, my uncle, Norman Perry was born in 1917 and my father, Dean Warren in 1919. A member of the Oregon National Guard, he was called to duty in 1917 to participate in the policing our southern border with Mexico to stop Pancho Villa's raids into the States. He saw no action but was thus able to avoid being called to fight Germans in France during WW1.

[@ManasesRamos]

Awesome video and very good history!!!

[@arlitabeard7693]

I have learn so much about my home state on you tube I loved there for 41 years I miss Oregon hole to move back soon

[@charliemartin5482]

I saw these falls during a flood and looked like a ripple !

[@threemileteacher]

Where is Nicolas Tesla in all of this? Not one word about him, and yet he's the one that figured out how to send the electrical current over longer distances (while Westinghouse took all the credit). That's a shame that the real history goes unreported all this time.

[@j-maxfromor1895]

Tesla’s fame for AC power is well deserved, but not for the first long distance transmission line in 1889 to Portland, which was DC.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Actually, Mikhail Divino-Dobrovolsky was as important as Tesla in the development of 3-phase transmission systems. Many others contributed as well. Steinmetz was as important as anyone. People are always bringing up Tesla’s name because it’s a cult. Westinghouse spent a great deal to develop AC power, much of it paid to Tesla. Tesla has received a great deal of recognition for his contributions. Others, not so much. Who knows of Shallenberger, for example?

[@rogerholloway8498]

Very informative and entertaining! Thank you for sharing this little known information with all of us!

[@Jeremyho439]

My host family husband worked there from end of WWII until he retired. The last day of work, he threw his lunch box into the river on West Linn bridge while he was driving his 64 GMC pickup.

[@RaduOleniuc]

Beautiful.

[@nikkiisom7071]

As someone who lived here her entire life I’m surprised no one from here has stated that the mills here weren’t Lumber mills but paper mills along the Willamette Falls. Those mills have been there for over 100 years. The mill on the West Linn side was a magazine paper mill the one one the Oregon City side was a newspaper paper mill.

[@alansham1]

Good job Eric!

[@guitarmeggedonit5232]

Love Oregon City. My hometown.

[@timbarnett3898]

This is my home, dad born to Navy UDT lived Oregon City fished right at these falls. Biggest salmon to leap into our boat between my brother an me was over 70 lbs. My father worked right above these fall on wood log rafts, an I worked in grinder room, under the water level making paper pulp right under falls called the "H#'ll hole"! Day EPA say it, closed it down immediately calling "inhumane too man"! Tommy Lee Jones did movie at these falls! First fishing spot next to falls is called Black point (black cable stretch across river now an your not to go past it closer to falls). Next fishing hole down stream from Black point is "Milk mans hole", then down from that is Old Bridge where surgeon fisherman fish from cliff height! On far side of falls is crown zellerback paper company long concrete river retaining wall where there is good surgeon fishing too! Biggest we've caught 5 ft. 10 inches (just at legal big size) an was 94lbs! Tim I can smell the river watching this video! One day sirens sounded in danger! Tug boat lost power crashing over falls! My dad working right there unclog rafts threw them a rope, tied his rope off to axe handle base an with a sledge hammer pounded axe head into log end, anchoring a rope saving crew from falling over falls! We all heard emergency an dad was one to save the crew, cool! Tim

[@KLEARSKITHEKREEPER]

Awesome

[@timbarnett3898]

@@KLEARSKITHEKREEPER come on guys, Oregon City fall an 40lb salmon on line when you wish you were 40 lbs, all the names an details an not one thumbs up!? So much for getting another story out of me! And your reply was one word? Like to see you write response when your excited about something!

[@charlottedog5232]

You wrote a whole other story

[@timbarnett3898]

@@charlottedog5232 yeah, whole other story that No one liked, not one thumbs up?

[@jkuebler89]

That's awesome history Tim. I drive by the paper mill every day, wish I could have seen inside when it was running. Very important historical sight. Your dad sounds like a great guy.

[@green-eyedchild6689]

aw yes i remember the smell of the paper mills gives oregon its smell.

[@charlottedog5232]

Sarcasm? Towns with paper mills I've been to stink.

[@theodoresweger4948]

I grew up in Silverton Oregon an my father worked at the paper mill at Salem and the smell of the paper mill could at times be times traveled quite a distance. I now live in Pennsylvania I miss Oregon...,

[@tracytayag3989]

@@charlottedog5232 St. Helens had the stink of the Boise Cascade paper mill for so many years.

[@anymaru]

Oh the lovely fart smell of Oregon City. I do not miss it

[@calbob750]

At 7 minutes into the video there is a front page of the Oregon Spectator. If you read it you will see that even in 1850 there was a movement in the southern states to leave the Union.

[@michelleb7399]

While I understand the economic value of the paper mills, I really wish they hadn’t been there. The odor from the paper mills was so raunchy, my nose still wrinkles from the memory. I lived in an apartment downwind from there in the early 90’s. We had an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. You would think we had expensive rent as most apartment complexes in the area didn’t have an indoor pool, it was lucky if they even had one. But rent was really cheap. But, the air often had the stench of the mill. It would be nice if we had the view of the falls without all the equipment, etc.

[@SealionDefenseBrigade]

ODFW poisoned Pacific Lamprey from 1940 - 1980 in Columbia River basin because the fishermen were complaining that the Pacific lamprey were eating to many of "their" salmon..

[@nannettemueller5672]

My 5th Great Grandfather moved on down to the Scio area not far from the Santiam. Every year William Cyrus would transport his farm produce (I think wheat maybe wool?) up through the woods to Willamette Falls in Oregon City. It would take a few days.

[@vickibeasley7852]

My great uncle, Marion Hays, worked at the mill on the Oregon City side for over 40 years. I think he retired in the early 80s.

[@wayneyd2]

I actually like Willamette Falls area. I had a home near there for over a decade. Just got tried of the property tax keep going up 3% every year. Glad I sold my house.

[@trwsandford]

I really enjoyed that!

[@RJTheMountainSage]

Its ironic our roots go back into the amazing native peoples salmon fishing spot.. Oregon's got such a deep history what a majestic place it must have been , and still is in many areas. God bless all

[@glenjo0]

Nice video!

[@timfletcher5366]

Someday the industrial wreckage will be gone and the public can enjoy this amazing place ..give it 40 years

[@xNightHawk32]

40 years 😳 oh wow haha I’ll be 80 years old! 😅

[@annalisa14]

First and longest stretch of electric wire in the entire world...? ! Wow.

[@annalisa14]

He said, "the forrests of the Northwest met their demise here." What a horrible statement. And I'm sure it's true.

[@Oregon123]

Not really. The forests of oregon are doing well. Theres more trees now then there ever was. Even with the fires.

[@dionisiobanda9480]

It seemed to me that he wasn't saying it as a proud statement. I believe there was remorse in his tone on that one point.

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

Before I reached school age I would look at the falls in winter when there was only a small drop. The next summer I reasoned someone must have pulled a big plug out of the rivers to create the falls.

[@ExoticTerrain]

Isn't it better to hear the falls, rather than destroy the forest?

[@carey_metv]

I could cry on what they did to Oregons old growth forests

[@ron9381]

I agree they burnt down in 2020 thanks to the Democrats.

[@Lucaeus]

I knew Portland had a cool history

[@LaserTSV]

This is a good movie but now that Blue Heron and the locks are closed, is there a plan to tear down the old factories? Or are they just going to rust away? Thanks!

[@MrBigdog4591]

www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2014/04/blue_heron_mill_buyer_drops_ou.html

[@LaserTSV]

Jim B Thanks for the update! Wow... it's amazing how complex this is!

[@MrBigdog4591]

There are actually two paper mills on opposite sides of the river at this location. One is still producing specialty paper but the other one has been closed for a couple of years. It is up for sale but nothing has transpired yet.

[@robertjackson4121]

@@MrBigdog4591 n

[@anymaru]

Probably rust. There's been plans for many years. And nothing has been done.

[@marywhitney5044]

Fish Biologist, Tim Shibahara, God rest your soul.

[@BillHohensee]

A history deserved to be told - thanks for opening our eyes! Another, less historical view of the Falls found here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWebq52BpZuGe5Y

[@tinytiny1325]

So why do us here in Oregon have to pay so much for electricity?

[@johnvanriper3363]

Probably because so much of the power generated in Or goes to Ca

[@mikewhite9818]

It is because the leftist’s required our utilities to buy solar and wind power at .75 cents instead of normal market rate. Then they allowed the utilities to pass the costs on to the poor consumer. Remember the consumer always pays for bad policy’s.

[@kennethwalker8402]

Having lived in many parts of this country I can assure you Electricity is much cheaper here than in most of this nation. Portland`s rate is a bit higher than the rest of the state because we are still paying off the failed nuclear reactor on the Columbia.

[@AuRowe]

I've lived in Hawaii for 5 years and am from CA and also have friends in WA. Oregon is by far the cheapest electric in the west coast. Unfortunately the leftists are destroying the sustainable electricity by destroying active dams.

[@terenceflanagan1225]

Because Oregon allows monopolies. Politicians made deals like Kate Brown with Comcast . Unscrupulous

[@vf12497439]

I’m on the coast and I haven’t seen a lamprey in any stream here in many years. I’m sure there are some but the numbers have certainly declined in the last 30 or 40 years. I’m not sure why? No one I’ve ever known fools with them. It’s not like over fishing in this area….

[@frankblangeard8865]

How did the Missoula floods scour the Willamette falls 8:48 ? The floods came down the Columbia River not down the Willamette.

[@garymeacham1876]

There are erratics [rocks carried by glaciers] from Montana as far south in the Willamette Valley as west of Salem. The height and force of the floods were that great.

[@oscarmedina1303]

Search for the Missoula Floods class by Nick Zentner. He explains how the flood waters ended up in the Willamette valley.

[@russellzauner]

We don't have Piggly Wiggly here.

[@SealionDefenseBrigade]

Portland should have left all their street cars intact .

[@simonac688.]

Where does the name Willamette comes from ? What does Oregon Meen ?

[@GH-oi2jf]

It comes from the Clackamas Chinook language, but the exact meaning is unclear. The “ette” ending comes from French. “Oregon” probably comes from an Amerind name for the Columbia River, meaning “River of the West.”

[@annalisa14]

Second largest Falls after Niagra.

[@440hz7]

In volume.

[@kaiwindingwest]

it's so sad how humans "industrialize" nature. yes, we need to thrive, but cant we go 50/50?

[@santasa8888]

this place looks hellish !

[@waterskippers]

Who owns Willamette Falls? I want to get permission to walk on them when there isn't much water flowing.

[@stephanieshaffer8788]

No one owns the falls or the river. I am pretty sure that if you tried to walk across the top of the falls at any time you would get pounded into the rocks at the bottom of it and be seriously injured....

[@santasa8888]

water_skipper that's a silly question, check at Wall Street

[@kerrywilliams3753]

I had a rowboat 1969-1971 and we rowed out to the top of the falls in the summer, from the west side. The water all flowed down the locks or the hydro plant. Of course my parents didn't know I was out there. "We" sometimes included baby sister I was watching. We could swim.

[@lisaaghdami3806]

Oregon has more than 310,000 miles of rivers and streams according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, nearly two-thirds of which are intermittent, forming only seasonally. The report also looked at lakes. In Oregon, 95% of them are too polluted to be used for drinking water, the report said.Mar 23, 2022

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

Interesting claim since the Willamette River itself is a major supplier of drinking water today. I would like to see this alleged report.

[@danabourgeois5439]

No such thing as a village of 44,000. In the 19th Century, that was a small city, or a seriously large town.

[@barbaraaspengen9810]

Do you anything about The Western Pine Association

[@THEBOSS-vn2ky]

It's 2020 and the salmon are calling. I need to be there. get rid of the sea lions seals!!!!!

[@kscleanup8125]

Too bad Portland has gone down hill

[@oncosurgdoc]

Nice story, but so sad that the beauty of the falls has been completely destroyed by the development of industry at the site of the falls. Surely the paper mills and much of the prior structures could be removed for the sake of some restoration of the original beauty of the falls?

[@xNightHawk32]

Yeah I agree with you there! I hear they’re suppose to be restoring some of that beauty. Hopefully we’ll still be around to enjoy it. 😃

[@anymaru]

The plan is to turn it into a tourist attractions. I'd like to see the fish laders come back.

[@brianbiechele1958]

Dude is crying about the silence of the saw that decimated old growth forest. And he knew because he said the logs were 400 years old. My father worked for a box company. So.... I'll shut up now. Great piece though.

[@briancastronovo6007]

A true story of man and it’s thirst of power and destruction, thanks nature

[@JosephJStorm]

#NativePride #LandBack

[@captainfanta8641]

What a waste of the magnificent trees.

[@lorainegalindo4956]

Willmeette Queen Might not be there.

[@kendralambert2095]

After learning about how no one would develop Tesla’s free energy ideas because “if I can’t put a meter on it and charge money, I don’t want it”, it makes me so sick to see rivers altered and marine life destroyed all because of mans greed.

[@shortybb]

There's no such thing as a free lunch... nor free energy. Physics - keep learning.

[@j-maxfromor1895]

To clarify last comment, Tesla proposed a massive antenna structure that would send power like radio waves that could be received by anyone. So no way to measure or charge customers. But of course the source power wasn’t free. I suppose Tesla thought government should pay for it thru taxes.

[@chrisstaylor8377]

The white settlers didn’t ask they just took from the real owners of this land , they took the animals they polluted the rivers with there paper mills , they felled the forests , like here in NZ mostly they didn’t ask ,they just took

[@pacificnorthwest9416]

So did every other successful culture, including native Americans

[@zodinthara7925]

@@pacificnorthwest9416 i think comparing white settlers to native indians seems a bit too stretched. The invasion and the subsequent raping of the land, the genocides of the natives, the extinction of tribes have been through all kinds of attempts for justification but they just dont stick. Maybe Its just not justifiable. They just dont sit right with the conscience, the logic gymnastic and bending of reason: the native tribe do this to each other, the native tribe were not the original owner, they too were immigrants during the Ice Age,sometime the typical white saviour - ' the white man brought development and the gospel, yeah, the price was high but the fruit is sweet, the native benefited from it too'. But in the end, the stealing of other people':s land remains hanging. Its especially uncomfortable for the conservative christian who cant stand the immigrants and like to think of themselves and their land as God' s design from the start. Land that needs to be stolen doesnt seems like a good design. I guess this question remains because in other lands, the invader eventually mix and assimilate with the original native eg. Saxon, Normans in Britain, many present day Islamic countries. But in case of America, the native remain isolated and holds no right to the mineral resources of the land. Rather, even in modern era,when oil was discovered in the little patchs of land they were allocated, they were again driven out or cheated out. So many broken promise, nullified treaty etc. In South Africa, the same thing took place but situation was reversed lately with Mandela and all. The other day, i saw the news anchor in conservatibe news channel Fox railing against the South African government for taking the farm lands of the white settlers and distribute them among the landless blacks. But the anchor term it as govt thefts. I heard fox is following the south africa closely because the channel owner is an aussie, Rupert Murdoch, who forced out many australian aborigine from their rehabilitation land and mineral rights through cheating, legal manipulation and sometime outright cutting off their access to the market by buying small land that are used as the only road.

[@JosephJStorm]

#LANDBACK WE NEED OUR LAND AND WATER BACK. WE ARE THE ONLY TRUE CAREGIVERS OF THIS LAND!!!

[@glennchristie2316]

Correction Miss Narrator: The Bible says this Earth (and the Universe) is only a little over 6500 years old. Not Millions of years old..

[@verbenaflower8538]

Nature did not create the beauty of this world....GOD YAHWEH did...HE created nature! Worship HIM! Care for and take care of what YAHWEH gave us because HE loves us. GOD YAHWEH is the onlyand TRUE CREATOR...Worship the CREATOR not the creation!

[@andrewhampson5162]

Lol...yea whatever.

[@dalemckenney1577]

You should learn to pronounce “Willamette”. Your mispronunciation discredits everything else you say.

[@soothedlife]

This damn needs to be removed. The whole site is an eyesore, only the lock should remain on the river. I’m glad the confederated tribes have control of the Blue Heron site, but there’s still the matter of the damn and dump on the other side.

[@WeWander2]

I'm done that's a whole lot of babbling

[@anymaru]

The buildings surrounding the falls are so ugly, how they look and what they represent. I wish I could have seen the fish ladders. Beautiful sacred spot destroyed for greed.

[@JosephJStorm]

Let Grand Ronde Tribe have our river back!!! Quit being racist in court!!!

[@JosephJStorm]

#StolenLand #LandBack

[@SealionDefenseBrigade]

Stop scapegoating and killing sea lions PGE and CRITFC on the superfund site called the Willamette River.

[@JosephJStorm]

Cheats

[@JosephJStorm]

Thieves