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The Hood River County Sun, Hood River, OR., March 15, 1939, page 8

ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF 1878 RECALLS DAYS BEFORE HOOD RIVER WAS SETTLED

An illustrated book, entitled "Portland and Vicinity," published in 1887, was being shown in Hood River recently by W.F. Rand. As well as many illustrations of the city of Portland and the Northwest in those days, the book shows Multnomah Falls, Rooster Rock, and the primitive site of the city of Hood River, with the Union Pacific railroad crossing and only seven buildings in what is now Hood River.
In a paragraph entitled "Hood River Crossing," the following appears:
"The trestle and bridge at the crossing of Hood river, form one of the landmarks of the route of the O.R. & N up the Columbia. The stream flows directly from the northern base of the kingly Mt. Hood, and its clear, icy waters are formed by the melting snows that drape the mountain's sides, as well as the milky product of the eternal glaciers, which, with resistless might, steadily push their way down its deep canyons. Just before the river loses itself in the broad Columbia, it is crossed by the railroad. Hood River Valley, lying along the stream for a number of miles inland, is one of the most beautiful and fertile of the mountain valleys of Oregon, and it is famous for its fruits and vegetables. The stream itself, nearer its fountainhead, has been whipped for years by enthusiastic sportsmen. This is the usual route taken by visitors to Mt. Hood, who go up the valley to the base of the mountain. The upper end is a favorite summer resort, and many a sportsman makes it a headquarters while hunting the bear and deer of the mountains, or being hunted, as is sometimes the case, by a mountain lion."
Mr. Rand, the came to Hood River in 1884, three years before the book was published, was this week telling of the primitive nature of the Hood River region at that time. His uncle had a 40-acre homestead on the hill across Hood river stream, just east of town. The uncle and his two boys were cutting wood on the place one day when one of the boys looked up to see a cougar, only a few feet away creeping up, ready to spring. The uncle picked up the axe and started for the big cat, which beat a hasty retreat into the woods.