Sauvie Island: Not Much Going On Here

Just a stones throw up the road from St Johns district in Portland is Sauvie Island, a large droplet-shaped landmass pinned between the Columbia River on the north and east, the Multnomah Channel on the west, and the Willamette River on the south.  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the island is how uninteresting it actually is.  When compared to Staten Island, a slightly larger-sized island that, like Sauvie, is also in close proximity to a major metropolitan center but which has a history flush with murder, mystery, and mental derangement (see Bohemian Bastard’s review Nobody Home: a Review of “Cropsey” and “Exit Through the Gift Shop”), Sauvie Island comes off like some sort of meek injured bunny.  But that’s the way that we prefer our islands here in Oregon!

Named after a dairy farmer who was the first European to settle the island (Laurent Sauvie), the island was originally spotted by Lewis and Clark during their famous jaunt across the Northwest.  Clark, apparently not enamored by the ambiance of the island, commented , “I [s]lept but verry little last night for the noise Kept [up] dureing  the whole of the night by the Swans, Geese, white and & Grey Brant  Ducks &c. on a Small Sand Island … they were emensely noumerous, and  their noise horid”.  The island was home to the Chinook Indian as early back as 1250 AD, and supported about 6,000 individuals until they were largely wiped out from introduced diseases by 1836.  According to Lewis and Clark, the Indians called it “Wapatoe” Island, due to the abundance of the Wapato potato that grew there.

The island remained relatively unpopulated by Europeans in part due to seasonal flooding and limited access from the mainland (which required a ferry).  This changed in 1930 when the Army Corps of Engineers built a dike to help limit flooding and then later in 1950 a bridge was built linking Sauvie Island to the mainland (a new bridge was subsequently built and opened in 2007, replacing the older bridge).  The bridge led to increased looting of a known ancient Chinook archaeological site, called Sunken Village. The village is referred to as “sunken” as a large part of it is now buried beneath marshland, which somewhat protects it from looters, except in times of drought, such as occurred back in 1987 when looters reportedly stole a “small cedar chest, matting and bark skirts”.  In addition, the levees, now 60 years old, have begun to leak and to further swamp the Sunken Village, which in turn, compounded with the looting, has led the National Park Service to list the site as “Threatened”.  In that past few years archaeologists have stepped up efforts to retrieve artifacts from the site for prosperity.

Accessible via a 10 mile drive from Portland up Route 30, the 26,000 acre island is in current times most notable for its southern farmlands and its northern wildlife refuge dotted with lakes and public beaches.  A lazy and simple place, and the locals appear to want to keep it that way.  When it is up and functioning (which it frequently is not), the Sauvie Island website, set up presumably to lure tourism and commerce, seems instead to make an effort to dull any shine of intrigue that the island may intrinsically emit.  The website lists 3 historic locales on the island, but then goes on to note that one of the sites is not open to the public and a second doesn’t even exist anymore.  And despite the fact that the island is a mecca for bicyclists due to its long and flat roadways and relatively low traffic, the site seems to dissuade cyclists by throwing up inconspicuous warnings about steep drop-offs and dangerous road conditions (i.e. the roads lack shoulders).  Come on, show me a small town that has roads with shoulders!!  To further deter tourist activity, there is no gas station on the island and all vehicles must have a permit to park, which can be purchased for the price of $7  for a day or $22 for the year.

Unless you are hunting for produce or u-pick berries – or “wabbits” in the winter months – then chances are you are coming to Sauvie Island for the hiking, bicycling, canoeing, boating and beaches.  Due to the wide extent of wildlife refuge land area on the island there are many hiking trails for you to choose.  For those into parks, there is the 120 acre Howell Territorial Park, which is also home to the authentically restored 1856 Bybee-Howell house.  There is also the “Oak Island Trail”, located down a stretch of dirt road near the island’s center, which features a 2.5 mile loop around the Oak Island peninsula that presses into Steelman and Sturgeon Lakes.  On this walk one is surrounded by the calmness of high grasses, oak trees, cottontail rabbits, hay bales and clear blue water, which themselves are bordered by the high peaks of Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood to the east and Forest Park to the west.

The Sauvie Island Wildlife Area, primarily accessible through the north and east sections of the island, is where the largest amount of recreation activity is to be had.  With over 70 bird species recorded, it is considered an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society and a favorite spot for binocular toting weirdos.  There are five public beaches (Reeder, North Unit, Walton, Collins and Warrior Point), located in the east and north portions of the island, with Warrior Point beach accessible following either a 3.5 mile hike or by boat.  There is also a functioning lighthouse located on the Warrior Point trail (Warrior Point Lighthouse), which happens to be Oregon’s smallest lighthouse.

And that’s pretty much it for the “Sauve Factor”, as I have so grown accustomed to calling the island. Oh wait,  if you’re into fleshy bulges and droves of meat sticks that are covered  in hair, sand, and sweat, then there’s Collins Beach, Oregon’s one of a  pair of nude beaches.  Interested?  Photos of Collins Beach can be found here, including some fantastic action shots of trash pickup day.  Still interested?  You can catch me down there any given Tuesday playing football in the sand, practicing yoga, and roasting Italian sausage on the hibachi.