During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Willamette River served as the primary means of transportation for both people and goods in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Riverboats plied the river along a series of landings and small communities where much of the population clustered. Some of these settlements, such as Albany and Springfield, developed into the towns and metropolitan centers of present-day Oregon. Others, such as Lancaster, flourished briefly before gradually declining or disappearing altogether as transportation shifted to roads and railroads.
Willamette...
During the second half of the nineteenth century, the Willamette River served as the primary means of transportation for both people and goods in O...
