A view of the Columbia River shore at Arlington, Oregon, on January 12, 1909. The Columbia River is frozen. In the foreground is the white riverbank, with a large boulder to the left. Near the shore on the right of the photo is a pier, with a sailboat at its end. In the center we see a stern-wheeler. A long rope leads out from it and is coiled on the frozen river. A group of five men stand nearby, close to a rectangular area of water that has been freed of ice. Their attention is on a sixth man who is standing in a rowboat pushing at the ice with a long pole. One of the group on the river also carries a long pole. The writing on the photograph says the temperature is 20 below zero and the first time in 24 years the river had frozen over.
A black-and-white photograph. Written at the bottom in white ink is "Ice blockade Columbia River. Arlington, Ore, Jan. 19. 1909. Foto by M.E. Shurte." In the foreground twigs of bare branches stick up from the snow on the bank. To the right is some kind of building. Although there seems to be clear water near the shore, the rest of the river looks frozen over. Across the river are low bluffs.
