Box Car Rapids area of the Deschutes River just south of Maupin is shown in this view recorded Feb. 1, 1954. Several days after the southbound train piled up, wrecking crews were still looking for the lead unit of the Diesel Locomotive out of sight in the river.
Heavy Construction with up to 4,000 men at work marked building of the Dam, followed shortly by the start of construction of the John Day Dam only about 27 miles up the Columbia River.
Builder of two of the great dams on the Columbia River and one major canal in the Near East, Col. Hugh Elder is shown at his desk in the Corps office at the site of the John Day Dam. The first day he stepped out of his office door right on top of a rattlesnake, but soon took care of the problem.