Roll On Columbia
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music based on “Goodnight, Irene” (Huddie Ledbetter and John Lomax)
Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through.
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew.
Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on!
CHORUS: Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
Other great rivers add power to you,
Yakima, Snake and the Klickitat, too,
Sandy Willamette and Hood River, too;
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
CHORUS
Tom Jefferson’s vision would not let him rest,
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest.
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest;
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
CHORUS
It’s there on your bank that we fought many a fight,
Sheridan’s boys in the blockhouse that night,
They saw us in death but never in flight,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
CHORUS
At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks,
The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks,
Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
CHORUS
And on up the river is Grand Coulee Dam,
The mightiest thing ever built by a man,
To run these great factories and water the land,
It’s roll on, Columbia, roll on.
CHORUS
These might men labored by day and by night,
Matching their strength ‘gainst the river’s wild flight,
Through rapids and falls they won the hard fight,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on.
This photo is one view of the Astoria-Megler Bridge connecting Washington State and Oregon over the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean.
These are a compilation of photos I have of the mighty Columbia River. Some were taken this year and some in years past. The photos with Dear and I in them were taken in 2012. Some of the photos are taken in Oregon and most are taken in Washington State. The North end of the river the central part of the river and the southern part as it reaches Oregon.
We are just back home from 4 days traveling to the Northeast part of our state to enjoy our son and his fiance. I’ll share posts later about our time there. We ended up crossing the mighty Columbia river four times during our visit. I was able to get photos of lots of great old barns.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 