River & Rock: A Tale of Hells Canyon

“River & Rock: A Tale of Hells Canyon” is what I would call a cross between a travelogue and a documentary.  Hells Canyon is cut by the Snake River flowing from Hells Canyon Dam, forming the border between Idaho and Oregon, then between Idaho and Washington.  Hells Canyon is the centerpiece of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.  Portions of the river have been designated “Wild” and “Scenic” by the Forest Service.

This video (available on DVD and VHS) takes the viewer on a tour of the rugged beauty, wildlife, history and geology of Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest gorge (deeper than the Grand Canyon).

When producing this video, my goal was to tell the story of this magnificent piece of our world through the words of those who know it best. 

I interviewed Dr. Tracy Vallier, the premiere geologist for the area who has been exploring and mapping the region since 1964.  His love for the canyon is contagious and his explanations of the various geological occurrences in the canyon are fascinating.

I interviewed Horace Axtell, a Nez Perce Tribal elder whose grandmother crossed the Snake River at Dug Bar as a young child in 1877.  Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce were making a journey from the Wallowa Mountains in Northeast Oregon to Lapwai, Idaho.  While they were making the journey, war erupted between the US Cavalry and the Nez Perce and Joseph and his band found themselves in a running battle that lasted all the way to the Bear Paw Mountains of central Montana, just a few miles short of the Canadian border and freedom.  It was at the Bear Paw Mountains, with snow falling and his people hungry and outnumbered that Joseph declared, “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever”.

Carole Smolinski, a local historian, is eminently qualified to guide the viewer on a tour of Eureka, a mining town that boasted over 200 inhabitants deep in Hells Canyon.  Carole tells the story of the Sternwheeler Imnaha that brought supplies to Eureka, traversing treacherous rapids and ultimately meeting a disastrous end.  Building foundations and empty mine shafts still spot this site where the Imnaha River joins the Snake.

Captain Elmer Earl, whose grandparents homesteaded Idaho riverfront on the Snake in the late 1800’s, talks about early steamboat traffic on the river and the gradual evolution from sternwheelers to welded steel mail boats that brought supplies to miners and sheep ranchers then took wool and grain back downstream.  Elmer even got to drive one of the sternwheelers as a young boy while his father and the captain played cards!

Other segments of the video include one specifically devoted to wildlife and one that goes over the various recreational opportunities in the Canyon.

The scenery is stunning, the videography, shot primarily by my videographer, Jeff Sayre, is absolutely beautiful.

I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed producing and editing it.

With warm regards,

Dan Walker, Owner

Dan Walker Productions