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Roll On Columbia - Columbia River, North America

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Roll On Columbia was one of 26 songs written by Woody Guthrie in one month while in the employ of the U.S. government.

In 1941 the U.S. Government hired folk singer Woody Guthrie to write songs extolling the virtues of hydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest. Woodie was paid $266.66 for the month long project and when the month was over he had produced 26 songs, including Roll on Columbia, Grand Coulee Dam and Pastures of Plenty.

The largest river in western North America, the Columbia rises on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia just north of a town named Canal Flats. It flows northward for about 180 miles before turning southward and immediately being slowed by the first of fourteen dams on the river, Mica Dam. Thereafter, it pauses at two more dams, the Revelstoke and Keenleyside dams, before heading for the U.S. border. At Castlegar it is joined by the Kootenay River and, just north of the border, by the Pend d'Oreille River. 151 Miles south of the border it again pauses at the Grand Coulee Dam.

Undoubtedly the largest single project of the Public Works Administration, construction of the Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933, not being completed until 1941, just in time to provide power for wartime industry of the Pacific Northwest. Lake Roosevelt, impounded behind the dam, covers 82,300 acres, stretching 151 miles to the Canadian border, with a storage capacity of 9,562,000 acre feet of water. The lake provides recreational opportunities for a million people each year, with 35 campgrounds around the lake and several more boat launches.

After another 500 or so miles of wandering through Washington and Oregon, the Columbia empties into the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. A total of 1,243 miles (2,000 km) in length, the Columbia drains an area of 258,000 square miles (668,000 km2) and provides electricity for parts of eleven states and southern British Columbia. The original purpose of the construction of the early dams on the river was for flood control, the impetus being provided by recurring flooding of the river. It was immediately seen that the river could be simultaneously used to provide irrigation water, electricity and recreational areas. The dams break up many sections of the river into lakes which support over 50 campgrounds along its length, with boating and fishing areas up and down the river.

Coordinates given are at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center, an excellent viewing location and the largest of the fourteen hydro dams on the river.

Woody Guthrie's Fertile Month on the Columbia River

In May 1941, folk singer Woody Guthrie spent one month working for the federal government. His job was to travel to the Pacific Northwest and write songs promoting huge hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River.

The government faced powerful opposition from private utilities and hoped that folk songs would prompt more public support. Out of this month of work came some of Guthrie's best-known songs.

Riding with Woody
Elmer Buehler, now 96 years old, was appointed Guthrie's driver and guide for the month. Buehler remembers the day Guthrie, not yet a folk-music legend, auditioned for Paul Raver at the Bonneville Power Administration.<

"He sat there on the administrator's desk," Buehler recalls, "and strummed on his 'gee-tar,' as he always said. I don't think he was there over half an hour and Dr. Raver said, 'Well, you're hired.'"

Raver paid Guthrie $266.66. When the month was over, the folk singer had written 26 songs, among them "Roll on Columbia," "Grand Coulee Dam" and "Pastures of Plenty." Guthrie recorded a few of the tunes in the basement of the agency's headquarters.

Songs for the People
Guthrie's songs echoed this optimistic period in the West. Few were thinking of the salmon the dams would sacrifice. Instead, it was all about harnessing nature's power to help people.

Bill Murlin is a folk singer and former Bonneville employee who took a special interest in Guthrie's time with the agency.

He says if Guthrie's tune to "Grand Coulee Dam" sounds familiar, think "Wabash Cannonball." Murlin says Guthrie's gift was lyrics — the folk singer often "borrowed" melodies from other musicians.

Murlin says it's clear Guthrie was struck by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
From NPR Music