Recently, while driving to The Dalles for a teaching weekend, I passed by a sign for “Starvation Creek”. Now I ask you, how could a name like “Starvation Creek” fail to capture one’s attention? Whipping out ye old cel phone, I began my quest for knowledge.
One of the first things that pops up is a little map showing the location. Other points of interest are also marked on the map. The two that immediately caught my eye were: Starvation Creek Falls and Hole-in-the-Wall Falls.The website for Starvation Creek State Park mentions that the park is a trailhead for “the paved Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail”, along with several other trails.
The area got it’s name when a Pacific Express passenger train was stuck in the snow during a blizzard in 1884 and it was rumored that some passengers had died of starvation and/or small pox. According to The Oregon Encyclopedia site, neither was true.
