Willamette Falls has long been a place of deep spiritual and cultural importance for Northwest tribes, as well a hub of local industry. It has also, on occasion, been a place of tragedy and terror.
The case of California kayaker Marcelus Angelo Rodriguez, who went missing after going over the roaring waterfall last weekend, is another reminder of the powerful force of Willamette Falls.
While measuring only 42 feet tall, the horseshoe-shaped waterfall is 1,500 feet wide and ranks among the largest in the world by volume. Its massive flow, combined with sharp basalt rocks at its base, makes it a particularly perilous spot. Warnings about the waterfall are posted along the river.
In the mid-1980s, a string of high-profile accidents kept the famous Oregon City waterfall in the headlines.
In 1983, two people were rescued from the river after apparently going over the falls late at night, according to reporting in The Oregonian at the time – though details of the accident are scarce.
The next year, in the spring of 1984, media descended on Oregon City when a young West Linn couple was pulled from the river after their 16-foot fishing boat plunged over the waterfall.
Matthew A. Balcomb and Laurie Kai Balcomb, who was seven months pregnant, were fishing on the Willamette River when a piece of rope became entangled in the boat’s propeller, stalling the engine and causing them to lose control of the boat, Matthew Balcomb told police at the time.
A pair of fishermen below the falls saw their boat go over and quickly navigated to the base of the falls, where they helped pull the couple out of the water.
“Maneuvering a boat close to the falls no easy task in itself,” Sgt. Neal Butler of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office told The Oregonian after the incident. “If those fishermen hadn’t made the rescue in quick work, there’s no telling where those people would have drifted to. And that water’s very cold.”
Paramedics tended to the Balcombs and found no serious injuries, including to Laurie Balcomb’s unborn baby. The couple, who have since both died, told The Oregonian at the time that they had no intention of ever fishing above Willamette Falls again.
“Oh sure, I plan to river fish again, but not above the falls – no way,” Matthew Balcomb said.
Then, in 1985, Dephane Sporrer, a Portland nurse, died after her canoe capsized and she was swept over the falls. Bruce Herring, who was also in the boat, was plucked from the water at the top of the falls in a dramatic helicopter rescue, The Oregonian reported at the time.
A witness to the accident said Sporrer tried to hang onto the boat as it went over the falls, while Herring caught hold of a snagged log. Sporrer, who had been wearing a life vest, was spotted inside the canoe after it emerged from the water, but her body later disappeared into the river, the witness said.
Police at the time said that Sporrer and Herring were on a canoe camping trip in the area and did not know they were near the falls until they were too close to pull out.
Recorded accidents at Willamette Falls date back to the 19th century, The Oregonian has reported, with the first deaths reported 1843, when six people went over the falls in a large canoe. In 1857, a 90-foot sidewheel river steamer went over the waterfall, killing two.
As early as 1895, daredevils attempted to survive the drop from Willamette Falls, at least two of whom survived after attempting it in a barrel and canoe.
Modern daredevils remain tempted by the falls. In 2003, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office responded to witness reports of a kayaker who went over the falls and “quickly paddled” away, noting that if intentional, the act could earn the boater a Class A misdemeanor. However, a kayaker who filmed themselves going over the falls in 2011 said they received nothing more than a stern warning from police after continuing to paddle downriver.
The most recent incident is a reminder of why those warnings are in place.
Rodriguez, who is still missing, had just arrived in the area with family for vacation last Saturday when he was seen kayaking upriver of the falls, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday. Witnesses called 911 late that night to report a person had gone over the falls and did not resurface.
The sheriff’s office, which found a kayak matching the one Rodriguez was using, said the man may have not known the waterfall was there.
Search and rescue crews continue to look for his body.
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