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The old swimming hole
By Minnie (Smith) Stoumbaugh

Didn’t we five Smith kids love it when we could go play in the woods, build a fort, climb a tree, or get wet in the creek awhile! We were well-blessed to be born at one of the last best times to get out and explore our world—in the 40s and 50s. The closest thing we had to electronic gadgets that entertain kids today was my portable radio. It was battery operated by two good-sized, rectangular batteries. Problem being, too many times I went to sleep listening to music. Yep, the batteries were dead in the morning. The two of them cost $3—a lot of money back when I was ten years old and Dixie cups and candy bars were 5 or 10¢.

At least a couple of times we escaped those hot days of summer by swimming at Lake Oswego. That was a long drive on the back roads of the day. So was “Roamer’s Rest,” a popular recreation spot down on the Tualatin River, even though we had Highway 99 to take us there. Either of those was only a once-in-awhile treat. Otherwise, we could hike up McChesney Road (now 87th), or go north from Canyon Road past the West Slope Water District office and down the newly cut road that is 89th today. We had trails through the woods along the creek that would finally pass under Wolf Creek Highway.

The Smith kids at the beach, demonstrating their engineering prowess! Minnie (with pigtails), Fern, Gene, Roy, and Floyd c. 1947

Because that was the name of the Highway in the beginning, we always thought the creek in “our woods” was Wolf Creek. Only much later would I read a map and learn that it was Golf Creek! We made a dam in the creek so we could have a place to swim. Well, we never got into real swimming because it wasn’t big enough, but we had a good time sharing the cool of the creek with water skippers and mosquito larva.

Later 89th was extended about a quarter of a mile farther into the woods, changing the flow of the creek. So we made another dam farther downstream. But just as my brother, Roy was swinging a shovel full of mud, I bent down beside him and his load was deposited in my face! One black eye and delayed development! Again, it wasn’t much more than a large wading pool, but it did give us a bit of reprieve on a hot summer day.

About this same time, the owners of the holly orchards which were prevalent north of what is now Sunset Highway built a dam on the creek to create a reservoir to water their holly trees. Would that have been the Peterkort Family? I think so. Their earthen dam was at least 25 feet high and 100 feet wide, located about two tenths of a mile northeast of where the creek passes under the highway. Today you wouldn’t have a clue there is a three-foot culvert going under the highway shortly before the exit to St Vincent’s hospital.

The dam was serving well after it was put in place and the lake that was created filled quickly with the rains in the fall and winter. However, the next spring, the flow of water became more than the dam could contain, and it broke. Since I delivered the Portland Oregon Journal to people who lived “down in the woods,” I could see that something serious had happened when I came by that afternoon in maybe 1950. By then the flood had passed, but there was debris everywhere and the grass alongside the creek was lying flat. Sorry for the one family that had built their home down close to the creek and had water in the house.

This was only a temporary eclipse to our play place. The Peterkorts rebuilt the dam with better information, and it became a favorite swimming hole for several kids, until about 1955 when the holly orchards gave way to housing developments.

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