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[[Image:Corps-engineers-archives celilo falls color.jpg|thumb|300px|Dipnet Fishing at Celilo Falls]]
[[Image:Corps-engineers-archives celilo falls color.jpg|thumb|300px|Dipnet fishing at Celilo Falls]]
Located between the states of [[Oregon]] and [[Washington]], '''Celilo Falls''' ([[Chinookan]]: '''''Wyam''''' – "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks") was a unique natural feature formed by the relentless push of the [[Columbia River]] through [[basalt]]-laden narrows east of the [[Cascade Mountains]], onward towards the [[Pacific Ocean]] – the final leg of the river's 1,152 mile (1,857 km) journey. The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world, and among the largest in [[North America]].<ref>[http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/database.php?s=N&t=W&orderby=avevolume&sortLimit=5000 World Waterfall Database]</ref>


'''Celilo Falls''' ([[Sahaptian languages|Sahaptin]]:'''''Wyam''''', meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks"<ref>{{cite web | author=Washington State History Museum | title=Tribal Cultures and Homelands: Celilo Falls | url=http://www.washingtonhistoryonline.org/L&C-columbia/culture/celilo-falls.htm | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref>) was a tribal [[fishing]] area on the [[Columbia River]], just east of the [[Cascade Range|Cascade Mountains]], on what is today the border of [[Oregon]] and [[Washington]]. It was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the [[North America]]n continent until 1957, when it was submerged by the construction of [[The Dalles Dam]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 52}}</ref>
The construction of [[The Dalles Dam]], completed in 1957, brought an end to the falls, by flooding that section of the river.


==Description==
== Water volume and other statistics ==
During periods of high water or [[flood]], nearly a million cubic feet (28,000 m³) of water per second would pass over the falls, creating a tremendous roar that could be heard many miles away. By way of comparison, the flow of [[Niagara Falls]], between [[New York|New York State]] and [[Ontario, Canada]], averages only 200,000 ft³/s (7,000 m³/s). Celilo Falls itself was part of a series of abrupt drops and undulations along what was called Five Mile Rapids, an area stretching approximately 11 miles from [[Celilo Village, Oregon|Celilo Village]] to [[The Dalles]].


Celilo Falls consisted of a series of [[rapids]] and cascades dropping a total of 83 feet (25.3 m) over a 1/2 mile (0.8 km) stretch of the Columbia River. There were three main sections: a [[waterfall|cataract]] known as Horseshoe Falls or Tumwater Falls, a deep eddy known as The Cul de Sac, and the Main Channel. In a broader sense, the term "Celilo Falls" may be extended to include the Five Mile and Ten Mile Rapids, a series of abrupt drops and undulations stretching 11 miles (17.6 km) downstream from [[Celilo Village, Oregon|Celilo Village]] to [[The Dalles, Oregon]].<ref>{{cite web | title = World Waterfall database | url = http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/waterfall.php?num=161 | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref>
⚫
== History of the falls ==
For millennia native peoples had come to Celilo to fish and trade goods. Artifacts retrieved from the original village site suggest that tribes from as far away as the [[Great Plains]], Southwestern United States, and [[Alaska]] gathered here, and that the site had been occupied continuously for at least 10,000 years. When [[Lewis and Clark]] passed through in 1805 they were struck by the variety of peoples gathered at Celilo, noting a "great emporium…where all the neighboring nations assemble".{{Fact|date=April 2007}} They also wrote of the high population density in this region, which exceeded anything they had seen prior on their journey west. Appropriately, many historians liken the area around Celilo as once being the “[[Wall Street]] of the West”.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} A mere fifty years after Lewis and Clark wrote of the falls, immigrants on wooden barges loaded with wagons traversed the waters of the Columbia; many lost their lives in the violent currents near Celilo.


The falls were formed by the Columbia River's relentless push through [[basalt]] [[narrows]] on the final leg of its journey to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Elsewhere more than a mile (1.6 km) in width, the river was squeezed here into a width of only 140 feet (43 m).<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 80}}</ref> [[Native Americans in the United States|Native peoples]] built wooden platforms out over the water and caught [[salmon]] with dipnets and long spears on poles as the fish jumped over the falls.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 154}}</ref> An estimated fifteen to twenty million salmon passed through the falls every year.<ref>{{cite news | last = Rohrbacher | first = George | title = Talk of the Past: The salmon fisheries of Celilo Falls | work = Common-Place | date = January 2006 | url=http://www.common-place.org/vol-06/no-02/talk/ | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref>
== Federal and local officials contemplate a dam ==
⚫
[[Image:Celilo mural salem capital.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Mural of Lewis and Clark's arrival at Celilo, Oregon State Capital rotunda]]
⚫
The 20th century brought great changes for the falls and for those who had come to rely on them as a source of livelihood. The [[Army Corps of Engineers]] built the [[Dalles-Celilo Canal]], a [[portage]] allowing river traffic to circumvent the turbulent falls, in 1913. At the dedication of the canal, [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] investor and civic leader Joseph Nathan Teal gave voice to a common sentiment that endured for decades: “our waters shall be free – free to serve the uses and purposes of their creation by a [[Manifest Destiny|Divine Providence]].”<ref>J. B. Tyrell, ed., David Thompson: Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812 (Toronto, 1916, 496-97; "Address of Joseph Nathan Teal, The Dalles-Celilo Celebration, Big Eddy, Oregon (May 5, 1915," Oregon Historical quarterly, 16 (Fall 1916), 107-8. (As quoted in [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3951/is_200004/ai_n8884518/pg_1 The Columbia River's fate in the twentieth century])</ref>


The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world and were among the largest in [[North America]].<ref>[http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/database.php?s=N&t=W&orderby=avevolume&sortLimit=5000 World Waterfall Database]</ref> During periods of high water or [[flood]], nearly a million cubic feet (28,000 m³) of water per second passed over the falls, creating a tremendous roar that could be heard many miles away.{{fact}}
As more Americans moved to the [[Pacific Northwest]], several factors caused leaders to advocate for a dam: river traffic on the Columbia increased during the [[1930s]]; downriver cities suffered from unpredictable flooding, most notably in the 1948 destruction of the city of [[Vanport, Oregon]]; the [[United States Department of Defense|defense industry]], with projects like the [[Hanford Site|Hanford nuclear facility]], demanded more electricity (the regional demand for [[electricity]] tripled between 1937 and 1946); and agriculture in the region demanded reliable water sources for [[irrigation]].


⚫
== History ==
== The dam is built; Celilo vanishes ==
⚫
[[Image:Celilo mural salem capital.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[Lewis and Clark expedition|Lewis and Clark's]] arrival at Celilo, mural on the [[Oregon State Capitol]] rotunda]]
After a series of Congressional hearings, policy makers concluded that treaties set forth in 1855 protecting tribal fishing rights would not be impinged upon by a plan to increase water level by constructing a dam below Celilo. Subsequently, a monetary settlement was reached between the U.S. government and the affected tribes. In 1952 the Army Corps of Engineers commenced work on The Dalles Dam, completing it by early 1957. On [[March 10]], [[1957]] under a placid blue sky, as hundreds of observers looked on, a rising [[Lake Celilo]] rapidly silenced the falls, submerged fishing platforms, and consumed the village of Celilo, ending an age-old existence for those who lived there. (The tiny present day [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] community of [[Celilo Village, Oregon|Celilo Village]] persists nearby.)


For eight thousand years, [[Native Americans in the United States|native peoples]] gathered at Wyam.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 52}}</ref> Artifacts from the original village site suggest that tribes came from as far away as the [[Great Plains]], [[Southwestern United States]], and [[Alaska]] to fish and exchange goods.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} When the explorers [[Meriwether Lewis]] and [[William Clark]] passed through the area in 1805, they found a "great emporium…where all the neighboring nations assemble," and a population density unlike anything they had seen thus far.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Accordingly, historians have likened the Celilo area to the “[[Wall Street]] of the West."<ref>{{cite news | last = Alpert | first = Emily | title = Remembering Celilo Falls | work = The Dalles Chronicle | date = 10 July 2006 | url=http://www.bluefish.org/celilofa.htm | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref>
[[Image:Nixon thedalles.jpg|thumb|300px|Vice-President [[Richard Nixon]] speaking at The Dalles Dam dedication in 1959.]]
The Dalles Dam was often touted as providing much needed power for industry (predominantly [[aluminum]] plants) and surplus power for an ever growing post-war population of the [[Pacific Northwest|Northwestern United States]]. Indeed, it has reached that end—now an important member of the [[Bonneville Power Administration]]’s network of [[hydroelectric dams]], which supply electricity to places as far away as [[Southern California]]. However, the original driving force for the placement of a dam above The Dalles was not energy production, but rather the creation of [[slackwater]] for [[barges]] moving goods from interior regions of Oregon, Washington, and [[Idaho]] to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]].{{Fact|date=April 2007}}


⚫
In the 1840s and 1850s, [[American pioneer|immigrants]] began arriving in the area, traveling down the Columbia on wooden barges loaded with wagons. Many lost their lives in the violent currents near Celilo.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} By the 1870s, the [[Army Corps of Engineers]] had embarked on a plan to improve navigation on the river. In 1915, they completed the 14-mile [[Celilo Canal]], a [[portage]] allowing [[steamboats]] to circumvent the turbulent falls. At the dedication of the canal, [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] investor and civic leader Joseph Nathan Teal gave voice to a common sentiment that endured for decades: “Our waters shall be free: free to serve the uses and purposes of their creation by a [[Divine Providence]].”<ref>J. B. Tyrell, ed., David Thompson: Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812 (Toronto, 1916, 496-97; "Address of Joseph Nathan Teal, The Dalles-Celilo Celebration, Big Eddy, Oregon (May 5, 1915," Oregon Historical quarterly, 16 (Fall 1916), 107-8. (As quoted in [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3951/is_200004/ai_n8884518/pg_1 The Columbia River's fate in the twentieth century])</ref> However, the canal was scarcely used and was completely idle by 1919.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 204}}</ref>
==See also==

* [[Priest Rapids]]
In the coming years, as more settlers arrived in the [[Pacific Northwest]], business interests and political leaders advocated for a system of [[hydroelectric dam]]s on the Columbia River. They argued that the dams would
* [[Cascades Rapids]]

* [[Confluence Project]]
* improve navigation for barge traffic from the interior of Washington, Oregon, and [[Idaho]] to the ocean
* alleviate the unpredictable flooding of downriver cities, as occurred in the 1948 destruction of [[Vanport, Oregon]]
* provide a reliable source of [[irrigation]] water for [[agriculture|agricultural production]]
* provide [[electricity]] for the burgeoning [[United States Department of Defense|defense industry]], including projects such as the [[Hanford site|Hanford nuclear nuclear site]], [[aluminum]] production plants, and [[World War II]] [[shipbuilding]] factories in Portland that had contributed to a threefold increase in regional demand for electricity from 1937 to 1946{{Fact|date=February 2008}}

Throughout this period, native people continued to fish at Celilo Falls, under the rights assigned at 1855 Treaties with the [[Yakama Nation]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Treaty with the Yakama, 1855 | url=http://www.critfc.org/text/yaktreaty.html | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref> the [[Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Treaty of Wasco, Columbia River, Oregon Territory with the Taih, Wyam, Tenino, & Dock-Spus Bands of the Walla-Walla, and the Dalles, Ki-Gal-Twal-La, and the Dog River Bands of the Wasco | url=http://www.warmsprings.com/Warmsprings/Tribal_Community/History__Culture/Treaty__Documents/Treaty_of_1855.html | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref> and the [[Walla Walla (tribe)|Walla Walla]], [[Umatilla (tribe)|Umatilla]], and [[Cayuse]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Treaty with the Walla Walla, Cayuse and Umatilla, 1855 | url=http://www.umatilla.nsn.us/treaty.html | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref> which granted the tribes "the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed stations."

In 1947, the [[United States government|federal government]] convened [[United States Congress|Congressional]] hearings to discuss a proposed dam at The Dalles.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 378}}</ref> They concluded that the Indian treaties would not be violated by a dam flooding Celilo Falls. Subsequently, the government reached a monetary settlement with the affected tribes, paying $26.8 million in 1957 for the loss of Celilo and other fishing sites on the Columbia.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 376}}</ref>

The Army Corps of Engineers commenced work on the Dalles Dam in 1952 and completed it five years later. On March 10, 1957, hundreds of observers looked on as a rising [[Lake Celilo]] rapidly silenced the falls, submerged fishing platforms, and consumed the village of Celilo, ending an age-old existence for those who lived there. A small Native American community exists today at nearby Celilo Village, on a bluff overlooking the former location of the falls.

Celilo Falls retains great cultural significance for native peoples. Ted Strong of the Intertribal Fish Commission told historian William Dietrich, "If you are an Indian person and you think, you can still see all the characteristics of that waterfall. If you listen, you can still hear its roar. If you inhale, the fragrances of mist and fish and water come back again."<ref>{{cite book | last = Dietrich | first = William | title = Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River | publisher = University of Washington Press | place = Seattle, WA | date = 1995 | page = 378}}</ref> In 2007, three thousand people gathered at Celilo Village to commememorate the 50-year anniversary of the inundation of the falls.<ref>{{cite news | last = Modie | first = Jonathan | title = The Celilo Legacy commemoration brought together the tribes of the lower Columbia River and others to remember Celilo Falls, bringing a mix of sadness and nostalgia. | work = Wana Chinook Tymoo | url=http://www.critfc.org/wana/legacy.html | accessdate=2008-02-01}}</ref>

Artist and architect [[Maya Lin]] is working on interpretive artwork at Celilo for the [[Confluence Project]], scheduled for completion in 2009.


== References ==
== References ==
Line 32: Line 40:
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.salmonnation.com/essays/recalling_celilo.html ''Recalling Celilo''] by Elizabeth Woody
*[http://www.salmonnation.com/essays/recalling_celilo.html ''Recalling Celilo''] by Elizabeth Woody
*[http://www.ccrh.org/comm/river/celilo.htm ''Oregon's Oldest Town: 11,000 Years of Occupation''] by the Center for Columbia River History
*[http://www.critfc.org Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission], includes Celilo Legacy commemoration and Celilo history
*[http://www.critfc.org Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission], includes Celilo Legacy commemoration and Celilo history
*[http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/105.2/fisher.html ''Tangled Nets: Treaty Rights and Tribal Identities at Celilo Falls''] by Andrew H. Fisher


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Revision as of 13:35, 1 February 2008

Dipnet fishing at Celilo Falls

Celilo Falls (Sahaptin:Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks"[1]) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border of Oregon and Washington. It was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent until 1957, when it was submerged by the construction of The Dalles Dam.[2]

Description

Celilo Falls consisted of a series of rapids and cascades dropping a total of 83 feet (25.3 m) over a 1/2 mile (0.8 km) stretch of the Columbia River. There were three main sections: a cataract known as Horseshoe Falls or Tumwater Falls, a deep eddy known as The Cul de Sac, and the Main Channel. In a broader sense, the term "Celilo Falls" may be extended to include the Five Mile and Ten Mile Rapids, a series of abrupt drops and undulations stretching 11 miles (17.6 km) downstream from Celilo Village to The Dalles, Oregon.[3]

The falls were formed by the Columbia River's relentless push through basalt narrows on the final leg of its journey to the Pacific Ocean. Elsewhere more than a mile (1.6 km) in width, the river was squeezed here into a width of only 140 feet (43 m).[4] Native peoples built wooden platforms out over the water and caught salmon with dipnets and long spears on poles as the fish jumped over the falls.[5] An estimated fifteen to twenty million salmon passed through the falls every year.[6]

The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world and were among the largest in North America.[7] During periods of high water or flood, nearly a million cubic feet (28,000 m³) of water per second passed over the falls, creating a tremendous roar that could be heard many miles away.[citation needed]

History

Lewis and Clark's arrival at Celilo, mural on the Oregon State Capitol rotunda

For eight thousand years, native peoples gathered at Wyam.[8] Artifacts from the original village site suggest that tribes came from as far away as the Great Plains, Southwestern United States, and Alaska to fish and exchange goods.[citation needed] When the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through the area in 1805, they found a "great emporium…where all the neighboring nations assemble," and a population density unlike anything they had seen thus far.[citation needed] Accordingly, historians have likened the Celilo area to the “Wall Street of the West."[9]

In the 1840s and 1850s, immigrants began arriving in the area, traveling down the Columbia on wooden barges loaded with wagons. Many lost their lives in the violent currents near Celilo.[citation needed] By the 1870s, the Army Corps of Engineers had embarked on a plan to improve navigation on the river. In 1915, they completed the 14-mile Celilo Canal, a portage allowing steamboats to circumvent the turbulent falls. At the dedication of the canal, Portland investor and civic leader Joseph Nathan Teal gave voice to a common sentiment that endured for decades: “Our waters shall be free: free to serve the uses and purposes of their creation by a Divine Providence.”[10] However, the canal was scarcely used and was completely idle by 1919.[11]

In the coming years, as more settlers arrived in the Pacific Northwest, business interests and political leaders advocated for a system of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. They argued that the dams would

Throughout this period, native people continued to fish at Celilo Falls, under the rights assigned at 1855 Treaties with the Yakama Nation,[12] the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs,[13] and the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Cayuse,[14] which granted the tribes "the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed stations."

In 1947, the federal government convened Congressional hearings to discuss a proposed dam at The Dalles.[15] They concluded that the Indian treaties would not be violated by a dam flooding Celilo Falls. Subsequently, the government reached a monetary settlement with the affected tribes, paying $26.8 million in 1957 for the loss of Celilo and other fishing sites on the Columbia.[16]

The Army Corps of Engineers commenced work on the Dalles Dam in 1952 and completed it five years later. On March 10, 1957, hundreds of observers looked on as a rising Lake Celilo rapidly silenced the falls, submerged fishing platforms, and consumed the village of Celilo, ending an age-old existence for those who lived there. A small Native American community exists today at nearby Celilo Village, on a bluff overlooking the former location of the falls.

Celilo Falls retains great cultural significance for native peoples. Ted Strong of the Intertribal Fish Commission told historian William Dietrich, "If you are an Indian person and you think, you can still see all the characteristics of that waterfall. If you listen, you can still hear its roar. If you inhale, the fragrances of mist and fish and water come back again."[17] In 2007, three thousand people gathered at Celilo Village to commememorate the 50-year anniversary of the inundation of the falls.[18]

Artist and architect Maya Lin is working on interpretive artwork at Celilo for the Confluence Project, scheduled for completion in 2009.

References

  1. ^ Washington State History Museum. "Tribal Cultures and Homelands: Celilo Falls". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  2. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 52.
  3. ^ "World Waterfall database". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  4. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 80.
  5. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 154.
  6. ^ Rohrbacher, George (January 2006). "Talk of the Past: The salmon fisheries of Celilo Falls". Common-Place. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  7. ^ World Waterfall Database
  8. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 52.
  9. ^ Alpert, Emily (10 July 2006). "Remembering Celilo Falls". The Dalles Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  10. ^ J. B. Tyrell, ed., David Thompson: Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812 (Toronto, 1916, 496-97; "Address of Joseph Nathan Teal, The Dalles-Celilo Celebration, Big Eddy, Oregon (May 5, 1915," Oregon Historical quarterly, 16 (Fall 1916), 107-8. (As quoted in The Columbia River's fate in the twentieth century)
  11. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 204.
  12. ^ "Treaty with the Yakama, 1855". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  13. ^ "Treaty of Wasco, Columbia River, Oregon Territory with the Taih, Wyam, Tenino, & Dock-Spus Bands of the Walla-Walla, and the Dalles, Ki-Gal-Twal-La, and the Dog River Bands of the Wasco". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  14. ^ "Treaty with the Walla Walla, Cayuse and Umatilla, 1855". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  15. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 378.
  16. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 376.
  17. ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 378.
  18. ^ Modie, Jonathan. "The Celilo Legacy commemoration brought together the tribes of the lower Columbia River and others to remember Celilo Falls, bringing a mix of sadness and nostalgia". Wana Chinook Tymoo. Retrieved 2008-02-01.

External links

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