Celilo Falls

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.

The construction of The Dalles Dam, completed in 1957, brought an end to the falls, by flooding that section of the river.

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 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 to The Dalles.

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". 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”. 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.

Federal and local officials contemplate a dam

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 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.”

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 defense industry, with projects like the 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.

The dam is built; Celilo vanishes

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 American community of Celilo Village persists nearby.)

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 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.

See also

• Priest Rapids
• Cascades Rapids

External links

• Recalling Celilo by Elizabeth Woody
• Oregon's Oldest Town: 11,000 Years of Occupation by the Center for Columbia River History
• Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, includes Celilo Legacy commemoration and Celilo history