Celilo Falls
 or at least 12,000 years, the area surrounding Celilo Falls was the hub of a vast American Indian trade network that stretched from California to Alaska, and from the Missouri Plains to the Pacific Ocean.
Native people established this trading center, along with a system of well-traveled roads and trails, long before Euro-Americans explored the region.
Some native people call this area Wyam, Sahaptin for the 'sound of water upon the rocks.' Wyam was a bountiful salmon fishery, and tribes gathered here to fish, trade, socialize, play games, and celebrate.
Carefully dried salmon was one of the most popular trade goods. People came from all over the west to trade for it. In exchange, they brought valuable trade objects from their region, such as turquoise and obsidian from the south; dried buffalo meat, furs and hides from the east; copper and dentalium from the north; and wapato, dried clams and seashells from the west.
Indians spear fishing, possibly Columbia River, Celilo Falls, ca. 1950. George Chute, photographer.
Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma
On April 16th, 1806, William Clark wrote:
This is the Great Mart of all this Country. ten different tribes who reside on Taptate and Catteract River visit those people for the purpose of purchaseing their fish, and the Indians on the Columbia and Lewis's river quite to the Chopunnish Nation Visit them for the purpose of tradeing horses buffalow robes for heeds, and Such articles as they have not. The Skillutes precure the most of their Cloth knivs axes & beeds from the Indians from the North of them who trade with white people who come into the inlets to the North at no great distance from the Tapteet. their horses of which I saw great numbers, they precure from the Indians who reside on the banks of the Columbia above, and what flew they take from the To war ne hi ooks or Snake indians. I smoked with all the principal men of this nation in the house of their great Cheif... (Clark, from Moulton V.7, 1991:129)
 Celilo Falls; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The view above of Celilo Falls was taken March 20, 1928, looking west (downstream) over the Falls Bridge. Clark placed a large Indian village on the right-hand riverbank in his map of 1805.
The Celilo Canal, completed in 1915, is the straight-sided channel running down the left side of the river. The canal, eight and a half miles long, allowed steamships to bypass the Falls, the Short Narrows rapids, and the Long Narrows rapids. Celilo Falls themselves are barely visible just beyond the bridge. The Short Narrows are in the mid-distance.
Today the entire valley is flooded from bluff to bluff by Lake Umatilla.
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