 Dip-net fishing at Celilo Falls, pre-dam historical photo, n.d.
Washington State Historical Society Imagine that you are traveling along this river trail - from the Lower Columbia, upriver through the cascades and rapids of the country between the Cascade Mountains, and continuing eastward through the Columbia Plateau and into the lower slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains- and explore the cultures and homelands of the native peoples of the Columbia River.
From "In Their Words" you'll learn about these historic cultures from the perspective of the Lewis and Clark party. Remember that their contact with some of these groups was fleeting and limited in terms of season, and communication was limited with all the groups, due to language barriers.
Click here to view 1881 relief map of Columbia River area.
From "Peoples of the River" you'll meet some descendants of people who met Lewis and Clark. From them you can learn about what has endured, despite so much change over the last two centuries.
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illage occupants along the Columbia River were participants in a grand and complex scheme of intertribal trade and intermarriage. As they hurried to the coast, the Lewis and Clark party couldn't begin to understand the shifting relationships in these seasonally-occupied, multi-lingual villages. The names and descriptions reported in their journals continue to confound the best researchers today. In this unit, we will explore who these people were and by what names they are known today.
