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Celilo Park and Celilo, Oregon, as seen from Washington State Highway 14.
Image taken May 24, 2005.
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Today's Celilo Park looks over the area which once was Celilo Falls. Celilo Park is the location of the upper end of the The Dalles-Celilo Canal.
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Celilo, Oregon ...
Celilo Park ...
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Celilo Park, Oregon, on
Lake Celilo,
is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and has facilities for picnicking, fishing, swimming and boat launching. The park, which overlooks the former Indian fishing grounds at Celilo Falls and includes the upper end of the historic The Dalles - Celilo Canal, is accessible from Interstate 84 Exit 97 about 12 miles east of
The Dalles.
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"Celilo" ...
There are several suggested meanings for the origin of the name "Celilo", including "tumbling waters", "shifting sands", and the name of an Indian chief.
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Views ...
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Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Celilo Park, Oregon, looking towards Wishram, Washington.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Celilo Park, Oregon, looking towards Wishram, Washington.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Celilo Park, Oregon, looking downstream.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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- Celilo Falls ...
- Celilo Post Office ...
- Celilo Treaty Fishing Access Site ...
- Historical Location ...
- Leucistic Great Blue Heron ...
- Oregon History Sign ...
- The Dalles - Celilo Canal and Locks ...
- Views from Celilo Park ...
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Celilo Falls ...
Celilo Post Office ...
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According to McArthur and McArthur in "Oregon Geographic Names" (2003), a post office named Celilo was established on November 27, 1889 (or possibly 1899, McArthur and McArthur actually has 1989 - a typo - and 1889 or 1899 are best resolutions), near the mouth of the Deschutes River. The office ran until 1914 when it was closed. A year later, it was reestablished a few miles to the west by the changing of name of the short-lived Dillon office to Celilo. Celilo post office closed in 1957 with the completion of the dam.
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Celilo Treaty Fishing Access Site, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission ...
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All four Columbia River treaty tribes enjoy fishing rights along the Columbia from the Bonneville to McNary dams. This 147-mile stretch of the river is called Zone 6.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) operates and maintains 31 fishing sites (2015, Note: the website map only shows 30 sites) in Zone 6. These sites were set aside by Congress to provide fishing locations to Indian fishers whose traditional fishing grounds were inundated behind dams.
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"For fisheries management purposes, the 292-mile stretch of the Columbia River that creates the border between Washington and Oregon is divided into six zones. Zones 1-5 are between the mouth of the river and Bonneville Dam, a distance of 145 miles. Oregon and Washington manage the commercial fisheries that occur in these zones. Zone 6 is an exclusive treaty Indian commercial fishing area. This exclusion is for commercial fishing only. Non-commercial sports fishers may still fish in this stretch of the river."
[Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission website, 2016]
The Zone 6 sites include
19 Treaty Fishing Access sites
(Bonneville,
Wyeth,
White Salmon,
Stanley Rock,
Lyle,
Dallesport,
Celilo,
Maryhill,
Rufus,
Preacher's Eddy,
North Shore,
LePage Park,
Pasture Point,
Roosevelt Park,
Pine Creek,
Threemile Canyon,
Alderdale,
Crow Butte,
and Faler Road),
five "In-lieu" sites
(Cascade Locks,
Wind River,
Cooks,
Underwood, and
Lone Pine),
two "Shared-use" sites
(Avery and
Sundale Park, for both Tribal use and Public use),
and four "Unimproved" sites with no services
(Goodnoe,
Rock Creek,
Moonay,
and
Aldercreek).
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CELILO
TREATY FISHING ACCESS SITE
U.S. GOVERNMENT PROPERTY
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
Portland Area Office
FOR THE USE OF MEMBERS OF THE FOLLOWING TRIBES
IN PURSUIT OF THEIR TREATY FISHING RIGHTS:
Nez Perce Tribe
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation
Source:
Information sign, Celilo Park, visited May 2015.
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Celilo Treaty Fishing Access Site, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken May 9, 2015.
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Historical Location ...
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Information signs, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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"Lewis and Clark Expedition", information sign, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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"Greatest Indian Fishery of the Northwest", information sign, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Leucistic Great Blue Heron ...
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Leucistic Great Blue Heron, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Oregon History Sign ...
Wyam Falls
"Before a network of dams controlled the Columbia River it was often a raging torrent. Here at Wyam Falls, known toady as Celilo Falls, a vertical drop of more than 20 feet and sheer basalt bluffs on either shore forced the river into seething, boiling rapids.
From time immemorial this region comprised the fishing grounds of all Indian tribes of the middle Columbia River area. Early Indians speared huge salmon while standing on the rocks and their descendants built platforms over the rushing waters from wheich they gathered fish in long-handled nets. These fishing grounds and the right to take fish from the Columbia River were reserved in 1855 treaties between the tribes and the United States.
Dam construction, which began in the 1930s, forever altered the river's character. When The Dalles Dam was completed in 1957, the storage basin behind it filled in above the falls and inundated the fishing grounds. Treaty reserved fishing rights, however, contrinue to be exercised by Indian people in the middle Columbia River area. The loss of Wyam Falls did not mean the loss of the Indian way of life."
Source:
Information sign, Celilo Park, visited February 2013.
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Oregon History Sign, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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"Ancient Indian Fishing Grounds", Oregon History sign, Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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The Dalles - Celilo Canal and Locks ...
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The 8-mile-long The Dalles - Celilo Canal, located three miles north of The Dalles, was completed in 1915, creating a steamboat waterway around the Fivemile Rapids ("Long Narrows"), Tenmile Rapids ("Short Narrows"), and Celilo Falls. Combined with the Cascade Locks near Bonneville, it provided a clear journey from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho, a distance of 500 miles.
The Celilo canal was 8.5 miles long, 65 feet wide, and eight feet deep at low water. There were five locks which were 45 feet wide and 300 feet long. The upper end of the canal was just above Celilo Falls and the lower end was just below Big Eddy, three miles above The Dalles. The canal had a drop of 81 feet in the Columbia River. After fifteen years of construction, the first steamers went through the lock on April 28, 1915.
"The Dalles - Celilo Canal, 8.6 statute miles long, has its lower end 3.3 statute miles above The Dalles. There are 5 locks in the canal with a depth of 7 feet over the lower sill; the useable dimensions of the locks are 265 feet long and 45 feet wide. This canal is drowned out when the state at the upper pool exceeds 18 feet. There is a turning basin, 220 feet wide, in the canal near its lower end. There are two warehouses on the canal with a combined capacity of 15,000 tons of wheat."
Source:
The 1942 United States Coast Pilot, Pacific Coast, Serial No.649.
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Penny Postcard: Upper Section of The Dalles-Celilo Locks, Oregon.
Penny Postcard, Divided Back (1915-1930), "Upper Section of The Dalles-Celilo Locks, Oregon.".
Published by Chas. S. Lipschuetz Company, Portland, Oregon, "American Art Post Card", Card #200.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Celilo Park and Celilo, Oregon, as seen from Washington State Highway 14.
Image taken May 24, 2005.
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Today's Celilo Park looks over the area which once was Celilo Falls. Celilo Park is the location of the upper end of the The Dalles - Celilo Canal.
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Views from Celilo Park ...
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Haystack Butte, Washington, as seen from Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Wishram, Washington, as seen from Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Wishram, Washington, as seen from Celilo Park, Oregon.
Image taken February 8, 2013.
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Oregon Trunk Line Railroad Bridge, Oregon side.
View from Celilo Park.
Image taken October 2, 2006.
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Oregon Trunk Line Railroad Bridge, Washington side.
View from Celilo Park.
Image taken October 2, 2006.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, October 22, 1805 ...
Clark, October 24, 1805 ...
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