This photograph, taken in the mid-1950s, shows Native Americans at Celilo Falls fishing from platforms not much different from those used by their ancestors at the same location. Image courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Celilo Falls is the oldest continuously occupied community in Oregon. People first lived there some 9,500 to 11,000 years ago. In the Indian economy before Lewis and Clark came, Celilo Falls and nearby The Dalles made up two of the most important centers in the Northwest.

Celilo Falls is located at the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge, the biggest natural highway between coastal and inland tribes. The site was also one of the best places to catch salmon in the Columbia watershed. As a result, each year thousands of Indians of many different tribes gathered to trade and catch fish to tide them over the coming winter.

As the Indian economy weakened following devastating declines in population and loss of lands to white settlers, Celilo Falls faded in importance. It did remain an important fishing site for Indians until the falls were flooded under 50 feet of water when The Dalles Dam was built in 1957.

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