| Willamette Falls | |
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 View from Oregon City in 2004 | |
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| Location | Oregon City /West Linn,Clackamas County, Oregon, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 45°21′09″N122°37′03″W / 45.35239°N 122.61763°W /45.35239; -122.61763 |
| Type | Block |
| Total height | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Number of drops | 1 |
| Average flow rate | 30,850 cu ft/s (874 m3/s) |
TheWillamette Falls is a naturalwaterfall in thenorthwesternUnited States, located on theWillamette River betweenOregon City andWest Linn, Oregon. The largest waterfall in the Northwest U.S. by volume, it is the seventeenth widest in the world.[1] Horseshoe in shape, it is 1,500 feet (455 m) wide and forty feet (12 m) high, with a flow rate of 30,850 cu ft/s (874 m3/s). Located 26 miles (42 km) upriver from the Willamette's mouth atPortland, Willamette Falls is a culturally significant site for many tribal communities in the region.
Opened in 1873 and closed since 2011, theWillamette Falls Locks allowed boat traffic on the Willamette to pass into the mainWillamette Valley.
Native American oral history taught that the falls were placed there by the ancient hero T'allapus (Coyote) so that their people would have fish to eat all winter.[2]· Willamette Falls was once the home to the Charcowah village of the Clowewalla band of Tumwaters or Willamette Band of Tumwaters, an upper Chinookan speaking people. These lands were ceded to the United States Government under theWillamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (signed on January 22, 1855; ratified on March 3, 1855).[3] Tribal members were then removed from these ancestral lands to theGrand Ronde Reservation and theSiletz Indian Reservation.[4]
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Willamette Falls is an important location for many tribes.[5] The abundance ofsalmon brought tribal communities from all over to fish, trade, and interact at the falls - creating an economic and cultural hub for the region.[6] Each year many tribes harvest ceremonial salmon at Willamette Falls and collectlamprey during the summer, including theConfederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, theConfederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, theConfederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, theConfederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and theConfederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Europeanfur traders became aware of the falls in 1810.John McLoughlin established a land claim at the falls in the name of theHudson's Bay Company in 1829.[7]Oregon City was established in 1842 near the east end of the falls. The town ofLinn City was founded on the western shore one year later in 1843. The two towns competed economically, vying for the lucrative steamboat traffic and the trade it generated. With the falls representing the end of the line for boat traffic, river boat captains were forced to choose a side of the river on which they would dock to unload their passengers and goods; some of which would continue their upriver journey on winding portage toll roads. Competition between the towns was fierce until theGreat Flood of 1862. Oregon City was inundated and badly damaged, while Linn City was obliterated.
Navigating past the falls was not possible until the completion of theWillamette Falls Locks in 1873. During construction of the locks, channels were blasted from the rocks that formerly supported the town of Linn City. Along with the locks, the city ofWest Linn sits on a portion of the former town site. The locks were sold by the Willamette Falls Canal and Locks Company to theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers in 1915. They were closed in 2011.
The Willamette Falls Electric Company (later renamedPortland General Electric) was formed in 1888 to build a hydro-electric generation facility at the falls. Four turbine-driven dynamos were built on the east end of the falls. A 14-mile (23-kilometer) long transmission line toPortland was built, becoming the first long-distancetransmission of electrical energy in the United States in 1889.[8][9]
In 1895 Portland General Electric built a second generation station on the west side of the falls. The newer plant, called theT.W.Sullivan Plant (previously Station B), is still in operation with a capacity of 16,000 kilowatts.[10] The foundations of the old plant still remain.
The falls have been home to several paper mills beginning with the Oregon City Paper Manufacturing Co. in 1866. The Willamette Pulp and Paper Co. opened on the West Linn side during 1889. The ownership of the mills has changed several times. The last two remaining mills in 2011 were owned by the West Linn Paper Company and theBlue Heron Paper Company. West Linn Paper Company announced it was shutting down in October 2017,[11] and reopened in November 2019 asWillamette Falls Paper Company.[12] Blue Heron Paper Company closed its mill in February 2011.
The Blue Heron site has subsequently been auctioned off for redevelopment. The milling facilities were sold to a Canadian investment firm, NRI Global, Inc., which has begun work removing the old machinery and cleaning the grounds of contamination.[13] An agreement for the sale of the site itself was announced in June 2013,[14] but later fell apart.[15] In May 2014, another developer, George Heidgerken, purchased the property.[16] Heidgerken then sold the property to theConfederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in August 2019.[17]
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The falls is ahorseshoe-shaped, block waterfall caused by abasalt shelf in the river floor. The 40 ft (12 m) high and 1500 ft (457 m) wide falls occur 26 river miles (42 km) upstream from the Willamette's confluence with theColumbia River. Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lock was a four lock canal and was the oldest continuous operating, multiple lift navigation canal in the United States.
The industrialization of the area led to diminishingsalmon andsteelhead runs, prompting the construction of afish ladder in 1882. A newfish ladder, built in 1971, is operated by theOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The estimated spring chinooksalmon run for 2007 was 52,000.[18]
The public can view the falls from viewpoints on the bluffs ofOregon City, from a signed viewpoint alongHighway 99E, from theOregon City Bridge, from a viewpoint on northboundI-205, or from boats in the river.[19]
The industrialization precluded public access to the base of the waterfall for well over a century.[20] As of 2017, a process to redevelop the Blue Heron Paper Mill site and provide public access to the area, including a river walk, is underway.[21] The Willamette Falls Trust is coordinating the Willamette Falls Inter-Tribal Public Access Project that is led by a team that includes Tribal Council Members and appointees from several sovereign nations, including the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs.[22]
Early history of Oregon (1500–1806) | ||
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