Death of Celilo Falls

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks So roll on, Columbia, roll on —WOODY GUTHRIE, ROLL ON, COLUMBIA, ROLL ON (1941) When they get us all pushed off the river, maybe they can build more places for the tourists and windsurfers. Maybe they can put up a nice little museum here with statues and pictures, so the gawkers can see what Indians once were like. —WILLIS, AN ELDERLY INDIAN FISHER IN CRAIG LESLEY’S RIVER SONG, COMMENTING ON THE REMOVAL OF INDIAN PEOPLE FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER AS A RESULT OF DAM-BUILDING I grew up in Portland, Oregon, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, where I learned in grade school to sing Woody Guthrie’s anthem to a rapidly changing Columbia. He wrote Roll On, Columbia, Roll On in 1941, along with twenty-five other songs, when he was briefly employed by the Bonneville Power Administration to sell the region on public power. A classroom visit from novelist Craig Lesley compliIX cated my view of the river and its dams when I was a student at Jefferson High School. Lesley had just completed Winterkill, a novel that addresses the inundation of Celilo Falls (he would later publish River Song, which also deals with dam-building). This experience introduced me to the importance of Indian treaty rights and the many ways in which they have been challenged and prompted me to begin what became a decades-long research and writing project. I was fortunate to have high school teachers who believed their students could understand the nuances of Indian treaty rights and who wanted us to understand the historical complexities of our shared home. Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen raised my initialinterestinthistopic,providedmewithcrucialhistoricquestions , and introduced me to a real author. Friends and teachers have continued to guide this work with considered criticism and timely encouragement. I must especially thank Professor William Robbins, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History at Oregon State University. He provided me with convincing evidence that a working class kid could become an academic historian. Bill Robbins, Sue Armitage, Paul Hirt, Bill Lang, Peter Boag, Donna Sinclair, and Andrew Fisher read and commented on the entire manuscript,someof themrepeatedly.Itookmuchof theiradvice; of course, all errors are mine. I was also assisted by Bob Kingston, Clark Hansen, Donna Sinclair, and Lucy Kopp, among others, at the Oregon Historical Society; Joyce Justice and John Ferrell at the National Archives and Records Administration, Pacific Alaska Region in Seattle, Washington; Chuck Jones at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Portland Area Office; and Julie Kruger, the City Clerk at The Dalles. Barbara Mackenzie generously shared her time and stories of her experiences in The Dalles with me. Her son, Thomas Mackenzie, prompted her memory and shared family documents. My colleague Jan Dilg and I wrote a separate article about Barbara Mackenzie that dealt with, in part, her work reloX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS cating Celilo Indians. Our collaboration on that project made this book richer. My colleagues at the History Department at Portland State University have supported this work financially and with their good guidance. Gordon Dodds, whom I replaced at PSU but whose shoes I will never fill, was a generous colleague whose advice and good humor I miss very much. I am especially fortunate to be a faculty member of the Center for Columbia River History, a partnership between Portland State University, Washington State University Vancouver, and the Washington State Historical Society. The center and my colleagues there have supported my research in Columbia River history, especially Bill Lang (founder and director of CCRH until 2003), Laurie Mercier, MaryWheeler,DavidJohnson,GarrySchalliol,CandiceGoucher, current director Sue Armitage, and Donna Sinclair. Donna Sinclair has been a reader and sounding board, and shares my love of this place and its history. Our conversations have been especially influential in my understanding of this region. I am part of a circle of Pacific Northwest women historians and writers that includes Donna, Jan Dilg, Eliza Jones, and Jo Ogden. Each has contributed to this work and has ensured that historical research and writing is not always done in isolation. Margaret Sherve, who at this point should be included in family , is another colleague to whom I am much indebted. My families have also supported me financially and in spirit...