Willamette Falls, a broad horseshoe-shaped waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, has long been one of the Northwest’s most important natural and cultural places. For Native communities, especially Chinookan-speaking people and many tribes that still honor it, the falls were a vital center of fishing, trade, and tradition before removal under the 1855 treaty. Euro-American settlement and industry grew there because river traffic stopped at the falls, leading to rival towns, locks, mills, and pioneering hydroelectric development. Heavy industrialization damaged fish runs and access, but recent tribal-led redevelopment seeks to restore public and cultural connections to the site.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Oregon City, Oregon · USA