Sauvie Island, a large river island northwest of Portland, has long been shaped by its waterways, fertile land, and Native history. It was the ancestral home of the Multnomah band of the Chinook Tribe, whose many villages once supported about 2,000 people, before disease devastated Native communities in the early 19th century. Explored by William Broughton in 1792 and visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805, it later saw trading posts, Hudson’s Bay Company dairies, and growing American settlement after 1843. In the 20th century, dikes, a wildlife area, and bridge connections transformed the island while preserving its mix of farms, habitat, and recreation.