Kettle Falls

Kettle Falls was a powerful series of rapids and cascades on the upper Columbia River near the Canada–U.S. border and one of the region’s most important salmon fishing and gathering places for thousands of years. Paleo-Indian peoples used the site at least 9,000 years ago, and later Interior Salish-speaking communities made it a center of trade, fishing, and seasonal meetings that drew many tribes. Early visitors such as David Thompson and Pierre-Jean De Smet recorded its importance. In 1940, Grand Coulee Dam flooded the falls, the original town, and surrounding bottomlands, blocked salmon runs, and ended a long salmon-based way of life.

Kettle Falls, Washington · United States