Wishram, Washington

How Wishram is governed

Wishram appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Klickitat County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Wishram does have local officials.

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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

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    Presides over the municipal court.

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Population over time

From 213 in 2000 to 366 in 2020 (+71.8%).

History

The area of Wishram was located 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) above the head of the great Celilo Falls on the Columbia, and as a result has been populated for an extended period. For around 15,000 years, native peoples gathered to fish and exchange goods. They built wooden platforms out over the water and caught salmon with dipnets and long spears on poles as the fish swam up through the rapids and jumped over the falls. Celilo Falls and The Dalles were strategically located at the border between Chinookan and Sahaptian-speaking peoples and served as the center of an extensive trading network across the Pacific Plateau. It was noted by early explorers and historians of the area.

In 1892, the U.S. government completed a set of locks to bypass Celilo Falls on the southern shore, across from Wishram. Built at a cost of $5 million, these locks saw limited service as much of the freight in and out of the Pacific Northwest began to travel by rail.

In 1912, the unincorporated town was known as "Fallbridge", named in recognition of the southern extension of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, which crossed the Columbia on the Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge constructed on the basalt rock of Celilo Falls.

Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark mentioned the site of Wishram in their journal. In his journal entry for October 22, 1805, Clark recorded:

"below this Island on the main Stard Shore is 16 Lodges of nativs; here we landed a fiew minits to Smoke, the lower point of one Island opposite which heads in the mouth of Towarnehiooks River (Deschutes River) which I did not observe until after passing these lodges about 1/2 a mile lower passed 6 more Lodges on the Same Side and 6 miles below the upper mouth of Towarnehiooks River the commencement of the pitch of the Great falls, opposite on the Stard. Side (Starboard or right side) is 17 Lodges [archaeologists have identified this as modern Wishram] of the nativs we landed and walked down accompanied by an old man to view the falls, and the best rout for to make a portage which we Soon discovered was much nearest on the Stard. Side, and the distance 1200 yards one third of the way on a rock, about 200 yards over a loose Sand collected in a hollar blown by the winds from the bottoms below which was disagreeable to pass, as it was Steep and loose. at the lower part of those rapids we arrived at 5 Large Lodges of nativs drying and prepareing fish for market, they gave us Philburts, and berries to eate, we returned droped down to the head of the rapids and took every article except the Canoes across the portag where I had formed a camp on ellegable Situation for the protection of our Stores from Thieft, which we were more fearfull of, than their arrows. we despatched two men to examine the river on the opposite Side, and reported that the Canoes could be taken down a narrow Chanel on the opposite Side after a Short portage at the head of the falls, at which place the Indians take over their Canoes. Indians assisted us over the portage with our heavy articles on their horses, the waters is divided into Several narrow chanels which pass through a hard black rock forming Islands of rocks at this Stage of the water, on those Islands of rocks as well as at and about their Lodges I observe great numbers of Stacks of pounded Salmon neetly preserved in the following manner, i e after Suffiently Dried it is pounded between two Stones fine, and put into a species of basket neetly made of grass and rushes of better than two feet long and one foot Diamiter, which basket is lined with the Skin of Salmon Stretched and dried for the purpose, in theis it is pressed down as hard as is possible, when full they Secure the open part with the fish Skins across which they fasten tho the loops of the basket that part very Securely, and then on a Dry Situation they Set those baskets the Corded part up, their common Custom is to Set 7 as close as they can Stand and 5 on the top of them, and secure them with mats which is raped around them and made fast with cords and Covered also with mats, those 12 baskets of from 90 to 100 w. each form a Stack. thus preserved those fish may be kept Sound and Sweet Several years, as those people inform me, Great quantities as they inform us are Sold to the whites people who visit the mouth of this river as well as to the nativs below."

By the time they returned on April 16, 1806, they reported the village had moved about 300 yards below the spot where it had been located the previous fall, and tended to move with the favored fishing locations.

Early history

The American author Washington Irving also mentioned the Native Americans resident at Wishram in his history of the Northwest titled Astoria or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains and published in 1836. He stated:

"For like reason we would make especial mention of the village of Wishram, at the head of the Long Narrows, as being a solitary instance of an aboriginal trading mart, or emporium. Here the salmon caught in the neighboring rapids were 'warehoused,' to await customers. Hither the tribes from the mouth of the Columbia repaired with the fish of the sea-coast, the roots, berries, and especially the wappatoo, gathered in the lower parts of the river, together with goods and trinkets obtained from the ships which casually visit the coast. Hither also the tribes from the Rocky Mountains brought down horses, bear-grass, quamash, and other commodities of the interior. The merchant fishermen at the falls acted as middlemen or factors, and passed the objects of traffic, as it were, cross-handed; trading away part of the wares received from the mountain tribes to those of the rivers and plains, and vice versa: their packages of pounded salmon entered largely into the system of barter, and being carried off in opposite directions, found their way to the savage hunting camps far in the interior, and to the casual white traders who touched upon the coast."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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