Wishram Village, referred to as nixlúidix by its residents, was a summer and winter village on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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occupied by Upper Chinook people. It is considered the largest prehistoric Chinook village site. The site is now part of Columbia Hills State Park.

History

Located near Five Mile Rapids, the village was located at the far eastern reach of Chinookan lands. Archaeologists believe the site was occupied for about 10,000 years. The village was a common trading site for Indians in the surrounding areas, acting as a link between tribes from the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

, and the interior Northwest. The site was visited by nearby

Yakama The Yakama are a Native Americans in the United State, Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in Eastern Washington, eastern Washington (state), Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally rec ...

s, as well as those from as far away as the

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

, who would come to trade fish, berries, skins, buffalo, amongst many other items. The village was visited during the westward journey by

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

, and again on their eastward return journey, though by the time of the second visit, the village was at a site about downstream from the site visited the previous fall. Lewis and Clark estimated that there were about 600 people living at the site during the first visit (October 1805), and around 1,000 during the second visit (April 1806). Clark noted in his journals that there were about 20 wooden houses at the site, near a man-made earthen

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

called Wakemup (or Wakamup) Mound. By the time of the July 1841 visit by the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

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described the village as having forty lodges, and 400 inhabitants. In 1854, the village was struck by an epidemic of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, which killed 257 residents. Survivors of the epidemic blamed a "medicine-man" for failure to cure the disease, and killed him by putting him on a horse with a

noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...

around his neck. Around 1860, residents of Wishram began moving to the

Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...

, under treaties signed in 1855, but Indians continued to be allowed to use the site for fishing. Until 1957, the village located at the site was referred to as Spearfish, which was flooded by the creation of

The Dalles Dam The Dalles Lock and Dam is a concrete-gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River, east of the city of The Dalles, Oregon, United States. It joins Wasco County, Oregon, with Klickitat County, Washington, upriver from the mouth o ...

Wakemap Mound

Wakemap Mound is a

at the site that measures roughly long, by wide, and deep.OAS, p.15 The site is now surrounded by water caused by the construction of

References

Sources

*Boyd, Robert (1996). ''People of the Dalles: The Indians of Wascopam Mission'', University of Nebraska Press. *Oregon Archaeological Society (1959). ''Wakemap Mound'', Binford and Mort. *Ruby, Robert H.; Brown, John Arthur. ''A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest'', University of Oklahoma Press. *Samson, Karl (2008). ''Frommer's Washington State'', Frommer's. *Spranger, Michael S. (1996). ''Columbia Gorge: A Unique American Treasure'', DIANE Publishing.

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places Populated places in Klickitat County, Washington Native American history of Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Klickitat County, Washington Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) State parks of Washington (state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)