Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75
The National Archives, Seattle Branch

Minutes of the meeting of tribal delegates held at The Dalles, Oregon, on February 23, 1939, to discuss damages to fishing sites and stations by the flooding of Bonneville Dam.

The following delegates were present:

Warm springs delegates: Frank Queahpama, Jerry Bruno, John Polk, Isaac McKinley.
Umatilla delegation: George Red Hawk, Allen Patowa, Jim Kesine, Jim Billy
Yakima delegation: Thomas Yallup, Alex Saluskin, David Miller, Philip Olney

Other Indian groups represented:

Rock Creek Indians: William Yallup, Willie John, Jimmy George
Celilo: Tommy Thompson
Cascade: Henry Charley

Officials present:

Superintendents O.L. Babcock of Umatilla Agency, J. W. Elliot of Warm Springs Agency and M. A. Johnson of Yakima Agency; Mr. Shoemaker, representing the War Department.

The meeting was called to order by Superintendent M. A. Johnson of the Yakima Agency at 10:05 a.m. Thomas Yallup of the Yakima delegation was selected as interpreter.

Superintendent Johnson advised the delegates present that this was a continuation of a meeting held at Underwood, Washington, on December 20, 1938, to further consider the extent to which ancient and accustomed fishing sites had been damaged by flooding due to the construction of Bonneville Dam. Mr. Johnson stated that officials of the War Department had asked for additional information as to the number of fishing sites involved at the various locations and the approximate number of people who had fished there in the past. A list of the sites that had been named by the Indians on both sides of the river was read, together with a list of the Indians who had lost their fishing shacks at Underwood. Superintendent Johnson further reminded the delegates of the discussion at the last meeting, which had indicated that the Indians favored settlement of the terms of additional fishing sites and facilities rather than cash.

Mr. Shoemaker was called upon to make a statement concerning the War Department’s attitude in this matter. He advised that this meeting had been called at the request of the War Department to ascertain the extent of the damages as far as possible that had been caused by the flooding of fishing sites by Bonneville Dam. He said it was up to the delegates to provide such information.

Jerry Bruno of the Warm Springs delegation requested that Superintendent Elliott of their Agency be asked to present a paper which had been drafted by the Warm Springs delegation concerning this matter. Superintendent Elliott read this paper, a copy of which is attached to and made a part of these minutes.

Superintendent Johnson stated that although the request of the Warm Springs Indians for definite settlement proposals was in line with the general agreed policy of the Indian delegates, the immediate question before this group was to determine the extent to which Indian fishing sites had been damaged.

Jerry Bruno replied that he was not in a position to fully furnish this information, but he thought there were about 20 fishing stations along and below the canal at the cascades. He asked John Polk to list the number of sites at Eagle Creek.

John Polk stated that there were no fishing rocks involved at Eagle Creek as the entire mouth of the creek was a fishing site, where the Indians appeared and otherwise caught fish while they were attempting to enter this stream. John Polk stated that this had been considered on of the best fishing sites by his people. He further stated that they wanted campsites made available at points above the highway on this creek. He estimated that about 40 or 50 Indians had fished in Eagle Creek continuously during the fall season and caught enough fish to supply their families for a year. John Polk also stated that below the Cascade bridge about one-half mile was another ancient fishing place that had been destroyed. John Polk also mentioned Herman Creek as formerly being a valuable fall fishing place, where as in Eagle creek the fish were speared, gaffed or caught by willow weirs. This site also accommodated about 50 or 60 Indians. There were no special fishing rocks involved. He also mentioned Lindsey Creek as a good fall fishing place for white salmon and silver sides. John Polk estimated that at least 50 Indians had fished regularly at Lindsey Creek in the same manner as at Herman Creek and Eagle Creek.

John Polk also mentioned the mouth of the Hood River as having formerly been a good fishing site, accommodating approximately 50 Indian fishermen. He stated that the mouth of Celilo canal at Lone Pine was an Indian village, and this location was formerly a deep net fishing site used by the Indians throughout the entire year. Although some of the places in the vicinity of Lone Pine can still be used, considerable damaged has been done to these sites by raising of the water level. Formerly about a hundred or more Indians fished in this vicinity. John Polk stated that from the mouth of Celilo canal up to the Celilo Falls on the Oregon side is where most of the present undamaged fishing sites are located.

Superintendent Johnson called a recess at 12:06. The meeting was called to order again at 1:10 p.m.

Attention of the delegates was called to a telegram received from Mr. William … Plustinen regarding the proposed action in the Oregon Legislature which might affect Indian fishing rights. A copy of the telegram is attached and made a part of these minutes.

Thomas Yallup suggested that the delegates take immediate action and transmit a telegram to Mr. Best of the Oregon State Legislature. A copy of this telegram as approved and sent is attached as a part of these minutes.

Superintendent Johnson advised the delegates that they would next hear from the Yakima delegation concerning fishing sites with which they were most familiar.

David Miller of the Yakima delegation stated, for the benefit of Mr. Shoemaker, that the Indians had used these fishing sites since time immemorial as a means of food supply; that in making the treaty with the Federal Government in 1855 the Indians ceded to the Government a large amount of land, but it was their intention to reserve their hunting and fishing, root digging and berry picking sites on this land as a source of food supply; and that it was the intention of the Yakima delegates to consult further with older Indians in the matter of locations and the values of fishing sites. He said that since 1908 he can remember certain places where his father used to fish for his winter’s supply on the Wind, White Salmon, Little White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers. In regard to the fishing sites from Big Eddy and up he stated he could not give much information as he was not familiar with this and would ask for further investigation.

Alex Saluskin state that he was not very familiar with fishing conditions on the Washington side but that he had contacted many fishermen who had fished there prior to the flooding by Bonneville Dam, and these people had told him that where they had formerly been able to catch and dry about 20 sacks of fish each year they had only been able to obtain two or three sacks during the past season, or a loss of about 85 per cent to the Indian fishermen. He also stated that due to the construction of Bonneville Dam and the change of current the fishing has been damaged materially in many of the formerly good sites along the river, and this damage should be included in the Indians’ claim.

Henry Charley of Hood River stated that before the coming of the white man all the tributaries on the north side of the Columbia River had been full of fish. He recalled instances where his people had fished at these sites in the early days with spears, nets and willow weirs. These places, he stated, had all been damaged by Bonneville Dam, and for the last two years the Indians living along there had been unable to catch sufficient fish for their own food. Henry Charley presented a photograph of the damaged area near Underwood where many of the Indian campsites were formerly located. He stated that there would be from 180 to 200 Indians camped in this vicinity at one time when the fall run of fish was on. At Wind River Henry Charley estimated about 50 Indians had regularly lived and fished. The mouth of Wind River, he said, was a spawning ground and the fish were caught by spearing, nets, etc. In addition, he said that approximately 100 other Indians would visit this site during the run of fish to get their winter’s food supply. Henry Charley estimated that the 50 resident fishermen would catch approximately 100 tons of fish in an average year, and the 100 visiting Indians would catch an additional tone. Henry Charley stated that the fishing at Little White Salmon was even better than Wind River and usually produced more fish. On the Klickitat River, he stated that the Indians were accustomed to fishing both at the mouth of the river with nets and at the falls situated about two miles from the mouth, but at the present time these sites were destroyed by the high water from the dam. This river, he said is a spring fishing site.

Alex Saluskin stated that he had fished some on the Klickitat River and would say that the run varies with different seasons. He could remember that in the year 1926 he caught about 1300 pounds in a day and in 1930 he fished for three days and did not catch a fish.

John Polk made a further statement regarding the White Salmon River. John said that he would catch from one and one-half to two tones of fish a day formerly, which is the equivalent of about 40 bags of white salmon. John Polk said that he thought the Indians caught about twice as many fish as Henry Charley had estimated at the sites on the north side of the river.

David Miller said that in 1911 his father hauled away a wagon load of approximately 50 socks of dried salmon. At that time he said he remembered there were about a hundred men fishing at Underwood, all of them making good catches. He estimated that each fisherman on an average would catch about 500 pounds during the three weeks season.

Allen Patowa of the Umatilla delegation stated that he had visited the fishing site at Cooks, Washington, on the Little White Salmon before the highway was completed and always got plenty of fish by trading with the Indian fishermen. He said he was very much surprised in visiting these sights again in 1936 to find that these Indian families did not have any fish. He said they told him they had to go upstream about a mile and a half to catch the fish under very difficult conditions.

George Red Hawk of the Umatilla delegation stated that he was convinced that Bonneville Dam had done a great deal of damage to the Indian fishing and would cause a lot of hardships. He was glad to know that the engineers at the dam were planning to help the fish come up the river by a means of elevators. He said that a good fishing site had the same value to an Indian fisherman as a good farm to a white man. It is a place where he can get his food and make a living. He said that he would like to see the Indians provided with a good campsite and grounds from the mouth of the Celilo canal up to Celilo Falls.

Tommy Thompson of Celilo Falls spoke concerning Bonneville Dam and criticized the checking of salmon at the dam for counting purposes and said that he hoped during the next year this would not be done, so that the fish could come up the river freely.

William Yallup of Rock Creek stated that he had been listening to all of the statements and that he felt that more fish were caught by the Indians than the men present today had estimated. He also said the he had noticed that the salmon caught at Celilo last year were badly bruised and scarred and that the silver sides and the blue backs were not as plentiful as in former years. He stated that he was representing the Indians on the north side of the river and that he wanted to see the shore line and adjacent land in the vicinity of the Wishram and Spearfish Indian fishing villages reserved exclusively for Indian use in fishing.

Thomas Yallup stated that he was not a fisherman by trade but that he had made numerous visits to Cooks, Washington, where a relative of his lives. Recently this relative had told him that she was in a very destitute circumstances. She said that since they had been flooded out by the dam there had been as many as 50 Indians come to her place and want to buy fish. Most of them wanted to purchase at least $10 worth of fish as well as offering to trade other goods for additional fish, and that since the flooding by Bonneville Dam she had been unable to supply these Indians with fish and had lost a means of making a living as a result.

Superintendent Johnson suggested that Mr. Shoemaker express his opinion as to the discussion that had gone on during the day.

Mr. Shoemaker stated that as a representative of the War Department, “I am here only as an observer. You Indians have stated your loss by the flooding of your fishing sites, and I would suggest that the information furnished here today be placed in the form of a resolution and attached to your claim that has been previously submitted to the War Department. Regarding the barriers that chief Thompson mentioned at the dam, these are not permanent and will be taken out soon.” Mr. Shoemaker further stated that this was a preliminary meeting, and as soon as the War Department had an opportunity to consider the claims of the Indians they would ask for another meeting and present a definite proposition for discussion.

Thomas Yallup stated that it had been the understanding of the Yakima tribal council and the Yakima delegates that they would mention no specific terms of settlement at this time but simply furnish the War Department with as much information as possible concerning the fishing sites that had been damaged. He further stated that he felt that the War Department should make an offer to the Indians for settlement.

Superintendent Elliott asked Mr. Shoemaker whether or not he thought he had secured sufficient information from the Indians today concerning their damaged fishing sites.

Mr. Shoemaker replied that he felt that when the information giving in the meeting today was summarized, it would be satisfactory.

Henry Charley requested that he be furnished copies of the minutes of this meeting for himself, Tommy Thompson and William Yallup.

Superintendent Johnson advised Henry Charley that he planned to keep the Columbia River Indians fully informed as to these negotiations.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.