Editing Willamette River (section)

===First inhabitants===
[[File:Willamette River at Molalla SP eb.jpg|thumb|right|180px|alt=The Willamette near the confluence with the Molalla|The Willamette River near the confluence with the [[Molalla River]]]]
For at least 10,000&nbsp;years, a variety of indigenous peoples populated the Willamette Valley. These included the [[Kalapuya people|Kalapuya]], the [[Chinook people|Chinook]], and the [[Clackamas people|Clackamas]].<ref name="removalexcerpt">{{cite journal |last=Spores |first=Ronald |title=Too Small a Place: The Removal of the Willamette Valley Indians, 1850–1856 |journal=American Indian Quarterly |volume=17 |year=1993 |page=172 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |jstor=1185526 |doi=10.2307/1185526 |issue=2}}</ref> The territory of the Clackamas encompassed the northeastern portion of the basin, including the Clackamas River (with which their name is shared). Although it is unclear exactly when, the territory of the Chinook once extended across the northern part of the watershed, through the Columbia River valley. Indigenous peoples of the Willamette Valley were further divided into groups including the [[Kalapuyan languages|Kalapuyan-speaking]] [[Yamhill (tribe)|Yamhill]] and [[Atfalati|Atfalati (Tualatin)]] (both Northern Kalapuya), Central Kalapuya like the [[Santiam people|Santiam]], Muddy Creek (Chemapho), Long Tom (Chelamela), Calapooia (Tsankupi), Marys River (Chepenafa) and Luckiamute, and the [[Yoncalla language|Yoncalla]] or Southern Kalapuya, as well other tribes such as the Chuchsney-Tufti, [[Siuslaw people|Siuslaw]] and [[Molala]].<ref name="Oregon Encyclopedia" /><ref name="removalexcerpt" /> The name ''Willamette'' is of indigenous origin, deriving from the French pronunciation of the name of a Clackamas Native American village.<ref name="Bright">Bright, p. 567</ref> However, Native American languages in Oregon were very similar,<ref>Campbell, p. 120</ref> so the name may also be derived from Kalapuya dialects.<ref name="RG 3/18/10">{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Welch |title=A Bridge Too Far Along to Be Renamed |url=http://projects.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/24574689-41/bridge-pap%C3%A9-welch-commission-decision.csp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119115052/http://projects.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/24574689-41/bridge-pap%C3%A9-welch-commission-decision.csp |archive-date=January 19, 2022 |url-status=dead |newspaper=The Register-Guard |date=March 18, 2010 |location=Eugene, Oregon |page=B1}}</ref>
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[[File:Wilhamut.1.JPG|thumb|left|alt=A boulder engraved with the Kalapuyan word "Whilamut" "Where the river ripples and runs fast"|A boulder at [[Alton Baker Park]] in [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]] engraved with the Kalapuyan word "Whilamut" "Where the river ripples and runs fast"]]
Around the year 1850, the Kalapuya numbered between 2,000 and 3,000 and were distributed among several groups. These figures are only speculative; there may have been as few as eight subgroups or as many as 16.<ref>Thornton, p. 125</ref> In that time period, the Clackamas' tribal population was roughly 1,800.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_tribes_084_13_22.html |title=Clackamas Indians |publisher=National Geographic Society |work=National Geographic |year=1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208102759/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_tribes_084_13_22.html |archive-date=February 8, 2010}}</ref> The [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]] estimated that the Chinook population was nearly 5,000,<ref>Snipp, p. 344</ref> though not all of the Chinook lived on the Willamette. The Chinook territory encompassed the lower Columbia River valley and significant stretches of the Pacific coast on both the north and the south side of the Columbia's mouth. At times, however, the Chinook territory extended even farther south in the Willamette Valley.<ref>Ruby and Brown, p. 4</ref> The total native population was estimated at 15,000.<ref name="removalexcerpt"/>

The indigenous peoples of the Willamette River practiced a variety of life ways. Those on the lower river, slightly closer to the coast, often relied on fishing as their primary economic mainstay. [[Salmon]] was the most important fish to Willamette River tribes as well as to the Native Americans of the Columbia River, where white traders traded fish with the Native Americans. Upper-river tribes caught [[Rainbow trout|steelhead]] and salmon, often by building [[weir]]s across tributary streams. Tribes of the northern Willamette Valley practiced a generally settled lifestyle. The Chinooks lived in great [[Plank house|wooden lodges]],<ref name="Ruby and Brown, p. 16">Ruby and Brown, p. 16</ref> practiced [[slavery]], and had a well-defined [[caste]] system.<ref name="Ruby and Brown, p. 16"/> People of the south were more nomadic, traveling from place to place with the seasons. They were known for the controlled burning of woodlands to create meadows for hunting and plant gathering (especially [[Camassia|camas]]).<ref>Deur and Turner, p. 220</ref>