Kettle Falls
Located about 40 miles south of the Canadian border on the Columbia River, the area now known as Kettle Falls was considered by the native Salish people to be one of the most important salmon fishing areas in the Pacific Northwest. Before 1941, when Grand Coulee Dam was erected, it was said that the salmon were so thick during their spawning runs that you could not throw a stick in the water without hitting a fish. After the dam was finished, the salmon run ended.
David Thompson
Canadian explorer and cartographer David Thompson came to the Kettle Falls area on June 19, 1811. After watching the Salish and their fishing techniques, he called the region "Ilth koy ape" for the J-shaped baskets they used for fishing. He observed huge numbers of salmon passing through the falls during spawning season, which ran from June through October.
Puget Sound and its Stories
Arthur C. Ballard began collecting the legends of the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie and other tribes of the Puget Sound region in 1916. In many of these stories, salmon of the area were represented as individual people. The salmon were essential to the health of the villages around Puget Sound. Their prevalence in everyday life is conveyed by numerous mentions of salmon in their stories.
Modern Commercial Fishing
Today, Washington retains a vibrant salmon fishing industry. In 2005, non-Native commercial salmon fishing accounted for $22.6 million in revenue for permit holders in the Washington/Oregon/Northern California fisheries.
Modern Sport Salmon Fishing
Washington has a healthy and rich sport-fishing tradition. As commercial permits became harder to secure, more and more fishing charters and tourism businesses took root in Washington's salmon fishing industries.
Article Written By Eric Cedric
A former Alaskan of 20 years, Eric Cedric now resides in California. He's published in "Outside" and "Backpacker" and has written a book on life in small-town Alaska, "North by Southeast." Cedric was a professional mountain guide and backcountry expedition leader for 18 years. He worked in Russia, Iceland, Greece, Turkey and Belize. Cedric attended Syracuse University and is a private pilot.
