Umatilla
The Umatilla were a Sahaptian-speaking people who lived along the Columbia River and its tributaries, particularly the Umatilla River, in present-day northeastern Oregon. Lewis and Clark passed through Umatilla territory in October 1805 and again in April 1806, observing their riverside villages, extensive fishing operations at seasonal salmon runs, and their role in the regional trade network. The Umatilla shared the Plateau cultural pattern of seasonal rounds—fishing for salmon in spring and fall, gathering camas and other roots in summer, and hunting in the uplands—and maintained close relationships with the neighboring Cayuse and Walla Walla peoples.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia: Umatilla people (Edward S. Curtis)
Most Mentioned in Umatilla-tagged Entries
People
- Capt Clark (1)
Places
- Columbia River (3)
- Umatilla River (2)
- Roosevelt (2)
- Mt. St. Helens (1)
- Mt. Adams (1)
- Oregon (1)
- Klickitat County (1)
- Hock Creek (1)
- Arlington, Ore. (1)
- Umatilla Liver (1)
Territory & Encounter Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 6 months (Oct 21, 1805 → Apr 25, 1806). No journal entries during that window were explicitly tagged with this nation.
Treaties (2)
Tent of Many Voices (1)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
Analyses that cite or discuss Umatilla — showing 1 of the most recent matches.
From the Heacock Memorial Archive
1 lewis-clark.org articles that mention Umatilla, preserved here for Robert Heacock’s photography. The articles were written by that site’s contributing authors.
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