Early Settlers of Hood River

Hood River

Early Settlers

Joe Correa

ANTH 310 Week Nine Essay

March 11, 2012

Words: 1535

Hood River Early Settlers

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. So goes the old teaching poem goes. Three hundred years later, in 1792, Lt. William Broughton explored the Columbia River. He is credited for naming the geography along the Columbia River. Under President Thomas Jefferson’s instructions, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark undertook the further exploration of the Columbia River working from the East to the West, ending where Lt. Broughton had started. The map from the British gave them an idea of what to expect. Thirteen years later, Lewis and Clark would see the same landscape, make a new map, and give some of the places that Lt. Broughton had already named new names.

On October 29, 1805, Lewis and Clark discovered a stream on the south banks of the Columbia and called it the Labeasche River after one of their members, Private Francois Labiche. It is near this glacial river that the current site of Hood River is found. The river itself has changed names twice to become Hood River. It was called Dog River for a while after some pioneers became stranded here and had to eat a dog for sustenance. It was again changed to Hood River with time and the name Dog River given to a small stream upriver. The name Hood being from the mountain that was given the name by Lt. Broughton honoring Lord Hood of the British Admiralty. The area first appears on a map as early as 1856.

In the narrative of their travels, Lewis and Clark record houses along the Columbia River from The Dalles to the East. These settlements were often no more than four or five houses on either side of the bank. He saw 14 houses near the Labeasche River. He noted that they were Indian villages, and stopped every now and again to have dinner of fish with them.

The Native American Indians along the Columbia River were mostly from the Chinook tribes. They were divided between...