The Lewis River is a tributary of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, about long, in southwestern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in the United States. It drains part of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

north of the

. The

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of the Lewis River covers about . The river's mean annual

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

is about . Unlike nearby Lewis County and Fort Lewis the Lewis River was not named for

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

, but rather for A. Lee Lewis, an early colonizer who homesteaded near the mouth of the river.

History

Like almost all Native tribes, Indigenous groups on the Lewis River experienced a

population collapse A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total world population, ...

as a result of an 1830 epidemic introduced by early colonizers. This is one of the reasons many early recorded observations include large shifts and changes in tribal populations. Tribal listings compiled by anthropologist Verne F. Ray mention a village about upstream from the mouth of the Lewis, which was originally populated by the

Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to: People * Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages * Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of ...

, but transitioned after 1830 to a Klickitat population.

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

encountered a tribe on the Lewis River that they referred to as "Cathlapotles," which are thought to be Chinook, but they also recorded a Sahaptin-speaking village near the mouth of the Lewis, which were likely Klickitat people. One of the first recorded sightings of the Lewis by a non Indigenous person was in 1792, when

William Robert Broughton William Robert Broughton (22 March 176214 March 1821) was a British naval officer in the late 18th century. As a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, he commanded HMS ''Chatham'' as part of the Vancouver Expedition, a voyage of exploration through th ...

passed the mouth of the Lewis while exploring the

during the

Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...

. He named it Rushleigh's River at that time. At the time Lewis and Clark crossed the river, they had already named the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

the Lewis, and referred to the present-day Lewis as the Cathlapoote. Other historically recorded names include the Kattlepoutal and Washington River. The

Donation Land Claim Act The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

of 1850 brought an influx of colonizers to the region, but just prior to that in 1845, Adolphus Lee Lewis retired from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

and established a land claim near present day

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

. Lewis became the county surveyor in 1856, and applied his own name to the river.

Course

The Lewis River rises in the Cascades in northeastern

Skamania County Skamania County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,036. The county seat and largest incorporated city is Stevenson, although the Carson River Valley CDP is more populous. The ...

, high on the west flank of Mount Adams, approximately northeast of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. It flows generally southwest through

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...

, across central Skamania County, passing south of

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

. It forms the boundary, along the

Dark Divide The Dark Divide is the largest roadless area in western Washington state, comprising approximately 76,000 acres (310 km2) of intact wilderness on Juniper Ridge linking Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams in the southern Cascade Mountains of Was ...

on its north side, between Cowlitz County, to the north, and Clark County, to the south. Towns along the river include

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

, and

. In its lower , it turns sharply south, then west, and enters the Columbia from the east, opposite

St. Helens, Oregon St. Helens is the county seat of Columbia County, Oregon. It was founded by Captain Henry Montgomery Knighton, a native of New England, in 1845, as "Plymouth". The name was changed to St. Helens in the latter part of 1850 for its view of Mount ...

, approximately north of

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. The mouth of the Lewis River is at Columbia

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle road ...

(RM) 87 or river kilometer (RK) 140. Near the confluence with the Columbia River, the Lewis River is joined by the

East Fork Lewis River The East Fork Lewis River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States. It is the largest tributary of the Lewis River. Its source is on Green Lookout Mountain in Skamania County. It then flows to the west through Clark County unti ...

. The main Lewis River, sometimes called the North Fork Lewis River, forms the boundary between Clark and Cowlitz counties, while the East Fork divides Clark County in half. The East Fork flows westward from headwaters on the western flanks of Lookout Mountain in Skamania County. Parks along the East Fork include Moulton Falls, Lucia Falls, Lewisville, and Paradise Point. A variant name of the East Fork is the South Fork Lewis River.

River modifications

The North Fork is impounded for

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

and flood control in its middle course by

Swift Dam Swift Dam or Swift No. 1 is an earth-type hydroelectric dam on the Lewis River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Completed in 1958, it is located in Skamania County and its reservoir is called Swift Reservoir. See also *List of dams in the Colu ...

, forming

Swift Reservoir Swift Reservoir is a reservoir on the Lewis River in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Skamania County. It was created in 1958 with the construction of Swift Dam. See also *List of lakes in Washington (state) *List of dams in the Co ...

;

Yale Dam Yale Dam is a 323-foot high earth-type Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric dam on the Lewis River (Washington), Lewis River, in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington, owned by PacifiCorp. It is located on the border between Cowlitz Co ...

, forming

Yale Lake Yale Lake is a 3,780 acre
LewisRiver.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 July 2010. reservoir on the Lewis River (Washington), Lewis River in the U.S. state ...

; and

Merwin Dam Merwin Dam (also known as Ariel Dam) is a concrete arch gravity-type hydroelectric dam on the Lewis River, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located on the border between Cowlitz County and Clark County. Its reservoir is called Lake Merw ...

, forming

Lake Merwin Lake Merwin is a reservoir on the Lewis River in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies on the border between Clark County and Cowlitz County. It was created in 1931 with the construction of Merwin Dam. See also *List of lakes in Washington (sta ...

. Horseshoe Lake in Woodland is a former oxbow of the North Fork. Beginning in 1940, the construction of Washington State Highway 99 (later to become the Interstate 5 corridor in this area), resulted in the construction of a dike that straightened the river to the east of the highway before it flows under what is now Interstate 5 near the Woodland southern boundary.

References

External links

USGS: Lewis River Basin

North Fork Lewis River Photo Essay
Documentary produced by

Oregon Field Guide ''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is th ...

{{authority control Rivers of Washington (state) Tributaries of the Columbia River Rivers of Skamania County, Washington Rivers of Clark County, Washington Rivers of Cowlitz County, Washington Mount Adams (Washington) Gifford Pinchot National Forest Midway High Lakes Area