The Yamhill River is an tributary of the
Willamette River
The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...
, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. Formed by the confluence of the
South Yamhill River
The South Yamhill River is a tributary of the Yamhill River, approximately long, in northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, as well as part of the Willamette Valley west of the Willamette River ...
and the
North Yamhill River
The North Yamhill River is a tributary of the Yamhill River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains an area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, as well as part of the Willamette Valley west of the Willamette River.
Rising in a remote area in the ...
about east of
McMinnville, it drains part of the
Northern Oregon Coast Range
The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part o ...
. The river meanders east past
Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
to join the Willamette River at its
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) 55 or river kilometer (RK) 89, south of
Newberg.
It is likely that Yamhill was the 19th century white settlers' name for a tribe of
Native Americans, a
Kalapuya people
The Kalapuya are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group, people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Va ...
who inhabited the region.
The Yamhill people were among 27 bands and tribes moved to the
Grand Ronde Indian Reservation
The Grand Ronde Community is an Indian reservation located on several non-contiguous sections of land in southwestern Yamhill County and northwestern Polk County, Oregon, United States, about east of Lincoln City, near the community of Grand Ro ...
, formally established in 1857.
Course
Formed by the confluence of the South Yamhill and North Yamhill rivers about east of McMinnville, the main stem Yamhill River flows generally east for about to the Willamette River, a tributary of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wà na'' 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 ...
. At about RM 9 (RK 14), Hawn Creek and then Millican Creek enter from the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
as the Yamhill nears
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
, which lies to the river's left. Beyond Lafayette, Henry Creek enters from the left. Near Dayton, the river passes under
Oregon Route 18
Oregon Route 18 is a state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast, near Lincoln City, Oregon, Lincoln City, and Newberg, Oregon, Newberg. OR 18 traverses the Salmon River Highway No. 39 of the Oregon state highway system, named af ...
before skirting the city, which lies to its
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...
at RM 5 (RK 8). Here
Palmer Creek enters from the right. Below Dayton, the river enters the Willamette at its RM 55 (RK 89) south of Newberg.
Lock and dam
In 1900 a
Yamhill River lock and dam
The Yamhill River lock and dam was completed in 1900. It was built near Lafayette, Oregon, to allow better river transport on the Yamhill River from Dayton, to McMinnville, Oregon. While the Corps of Engineers had recommended against construction ...
lock and dam was completed about 1.5 miles downriver from
Lafayette, Oregon
Lafayette is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States on the Yamhill River and Oregon Route 99W. It was founded in 1846 and incorporated in 1878. The population was 3,742 at the 2010 census.
History
Lafayette was founded in 1846 by pione ...
. The lock was decommissioned in 1954. The dam was deliberately destroyed in 1963 to allow better passage for
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
on the river. The site of the lock and dam is now a county park.
See also
*
List of Oregon rivers
This is a partial listing of rivers in the state of Oregon, United States. This list of Oregon rivers is organized alphabetically and by tributary structure. The list may also include streams known as creeks, brooks, forks, branches and prongs, as ...
References
External links
*
Yamhill Basin Council
{{authority control
Tributaries of the Willamette River
Rivers of Yamhill County, Oregon
Rivers of Oregon