The Santiam River is a 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 ...

, about long, in western

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 ...

in the United States. Through its two principal tributaries, the North Santiam and the South Santiam rivers, it drains a large area 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, ...

at the eastern side of the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

east of Salem and Corvallis.

Watershed

The main course of the river is short, formed in the Willamette Valley by the confluence of the North and South Santiam rivers on the border between

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

and

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

counties approximately northeast of Albany. It flows generally west-northwest in a slow

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

ing course to join the Willamette from the east approximately north of Albany. Both the North and South Santiam rise in high Cascades in eastern Linn County. The

Middle Santiam River The Middle Santiam River is a tributary of the South Santiam River, long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains a remote area of the Cascade Range east of Sweet Home in the watershed of the Willamette River. It rises in the Cascade ...

joins the South Santiam where the South Santiam is impounded to form

Foster Lake Foster Reservoir is a reservoir created by Foster Dam on the South Santiam River in the city of Foster, Oregon, United States. The reservoir is approximately long and covers approximately when full. Primary use of the reservoir is recreation in ...

. The North Santiam is impounded to form the deep

Detroit Lake Detroit Lake is a reservoir impounded by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River southeast of Salem, Oregon, United States. The lake is adjacent to Oregon Route 22 near the city of Detroit. This mesotrophic lake stores water for use by the ci ...

in the Cascades. The Santiam is a major source of water supply for Salem.

History

The land surrounding Santiam river is the historic homeland of the Santiam band of the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...

. Chief Alaquema (aka Joe Hutchins) of the Santiam negotiated with U.S. representative John Gain at the Santiam Treaty Council in 1851 before the forced removal of the Santiam and other Kalapuya tribes to the Grande Ronde reservation. After days of arguing, Alaquema told Gain, "We understand fully what you mean and that it may be better for us, but our minds are made up." He pointed to the land between the fork of the river on a map and said, "We wish to reserve this piece of land. We do not wish to leave this. We would rather be shot on it than removed." This treaty was however never ratified and in 1856 the Santiam were later forced to leave the fork in the Santiam River they had fought to preserve. The Great Willamette Flood of 1861, which crested on December 2, destroyed many structures and animals on prairies near its confluence with the Willamette River and south of Knox Butte.

Fire district

Santiam River Zone is staffed by the Santiam Type 2 initial attack hand crew and two engines based out of the Detroit Ranger District. Additionally the Willamette National Forest has fire crews on the Mckenzie and Middle Fork Ranger Districts.

Footnotes

References

External links