Clatskanie River

The Clatskanie River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 25 miles (40 km) long, in northwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a timber-producing area in the foothills of the Northern Oregon Coast Range north-northwest of Portland.

Not to be confused with Klaskanine River.
Clatskanie River
Location of the mouth of Clatskanie River in Oregon
EtymologyAn Indian word, Tlats-kani, referring to a point in the Nehalem Valley but applied by whites to two rivers in the area, the Clatskanie and the Klaskanine[1]
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyColumbia County
Physical characteristics
SourceNorthern Oregon Coast Range
 • locationColumbia County, Oregon
 • coordinates45°51′47″N 122°59′59″W[2]
 • elevation1,340 ft (410 m)[3]
MouthColumbia River
 • location
Clatskanie, Columbia County, Oregon
 • coordinates
46°07′10″N 123°13′15″W[2]
 • elevation
16 ft (4.9 m)[2]

It rises in eastern Columbia County, approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of St. Helens on the northern slopes of Bunker Hill. Major tributaries include Carcus Creek and the North Fork of the Clatskanie, which converge at Swedetown. The North Fork rises at Apiary. It flows generally north-northwest through the Clatsop State Forest, past Clatskanie. The Clatskanie River converges with Conyers Creek and Beaver Creek near Clatskanie and then it enters a slough on the Columbia from the south approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Westport.

The river is named for the Tlatskanai, an Athabascan tribe of Native Americans who lived in the valley of the nearby Nehalem River at the time of the arrival of Europeans in the early 19th century.[4] There is also a Klaskanine River in Clatsop County which was really named for the same reason. The names as used by the natives did not apply to the respective rivers, but applied to the path, route or trail by which one could get to the customary tribal area of the Tlatskanai.[4]

Tributaries

Named tributaries of the Clatskanie River from source to mouth begin with the Little Clatskanie River, which enters from the right. Then comes Buck Creek, right; Falls Creek, left; North Fork, right; and Carcus, Page, Miller, and Vonberg creeks, all from the left. Then Langfeld and Keystone creeks, from the right; Perkins, Merril, Conyers, and Fall creeks, all from the left, and Beaver Slough (Beaver Creek), right.[5]

See also

References
  1. McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003). Oregon Geographic Names (seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 206–07 and 542–43. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  2. "Clatskanie River". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  3. Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  4. McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (1984) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (6th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 182. ISBN 0-87595-237-2.
  5. "United States Topographic Map". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved December 23, 2015 – via Acme Mapper.
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