The Dalles

The Dalles, inland port, seat (1854) of Wasco county, Oregon, U.S., on the south bank of the Columbia River, 75 miles (121 km) east of Portland, within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The area around The Dalles is known to have been a trading centre for Native Americans as long as 10,000 years ago and is thus one of the oldest inhabited places in North America. The region was visited by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. The city’s current name originated with French voyageurs who likened the basaltic rocks through which the river races to flagstones (French: les dalles). A trading post and Methodist mission were established in 1838, and Fort Lee and Fort Dalles were built during the 1840s and ’50s to protect settlers during a period of Indian uprisings and to gain control of the Columbia River and its abundant salmon. The settlement became the terminus of the Oregon Trail. The discovery of gold in the 1860s boosted the town’s growth as a trading and supply depot; for a time a federal mint was located there. With the completion in 1960 of The Dalles Dam (additional capacity was added in 1973) 3 miles (5 km) east, the city became the eastern terminal for oceangoing craft from the Pacific (200 miles [320 km] west), handling grain, fruit, lumber, meat, wool, and oil. A bridge connects The Dalles with the city of Dallesport, Washington. About 50 miles (80 km) south is the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, home to Wasco, Walla Walla (later Warm Springs), and Paiute peoples. Noteworthy sites in The Dalles include the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and the Wasco County Historical Museum, located in separate wings of a single building. The city also has several riverfront parks.

Established as Fort Dalles, it was later known as Dalles City and The Dalles. By a 1966 charter amendment, it was renamed City of The Dalles. Inc. 1857. Pop. (2000) 12,156; (2010) 13,620.