Lewis and Clark

Revisiting the Legacy of Lewis and Clark

"From the best estimate we were able to make as we descended the Columbia we conceived that the natives inhabiting that noble stream, for some miles above the great falls to the grand rappids inclusive annually prepare about 30,000 lbs. of pounded sammon for market..."
~Meriwether Lewis, January 14, 1806

People have lived along the Columbia River for more than 10,000 years. But, when the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803-1806 crossed native America, it set off a chain of events that created the United States as we know it and defined much of who we are as Americans. The 200th commemoration of the Lewis and Clark expedition officially begins in January, 2003. Across the nation, thousands of people are already retracing parts of the historic journey, and others are working to ensure that its full historical meaning is honored. Lewis and Clark entered a very different Pacific Northwest in 1805. The Columbia and Snake Rivers swelled with what Clark called "increadible" numbers of salmon. Salmon swam stacked in layers to depths of 20 feet and lay on riverbanks by the thousands, being dried by Indians or naturally decaying.

At that time, 10-16 million wild salmon returned each year to the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Diverse native cultures thrived physically on this bounty, and spiritually on this gift. Historian Stephen Ambrose writes that one man could harvest "a hundred salmon a day, a full ton or more fish." The rivers Lewis and Clark traveled flowed free, with water clean and drinkable. Salmon brought huge flows of nutrients back from the seas, renewing rich, productive forests up to one thousand miles inland. During one of the expedition's hardest times in 1805, salmon provided by Nez Perce Indians kept its men from starvation.

Today's Changed Landscape

"At the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, I got off the barge to see what had happened to the salmon choked river that Lewis and Clark had discovered in 1805. The waterway I found was a remote-controlled pool,' the level of which fluctuated on a minute-to-minute schedule to meet electricity needs on a grid that reaches southern California. In the bathtub river, dwindling numbers of salmon were distilled from the water, sorted by computers, and hauled to the sea by trucks and barges.
~Blaine Harden, "A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia" W.W. Norton & Company, 1996.

The wild lands and waters Lewis and Clark encountered have been dramatically altered. Over 70% of their original trail is now under water, beneath impounded reservoirs. Today, with more than 200 large dams, the Columbia River and its tributaries comprise the most heavily dammed watershed on earth. Drinkable water does not exist in the Snake and Columbia Rivers, with even clean water as defined by law difficult to find. As a result, Columbia and Snake River wild salmon are in deep trouble. Many species are extinct, a dozen more endangered, and there are only two stable populations in the entire basin.

Wild salmon are at 1-3% of the numbers that Lewis and Clark encountered. No longer renewed with their rich carcasses, inland forests and waters that must support a growing human population are losing productivity. Northwest salmon economies have lost 25,000 jobs. Our nation's repeated treaty promises to Native American tribes, including the basic promise of enough salmon to support traditional fishing and cultures, have not been kept since they were made 140 years ago.

A Lewis and Clark Legacy

The modern United States and its Northwest corner were born from the Louisiana Purchase and the expedition that charted these "new" lands. There is much to give thanks for in today's Northwest. There is also much that has vanished or is threatened. Lewis and Clark found along the Columbia and Snake Rivers rich natural resources and long-lived ways of life which we no longer have or are losing: clean water, abundant wild salmon, and enduring health in the communities, lands, and webs of life. We can best commemorate the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial by working together to restore and repair these essentials for our children's children. By honoring our nation's treaty pledges to Columbia Basin Indian Tribes. By restoring clean rivers and abundant annual returns of salmon which feed people, support communities, and renew watersheds. A true commemoration will require action. Treaties must be honored in deed, not just words. Waters must be cleaned up. Dried-up streams must be replenished, and some dams must be removed so abundant salmon, healthy rivers, and long-lived communities can be restored. The first, and hardest, steps are achievable before the bicentennial ends in 2006. As Americans, we should do no less. Let's leave a legacy worthy of both Lewis & Clark and the people who met them here, 200 years ago.

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