Wishram, Washington

Welcome to Wishram, Washington

In 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark visited the Wishrams as they traveled westward. The people belonged to the Upper Chinookan language group and were known as the Wish-ham as they were named in the Yakima treaty. The lands of this Upper Chinookan tribe extended along the Columbia River north bank from about ten miles above The Dalles to about ten miles below them. Their main village was at Spearfish which is present-day Wishram, Washington. This village is also featured in a Coyote legend, Tsagaglalal, known as She Who Watches. It was estimated there were between 1,000 and 1,600 tribal members at the beginning of the 19th century, according to Lewis and Clark. That would have represented between 6 and 10 percent of the Upper Chinookan population.