Umatilla River
| Umatilla River | |
|---|---|
The Umatilla River, flowing through northern Pendleton, July 2005 | |
| Etymology | Native American (Indian) name for the river |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Umatilla |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of north and south forks |
| • location | Blue Mountains |
| • coordinates | 45°43′32″N 118°11′17″W / 45.72556°N 118.18806°W |
| • elevation | 2,332 ft (711 m) |
| Mouth | Columbia River |
• location | Umatilla, Oregon |
• coordinates | 45°55′09″N 119°21′20″W / 45.91917°N 119.35556°W |
• elevation | 269 ft (82 m) |
| Length | 89 mi (143 km) |
| Basin size | 2,450 sq mi (6,300 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | near Umatilla, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) from the mouth |
| • average | 494 cu ft/s (14.0 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 19,800 cu ft/s (560 m3/s) |
The Umatilla River is an 89-mile (143 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Draining a basin of 2,450 square miles (6,300 km2), it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state. In downstream order, beginning at the headwaters, major tributaries of the Umatilla River are the North Fork Umatilla River and the South Fork Umatilla River, then Meacham, McKay, Birch, and Butter creeks.
The name Umatilla is derived from the Native American autonym of the people residing along its banks - the Umatilla, which called themselves Imatalamłáma - "People from the Village Ímatalam [on the Peninsula formed by the confluence of Umatilla River with the Columbia]", which was first recorded as Youmalolam in the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and spelled in many other ways in early books about Oregon.
Today the river is also called Nixyáawi wána in the Umatilla language, meaning "Pendleton area River, i.e. Umatilla River".