Wallowa River
title: "Wallowa River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-oregon", "nez-perce-war", "wild-and-scenic-rivers-of-the-united-states", "rivers-of-wallowa-county,-oregon"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallowa_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Wallowa River |
| name_etymology | A Nez Perce word for a triangle of stakes forming part of a fish trap |
| image | Wallowa River at Wallowa.jpg |
| image_size | 300 |
| image_caption | Wallowa River at Wallowa, Oregon |
| map_size | 300 |
| pushpin_map | USA Oregon |
| pushpin_map_size | 300 |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location of the mouth of the Wallowa River in Oregon |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | United States |
| subdivision_type2 | State |
| subdivision_name2 | Oregon |
| subdivision_type4 | County |
| subdivision_name4 | Wallowa and Union |
| length | 55 mi |
| discharge1_location | Wallowa |
| discharge1_min | 89 cuft/s |
| discharge1_avg | 610 cuft/s |
| discharge1_max | 4640 cuft/s |
| source1 | Confluence of the east and west forks of the Wallowa River |
| source1_location | about 1 mi south of Wallowa Lake, Wallowa County, Oregon |
| source1_coordinates | |
| source1_elevation | 4499 ft |
| mouth | Grande Ronde River |
| mouth_location | Union County, Oregon |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| mouth_elevation | 2316 ft |
| basin_size | 950 sqmi |
| tributaries_left | Lostine River, Minam River |
| extra | {{Designation list |
| embed | yes |
| designation1 | nwsr |
| designation1_type | Recreational |
| designation1_date | July 23, 1996 |
| :: |
| name = Wallowa River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = A Nez Perce word for a triangle of stakes forming part of a fish trap | image = Wallowa River at Wallowa.jpg | image_size = 300 | image_caption = Wallowa River at Wallowa, Oregon | map = | map_size = 300 | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA Oregon | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Wallowa River in Oregon | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Oregon | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = County | subdivision_name4 = Wallowa and Union | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = 55 mi | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= Wallowa | discharge1_min = 89 cuft/s | discharge1_avg = 610 cuft/s | discharge1_max = 4640 cuft/s | source1 = Confluence of the east and west forks of the Wallowa River | source1_location = about 1 mi south of Wallowa Lake, Wallowa County, Oregon | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 4499 ft | mouth = Grande Ronde River | mouth_location = Union County, Oregon | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 2316 ft | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = 950 sqmi | tributaries_left = Lostine River, Minam River | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = nwsr | designation1_type = Recreational | designation1_date = July 23, 1996 | designation1_number =
The Wallowa River is a tributary of the Grande Ronde River, approximately 55 mi long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a valley on the Columbia Plateau in the northeast corner of the state north of Wallowa Mountains.
The Wallowa Valley was home to Chief Joseph's band of the Nez Perce Tribe. Chief Joseph asked the first white settlers to leave when they arrived in 1871. The U.S. government expelled the tribe and seized their property and livestock in 1877, when non-Indian farmers and ranchers wanted to settle the fertile Wallowa valley. The tribe was barred from returning to their homeland by the government after repeated petitions. The tribal members were shipped in unheated box cars to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to be placed in a prisoner-of-war camp never to see their home again.
Course
The river begins at the confluence of its east and west forks, which rise in southern Wallowa County, in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. It flows generally northwest through the Wallowa Valley, parallel to the McCully Basin which is East of the ridge formed from East Peak, Hidden Peak and Aneroid Mountain. At this point, the West Fork of the Wallowa River drainage basin is connected to the North Fork of the Imnaha River by the Polaris Pass drainage divide.{{cite book |last=Barstad |first=Fred |date=2014 |title=Hiking Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHpBBAAAQBAJ |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page= 30 |isbn=9781493010448
It then flows past the communities of Joseph, Enterprise, and Wallowa. Further upstream it receives the Minam River from the left at the hamlet of Minam. Continuing north another 10 mi, it joins the Grande Ronde along the Wallowa–Union county line about 10 mi north-northeast of Elgin and about 81 mi from the larger river's confluence with the Snake River.
Fish
The Wallowa River supports populations of steelhead, spring Chinook salmon, and mountain whitefish among other species. Sockeye salmon were extirpated from the Wallowa River when a small dam was constructed at the outlet of Wallowa Lake in the headwaters of the river. The dam was constructed to raise the level of the lake to store water for irrigation.
References
References
- McArthur, Lewis A.. (2003). "Oregon Geographic Names". Oregon Historical Society Press.
- [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map". TopoQuest.
- (November 28, 1980). "Wallowa River". United States Geological Survey.
- [[Google Earth]] elevation for GNIS coordinates
- "Boundary Descriptions and Names of Regions, Subregions, Accounting Units and Cataloging Units". U.S. Geological Survey.
- Deumling, Dietrich. (1972). "The Roles of the Railroad in the Development of the Grande Ronde Valley". [[Northern Arizona University]].
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