Colonial Despatches

The Dalles, in Oregon, is a city on the Columbia River. It is, roughly, 100 km east of Portland, and the largest community in Wasco County. The city incorporated in 1857, but it was a significant settlement for many years prior, especially as it was considered the town at the end of the Oregon Trail;1 it was inhabited by the Wasco and Wishram tribes for some 10,000 years before European arrival.2 The Dalles, as with other cities on the Columbia, was embroiled in the Oregon Territory land disputes of the mid-1800s.

In extracts associated with Shepherd,John to Labouchere, Henry 7 February 1856, CO 305:7, no. 1227, 238, The Dalles appears as a site of conflict between US Troops and the Yakima, as well as other indigenous groups. The Dalles, or “the flagstones”, from the French “dalle”, was so named due to the rocks and rapids on the city's riverfront.3

• 1. City History and Geographical Area, City of The Dalles.
• 2. Native American Tribes of Oregon, Native American Tribes of Oregon.
• 3. The Dalles, Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names.