Celilo, Wasco County. This name is used for a railroad station, for the navigation canal along the south bank of the Columbia River, and for "the rather low but romantic horseshoe shaped falls at the rock reef composing the upper end of this obstruction (Dalles) below which the Indian was accustomed to stand with his spear to pierce the jumping salmon. Like all other river falls these were known to the fur traders as The Chutes, and where the name Celilo was first used or whence it came is not known. The name does not appear in print before 1859, as far as yet discovered. The earlier journals and letters of fur traders and travelers do not mention it." T. C. Elliott, Oregon Historical Society Quarterly, June 1915. Mr. Elliott states that there are several suggested meanings, including "tumbling waters, "shifting sands," the name of an Indian chief, etc., but there is little to substantiate these suggestions. The Quarterly mentioned above gives additional theories about the name, and also contains much information about the construction and dedication of the Celilo Canal. The first survey for the canal was ordered by congress in 1879. The portage railroad built by the state was finished and opened June 3, 1905, and actual construction on the canal was begun by the government in October of that year. The completion and opening of the canal was celebrated by citizens of three states during the week of May 3-8, 1915. The canal is nine miles long, and overcomes a fall of about 80 feet. It cost, including nearby channel improvements, $4,800,000. The first steamer to make a continuous trip from Portland to Lewiston through the canal, was the Undine, which left Portland April 29, 1915, and arrived in Lewiston on May 3. The dedication of the canal occurred on May 5, 1915.
Central Point, Jackson County. This community received its name because of the fact that two important pioneer wagon roads of the Rogue River Valley crossed
