Rare pre-1957 Celilo Falls fishing photograph with exceptional firsthand documentation.

Original 4.25 x 3.5 in. photo photograph showing a Native fisherman identified contemporaneously as “a Yakima Indian” beside several enormous salmon at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River.

The photographer’s handwritten reverse inscription states:

“I took this picture at Celilo Falls. A Yakima Indian and some of the salmon you get here. The sack he is holding is full of them. They weigh from 30 to 55 lbs. each. Note the one on the ground in the foreground.”

JUNE HOG CONNECTION: The documented 30–55 lb. salmon are consistent with the extraordinary size historically associated with Columbia River summer Chinook known as June Hogs. Historical sources document these giant summer Chinook being harvested by Indigenous people at Celilo Falls. The inscription does not specifically identify these individual fish as June Hogs.

CELILO FALLS: Celilo was one of the Columbia River’s great Indigenous fishing and trading centers for thousands of years. The falls were submerged following completion of The Dalles Dam in 1957, making surviving pre-inundation photographs important records of the lost landscape and fishery.

The historic Celilo/Oregon Trunk railroad bridge visible across the river provides additional geographic corroboration of the photographer’s handwritten Celilo Falls identification.

Photo Size: Approx. 4.25 x 3.5 in.

Collector Appeal: June Hogs • Chinook Salmon • Celilo Falls • Yakama/Yakima • Indigenous Fishing • Columbia River • Pacific Northwest • Railroad History • Environmental History

Condition: G/VG with period toning and light handling/edge wear. Image remains strong and the extensive handwritten reverse inscription is highly legible. Please review front and reverse scans for complete condition.