 Picture Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation
Lake Roosevelt now covers the site where the Columbia River once cascaded over Kettle Falls. For at least 9,000 years, people were attracted to the falls and the salmon that fought to pass this natural obstacle.
By 1800, Kettle Falls drew thousands of Indians for fishing, trade, great dance, and gambling. The daily catch at the falls was impressive, at times reaching 3,000 large salmon.
In the years that followed, fur traders passed through these lands and, in 1826, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post named Fort Colvile, Indians valued it as a place to exchange furs for trade goods. The fort also served as an important link between Fort Vancouver, 598 miles down the river, and Hudson Bay.
The newcomers brought many changes to the area. Farming and European ways were introduced to Hudson's Bay Company employees. Nearby, Catholic missionaries founded Saint Paul's Mission in the 1840s.
Construction of the Grand Coulee Dam and the subsequent filling of Lake Roosevelt flooded Kettle Falls in 1940.
Kettle Falls was called Les Chaudares or "the Kettles" by fur traders, perhaps for the large potholes below the falls.
Washington State Parks
Washington State Historical Society
Washington State Department of Transportation
Washington State Conservation Corps
National Park Service
SR 25, 2 miles north of the junction of US 395 near Kettle Falls. Stevens County Washington
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