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Hells Canyon is a ten-mile wide canyon
Canyon

A canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level....
 located along the border of eastern Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and western Idaho
Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It is North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
's deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet (2436 m) and the most important feature of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

File:Hellscanyon l7 2002262 lrg.jpgHells Canyon National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area located on the borders of the U.S....
.

The canyon was carved by the waters of the Snake River
Snake River

The Snake River is a major tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The river's length is , its drainage basin drains , and the average discharge at its mouth is ....
, which plunges more than a mile below the canyon's west rim on the Oregon side and 8,000 feet below the peaks of Idaho's Seven Devils Mountains
Seven Devils Mountains

The Seven Devils are notable peaks in west central Idaho in the Hells Canyon Wilderness . They are above the east bank of the the Snake River, which forms the Idaho-Oregon border....
 range to the east.






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Or Hells Canyon
Hells Canyon is a ten-mile wide canyon
Canyon

A canyon, or gorge, is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level....
 located along the border of eastern Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and western Idaho
Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It is North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
's deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet (2436 m) and the most important feature of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

File:Hellscanyon l7 2002262 lrg.jpgHells Canyon National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area located on the borders of the U.S....
.

The canyon was carved by the waters of the Snake River
Snake River

The Snake River is a major tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The river's length is , its drainage basin drains , and the average discharge at its mouth is ....
, which plunges more than a mile below the canyon's west rim on the Oregon side and 8,000 feet below the peaks of Idaho's Seven Devils Mountains
Seven Devils Mountains

The Seven Devils are notable peaks in west central Idaho in the Hells Canyon Wilderness . They are above the east bank of the the Snake River, which forms the Idaho-Oregon border....
 range to the east. The area is inaccessible by road.

Artifacts from prehistoric inhabitants as well as the ruins of early 19th century miners and settlers are visible.

History

The earliest known settlers in Hells Canyon were the Nez Percé
Nez Perce

The Nez Perce are a tribe of Native Americans in the United States who live in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is estimated that at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition the native people had been in the area for over 10,000 years....
 tribe. Others tribes visiting the area were the Shoshone-Bannock, northern Paiute
Paiute

Paiute refers to two related groups of Native Americans in the United States — the Northern Paiute of California, Nevada and Oregon, and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah....
 and Cayuse
Cayuse

The Cayuse are a Native Americans in the United States tribe in the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation....
 Indians. The mild winters, and ample plant and wildlife attracted human habitation. Pictographs and petroglyph
Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are s created by removing part of a Rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images....
s on the walls of the canyon are a record of the Indian settlements.

In 1806, three members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition , headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark , was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back....
 entered Hells Canyon along the Salmon River
Salmon River

The Salmon River is the name of several different rivers:...
. They turned back without seeing the canyon. It was not until 1811 that the Wilson Price Hunt expedition explored Hells Canyon while seeking a shortcut to the Columbia River
Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is named after the Columbia Rediviva, the first ship from the western world known to have traveled up the river....
. Hunger and cold forced them to turn back, as did many explorers who were defeated by the canyon's inaccessibility. There remains no evidence in the canyon of their attempts; their expedition journals are the only documentation.

The early miners were next to follow. In the 1860s gold was discovered in river bars near present-day Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, and miners soon penetrated Hells Canyon. Gold mining was not profitable here. Evidence of their endeavors remains visible along the corridor of the Snake River
Snake River

The Snake River is a major tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The river's length is , its drainage basin drains , and the average discharge at its mouth is ....
. Later efforts concentrated on hard-rock mining, requiring complex facilities. Evidence of these developments is visible today, especially near the mouth of the Imnaha River
Imnaha River

The Imnaha River is a minor river in Wallowa County, Oregon, Oregon, United States. The headwaters for this river are in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of northeastern Oregon....
.

In the 1880s there was a short-lived homesteading
Homesteading

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency....
 boom, but the weather was too severe for farming and settlers soon gave up. Some ranchers still remain today operating within the boundaries of the National Recreation Area.

Hydroelectric dams

Three hydroelectric dams
Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water....
 on the Snake river in Hells Canyon generate approximately 1150 megawatts of electricity. These dams are the lowest on the Snake river lacking fish ladders of any kind which block native salmon
Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout,the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, this holds true for the Atlantic salmon....
 and other fish from migrating upstream.

The three dams are as follows:
  • Hells Canyon Dam
    Hells Canyon Dam

    Hells Canyon Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Snake River in Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border. The dam impounds the Snake River in Hells Canyon Reservoir; its spillway elevation is 1680 feet AMSL....
    ,
  • Oxbow Dam
    Oxbow Dam

    Oxbow Dam is a Hydroelectricity run-of-the-river hydroelectricity rockfill dam on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border, in Hells Canyon . It is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Brownlee Dam, built and operated by Idaho Power Company....
    , and
  • Brownlee Dam
    Brownlee Dam

    Brownlee Dam is a Hydroelectricity run-of-the-river hydroelectricity earth fill dam on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border, in Hells Canyon ....
    .


See also

  • Hells Canyon Wilderness (Oregon and Idaho)


External links

  • - Bulk of this article as of January 5, 2003 was copied from this public domain source.
  • official site from the U.S. Forest Service
  • - For confirmation that it's "Hells Canyon" and not "Hell's Canyon".