The Link River is a short river connecting Upper Klamath Lake

Upper Klamath Lake

Upper Klamath Lake is a large, shallow freshwater lake east of the Cascade Range in south central Oregon in the United States. The largest freshwater body in Oregon, it is approximately 20 mi long and 8 mi wide and extends northwest from the city of Klamath Falls...

 to Lake Ewauna

Lake Ewauna

Lake Ewauna is a lake in Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States. It is the headwaters of the Klamath River. Fed by Link River from Upper Klamath Lake and controlled by the release of water from Keno Dam downstream, Lake Ewauna stays at a constant level throughout the year.At just over 6,500 feet ...

 in the city of Klamath Falls

Klamath Falls, Oregon

Klamath Falls is a city in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. Originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867, after the Link River on whose falls this city sat, although no falls currently exist; the name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1892...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. Draining a basin of 3810 mi2, the river begins at the southern end of Klamath Lake and flows a short distance to the Link River Dam

Link River Dam

The Link River Dam is a concrete dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Co. The dam was built to control the water level of Klamath Lake in order to maximize power production...

 and continues 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the head of Lake Ewauna. The "falls" from which Klamath Falls derives its name, and which in reality are best described as rapids rather than falls, are visible a short distance below the dam, though the water flow is generally insufficient to provide water flow over the rocks. The Klamath River

Klamath River

The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...

 begins at the narrow southern end of Lake Ewauna and flows 253 miles (407.2 km) from there to the Pacific Ocean.

Before settlers came to the Klamath Basin

Klamath Basin

The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The drainage basin...

, the Link River was known to the local Klamaths as Yulalona, meaning "back and forth." At times, strong winds blew the water upstream into Klamath Lake and partly drained the riverbed.

After its founding in 1867, Klamath Falls was originally named Linkville. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1892–93.

Works cited

• McArthur, Lewis A., and McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.