McKenzie River - History

History

For around 8000 years, the McKenzie River has been home to local Native American peoples of the region. In more recent history, the area has been populated by the Kalapuya and Mollala peoples, whom spent their summers in the high Cascades and their winters in the lower valley. This way of life continued until the mid 1800s, when many of native locals were relocated to reservations.

The first recorded exploration occurred in the spring of 1812 by the Pacific Fur Company, as part of a larger exploration led by Donald Mackenzie. The company had, in 1811, established a post at Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River as part of the Astor Expedition. Mackenzie, the following spring, formed an exploration party and explored the Willamette River. The party named the north fork of the Willamette after Mackenzie. However, much of the river would be largely unvisited by white settlers and explorers until October 1853, when a group of Oregon Trail settlers became lost trying to cross the Cascades into the Willamette Valley via the Elliott Cutoff.

Major crossing along the McKenzie River started in 1910 with the first automobile crossing over the McKenzie Pass. However, crossing along the river was limited to summer due to winter conditions closing the pass. Year round travel was not possible until 1960 with the completion of the Santiam Pass.