Leaving Cathlemat 10-15-09

Lewis and Clark reported in 1805 that the Cath-le-meh Indians used this spot to fish for sturgeon. The Indians hooked the big ones, then drove the line, on a stick, into the ground-storing the fish until they were ready to process it. The native Americans in the Columbia River gorge were the wealthiest- they had access to some trade goods from the traders on the Pacific, but caught and processed(dried) literally tons of fish (salmon and sturgeon) which they traded with other Native Americans all the way into the interior of America.