Canemah, Oregon
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Canemah Historic District
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Willamette Falls looking south, with Canemah, Oregon, in background on left, 1867
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| Location | Roughly bounded by Willamette River, 5th Ave., Marshall and Paquet Sts., Oregon City, Oregon |
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| Area | 63.7 acres (25.8 ha) |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Bungalow/craftsman, Gothic Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002279 |
| Added to NRHP | October 11, 1978 |
Canemah was an early settlement in the U.S. state of Oregon located near the Willamette River. It is now a district within Oregon City.
The district of Canemah is located on the east side of the Willamette River. At that time, Oregon City was a separate settlement, and was located below the Willamette Falls above which Canemah sits. The two towns were connected by a path, later upgraded to an ox track.
Oregon was first inhabited by Native Americans, and was considered by the Calapooya tribe to be part of their territory. Native Americans traveled up and down the waterfall by canoes. Canemah is significant to this because it was the southern point of where Native Americans needed to go through to cross the waterfall. The name "Canemah" itself means "the canoe place". There was said to have been a dispute among the Native Americans as to which of their nations would control this area. The reason is that whoever controlled Canemah and its northern areas could toll anyone who crossed that area to cross the waterfall in their canoe. Many people were killed, apparently also called "Canemahs" who had occupied Canemah and claimed the right to charge tolls for use of the area.
The first white settler at Canemah was Absalom F. Hedges (1817–1890). He arrived in Oregon City in 1844, and found all the good lots already taken. He then went south to Canemah, and staked out a Donation Land Claim close to the canoe landing place. Water travel above the falls was still mainly conducted by the Native Americans using canoes at this point, although they paddled the flat boats, sometimes known as bateaux, that were starting to appear on the river. A few settlers had already established themselves in the Willamette Valley, and the boats and canoes brought their farm products to Canemah. At Canemah, they were loaded on ox-carts and carried around the falls to Oregon City. New emigrants to the Willamette Valley, and all of their goods, were then hauled back to Canemah up the track from Oregon City by the same ox-carts.
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