Powder River (Oregon)
| Powder River (Polalle Illahe) | |
| Port-pel-lah | |
 The Powder River at Baker City
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Oregon |
| Region | Baker and Union counties |
| Source | Confluence of McCully Fork and Cracker Creek |
| - location | Sumpter, Oregon in the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area, Blue Mountains |
| - elevation | 4,400 ft (1,341 m) |
| - coordinates | 44°44′30″N 118°12′22″W / 44.74167°N 118.20611°W |
| Mouth | Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River |
| - location | 10 mi (16 km) east of Richland, Oregon |
| - elevation | 2,064 ft (629 m) |
| - coordinates | 44°44′37″N 117°02′56″W / 44.74361°N 117.04889°WCoordinates: 44°44′37″N 117°02′56″W / 44.74361°N 117.04889°W |
| Length | 153 mi (246 km) |
| Basin | 1,603 sq mi (4,152 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 534 cu ft/s (15 m3/s) |
  Location of the mouth of the Powder River in Oregon
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The Powder River is a tributary of the Snake River, approximately 153 miles (246 km) long, in northeast Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Columbia Plateau on the eastern side of the Blue Mountains. It flows almost entirely within Baker County but downstream of the city of North Powder forms part of the border between Baker County and Union County.
The name Powder River is first recorded in the journals of Peter Skene Ogden without notation of the origin of the name. Explorer Donald Mackenzie likely named the river. William C. McKay, grandson of John Jacob Astor's partner Alexander MacKay, says that the origin of the name is from the powdery and sandy soil along the shores of the river, from the Chinook Jargon polalle illahe. It appears on Lewis and Clark's maps as Port-pel-lah.
The Powder River's tributaries arise in the southern Blue Mountains in the Umatilla National Forest. The river's main stem begins in Sumpter, where McCully Fork, Cracker Creek and several smaller tributaries join, and flows east-southeast through the tailings of past dredge mining and into Phillips Reservoir. After exiting Phillips Reservoir, the river continues east for about 7 miles (11 km) before turning sharply north through the Bowen Valley and Baker City, Oregon. From here the river meanders the floor of the Baker Valley and passes by the cities of Haines and North Powder, where it is joined by the North Powder River. Here the river turns again sharply east-southeast, flowing through Thief Valley Reservoir, in a valley along the southern edge of the Wallowa Mountains. The river then transits the Lower Powder Valley and enters the Snake River on the Idaho–Oregon state line from the west, upstream from the Brownlee Dam at the Powder Arm of Brownlee Reservoir 11 miles (18 km) downstream from Richland.
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Wikipedia