Editing Celilo Falls (section)

===The Narrows and The Dalles===
Celilo Falls itself was the first in a series of cascades and [[rapids]] known collectively as The Narrows or The Dalles, stretching for about {{convert|12|mi|km}} downstream.<ref>{{cite gnis |id=1530564 |name=The Dalles (historical)}}</ref> Over that length, the river dropped {{convert|82|ft|m}} at high water and {{convert|63|ft|m}} at low water.<ref name=gibson/>

[[File:Grand Dalles of the Columbia.png|thumb|right|The Dalles (photo from Horner, 1919)]]
Three&nbsp;miles (4.8&nbsp;km) below Celilo Falls was a stretch of rapids known variously as the Short Narrows, Ten Mile Rapids, the Little (or Upper) Dalles, or Les Petites Dalles. These rapids were about {{convert|1|mi|km}} long and {{convert|250|ft|m}} wide. Ten&nbsp;miles (16&nbsp;km) below Celilo Falls was another stretch of rapids, this one known as the Long Narrows, Five Mile Rapids, the Big (or Lower) Dalles, Les Grandes Dalles, or Grand Dalles. This stretch of rapids was about {{convert|3|mi|km}} long, and the river channel narrowed to {{convert|75|ft|m}}. Immediately downstream were the Dalles Rapids (or Wascopam to the local natives), about {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} long. Here the river dropped {{convert|15|ft|m}} in a tumult much commented on by early explorers.<ref name=gibson/>

The Long Narrows and the Dalles Rapids are sometimes grouped together under names such as Grand Dalles, Les Dalles, Big Dalles, or The Dalles. One early observer, Ross Cox, noted a three-mile "succession of boiling whirlpools."<ref name=gibson/> Explorer [[Charles Wilkes]] described it as "one of the most remarkable places upon the Columbia." He calculated that the river dropped about {{convert|50|ft|m}} over {{convert|2|mi|km}} here. During the spring freshet, the river rose as much as {{convert|62|ft|m}}, radically altering the nature of the rapids.<ref name=gibson/> Fur trader [[Alexander Ross (fur trader)|Alexander Ross]] wrote, "[The water] rushes with great impetuosity; the foaming surges dash through the rocks with terrific violence; no craft, either large or small, can venture there safely. During floods, this obstruction, or ledge of rocks, is covered with water, yet the passage of the narrows is not thereby improved."<ref name=gibson/>
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