Umatilla River

Umatilla River
The Umatilla River, flowing through northern Pendleton, July 2005
Location of the mouth of the Umatilla River in Oregon
Etymology	Native American (Indian) name for the river[2]
Location
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Umatilla
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of north and south forks
• location	Blue Mountains
• coordinates	45°43′32″N 118°11′17″W / 45.72556°N 118.18806°W / 45.72556; -118.18806[1]
• elevation	2,332 ft (711 m)[3]
Mouth	Columbia River
• location	Umatilla, Oregon
• coordinates	45°55′09″N 119°21′20″W / 45.91917°N 119.35556°W / 45.91917; -119.35556[1]
• elevation	269 ft (82 m)[1]
Length	89 mi (143 km)[4]
Basin size	2,450 sq mi (6,300 km2)[4]
Discharge
• location	near Umatilla, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) from the mouth[5]
• average	494 cu ft/s (14.0 m3/s)[5]
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
• maximum	19,800 cu ft/s (560 m3/s)

The Umatilla River is an 89-mile (143 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States.^[4] Draining a basin of 2,450 square miles (6,300 km²), it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state.^[4] In downstream order, beginning at the headwaters, major tributaries of the Umatilla River are the North Fork Umatilla River and the South Fork Umatilla River, then Meacham, McKay, Birch, and Butter creeks.

The name Umatilla is derived from the Native American autonym of the people residing along its banks - the Umatilla, which called themselves Imatalamłáma - "People from the Village Ímatalam [on the Peninsula formed by the confluence of Umatilla River with the Columbia]", which was first recorded as Youmalolam in the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and spelled in many other ways in early books about Oregon.^[2]

Today the river is also called Nixyáawi wána - "Pendleton area River, i.e. Umatilla River".^{[citation needed][what language is this?]}