Puyallup River

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The Puyallup River is a river in Pierce County, Washington in the United States, that is approximately 45 mi (72 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of about 1000 sq mi in Pierce County and southern King County.^[1]

The river's watershed is the youngest in the Puget Sound region, having been formed from a series of lahars starting about 5600 years ago.^[2] Its valley's 150,000 residents are at risk from lahars should Mount Rainier erupt--for this reason, the United States Geological Survey has installed a lahar warning system.

1 Course
2 Natural History
3 Geology
4 History
5 Economy
6 Tributaries
7 Cities and Towns along the Puyallup
8 External links
9 References

[edit] Course

The river flows from its source on Mount Rainier. It flows northwest and is joined by the Carbon River north of Orting. At the small town of Electron, the river is covered by the Electron Dam. The river turns north from Electron and flows until it is joined by the White River at Sumner. It then continues northwest through Puyallup and Fife on the way to entering Puget Sound at the Port of Tacoma on Commencement Bay in Tacoma.

[edit] Natural History

The Puyallup River was historically part of an estuarial ecoystem that relied on frequent flooding by the meandering river to provide marshy habitat throughout its lower reaches. Urban and suburban development and an extensive system of levees and culverts have impacted the area so that only 5% of the original habitat remains.

A fall run of Chinook salmon occurs on the river. Coho, chum, and pink salmon are also found in the river, along with steelhead, sea-run cutthroat trout, and a threatened species of bull trout. Sockeye salmon are were traditionally indigenous to the basin.^[2]

[edit] Geology

The Puyallup River and its two main tributaries, the Carbon River and the White River, all originate in and are fed by glaciers on Mount Rainier. These glaciers also continually provide silt and gravel to the rivers, creating sandbars and lowering waterflows, and contributing to flooding.

[edit] History

The river is named for the Puyallup tribe, and was the site of their traditional villages. They were settled on reservation lands after the Treaty of Medicine Creek, which recognized native fishing rights on the Puyallup River. These rights were ignored for decades until Bob Satiacum was arrested in 1954 for fishing illegally on the river. His legal case continued for years and resulted in the Boldt Decision in 1974 that granted half of all fishing rights in Washington state to native tribes.

The Puyallup tribe continues to maintain several buildings and properties on reservation lands near the mouth of the river.