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MEMALOOSE ISLAND. Photo, Weister
Memaloose Island. Ancient Indian Cemetery. One of the very interesting points of Oregon is the Memaloose Island in the Columbia River, a few miles below The Dalles. It is one of the oldest of the Indian burial grounds in the Northwest, and is mentioned in the journal of Lewis and Clark when they made their famous journey of exploration in 1804-6. Even at that time, however, it was an ancient burying ground, for the history does not point to a time when Indians were not occupying this western coast. Memaloose Island is about 200 by 200 feet in area and is exceedingly rocky; and being located in the Columbia River afforded a safe place to deposit the bodies of the dead where there was freedom from the prowlings of wild animals. When the whites first came to the Oregon Country there were many burying grounds used by the Indians, but that at Memaloose Island was the most generally preferred. Indian bones were to be seen in abundance; but in recent years the Island is not used for that purpose. "Memaloose" came from the Chinook jargon, which was spoken by the early pioneers and the Indians, and as a verb the word means "to kill."
