Umpqua River

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Umpqua River
Umpqua River with tributaries
Origin	Confluence of North and South Umpqua NW of Roseburg, Oregon
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
Basin countries	USA
Length	111 miles (179 km)
Source elevation	~360 feet above sea level (110 m)
Mouth elevation	sea level
Avg. discharge	4,920 cubic feet/s (148 m³/s) at Elkton

Fishing the Umpqua River

The mouth of the Umpqua River on the Pacific Ocean at Reedsport

The Umpqua River (UHMP-kwah) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately 111 miles (179 km) long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon coast, it drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west of the Cascade Range and south of the Willamette Valley, from which it is separated by the Calapooya Mountains. The "Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua" form the timber-producing heart of southern Oregon centered on Roseburg. The river flows entirely within Douglas County, which encompasses most of the watershed of the river from the Cascades to the coast.

It is formed by the confluence of the North Umpqua and South Umpqua rivers, both of which rise in the Cascades, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Roseburg. In modern terminology, the "Umpqua Valley" is sometimes taken to refer to the populated lower reaches of the South Umpqua south of Roseburg, along the route of Interstate 5. The North Umpqua rises from snowmelt and is considered one of the premier summer steelhead streams in the West. The combined river flows generally northwest through the Oregon Coast Range in a serpentine course past Umpqua and Elkton. At Elkton it turns to flow west past Scottsburg, which is located at the head of tide. It enters Winchester Bay on the Pacific at Reedsport. It receives the Smith River from the north near its estuary on Winchester Bay. The Umpqua River Lighthouse protects the mouth of the river.

In the early 19th century the river valley was largely inhabited by the Coquille tribe of Native Americans. The tribe ceded most of its land to the U.S. government in the 1854 Kalapuya Treaty, agreeing to move to a reservation in Lincoln County as part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. The river itself is named for the Umpqua, a band of the Coquille.

The Umpqua River valley was inhabited by several different bands of Indians; primarily the Athabaskan speaking Upper Umpqua, Takelman speaking Cow Creek Band of Umpqua, the Yoncalla (a Kalapuyan people) in the north, and the Quich (Lower Umpqua) from Scottsburg/Wells Creek to the coast. The Quich spoke a language distantly related to Alsea/Yakonan and the Coos Bay languages.