Snake River Magic Names

“Snake" is the world renowned, iconic name for an amazing Western American river. Where did the name come from? “In historic times, the upper and middle reaches of the river were occupied by the Shoshone Indians. Because they painted snake heads on sticks to terrify their enemies, and possibly because a sinuous movement of the hand was used as sign language to signify their tribe, Indian neighbors and early trappers spoke of the Shoshone as the 'Snakes'. Flowing through Snake country, the river acquired that tribal name.”
-Cort Conley, Snake River in Hells Canyon

Hells Canyon

Through time, the portion of Snake River that is today called Hells Canyon was known by various names - Box Canyon, Grand Canyon of the Snake, Snake River Canyon…

“Most old timers knew the gorge as Box Canyon or Snake River Canyon. The first reference to Hells Canyon … appears in an 1895 edition of McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. In discussing the voyage of the steamboat Norma (at the mouth of Deep Creek, just below the site of Hells Canyon Dam) the author writes: 'She then bounded off, swinging into midstream, and, like a racehorse, shot into Hell Canyon, where the river winds like a serpent and the wall rocks tower to such a height that they almost shut out the sun.' … Forest Service maps in 1935 still labeled the area Box Canyon. It was not until the early 1950's that Hells Canyon became a popularly accepted descriptive term for the gorge…”
-Cort Conley, Snake River in Hells Canyon

Today, Congress has legislatively named the area. Hells Canyon. The gorge is properly known as such from the Southern Boundary of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (several miles South of Hells Canyon Creek launch site) to the North Boundary near China Garden (river mile 73). (Note. Hells Canyon is properly spelled without an apostrophe.)