Enselxcin

The upper Columbia flows through the country of the Colville people, among wooded hills and the fishing places of the river. At Kettle Falls, salmon runs drew people from a wide area to fish, trade, and meet. The Colville were among several Interior Salish peoples whose territories joined along this stretch of the river, with the Lakes people to their north and the Sanpoil to the southwest.

In 1825 the Hudson's Bay Company began building Fort Colvile near the falls. A Colville chief allowed the traders to use the site on the understanding that they would not interfere with the salmon fishery. The post became a center of the company's fur trade and agriculture in the Columbia country, beside a gathering place whose importance long predated its arrival.