Above the falls, a perch for salmon

First of an occasional series

The Deschutes River narrows here at Sherar's Falls, north of tiny Maupin, as it works its way to join the Columbia in Central Oregon.

"The water is trembling, battering, but there's a tranquillity also," says Wasco Tribe member Terry Courtney. This has been a traditional "fishing spot for 5,000 years," long before it was named for Joseph Sherar, a Vermonter who came west, bought the bridge there in 1871, built a road and hotel and promoted settlement.

Scaffold fishing on the Deschutes is about power, patience and persistence.

Only tribal members are allowed on the platforms, where the river roars below at more than 5,000 cubic feet per second.

They wait for a twitching on the trigger string indicating a chinook is in the net below — maybe only one or two a day, or night.

Terry Courtney first fished from atop a platform in 1963.

"You can hear the river singing through the wires" that hold the net in place, he says.

There is only the sound of the river, the nearby blackbirds and the echo of traditions.

"Salmon is our most sacred food. It's No. 1. It's our wealth."

And, "it's my right."

Alan Berner: 206-464-8133 or aberner@seattletimes.com