Authorities recover body of third Yakama fisherman

CELILLO VILLAGE, Ore.. -- Authorities this morning recovered the body of the third missing Yakama fisherman whose boat capsized on the Columbia River.

The body of Anthony Wesley, 52, was found about 9 a.m. in a stretch of the river near Celilo Village, Ore., about eight miles east of The Dalles Dam, said his brother Simon Sampson.

"I’m so happy and at the same time I’m so said," Sampson said. "Now the reality is sinking in that he’s gone, and he has to be taken care of properly."

Wesley was among four tribal fishermen in an 18-foot boat that overturned April 30 on the river in an area near the small community of Wishram, Wash.

The bodies of Jessica Lewis, 29, of Wapato and Wilson LaRoque, 57, of Toppenish were discovered the same morning the incident occurred. A third person in the boat, who Samson identified as Johnny Jack, survived after swimming to shore.

Sampson said today he was in Portland when he received the call from tribal police about the discovery of his brother’s body.

Sampson said he’s been talking with tribal authorities about implementing a better way to respond to such tragedies on the river, and plans to compile all the names of the fishermen who died on the Columbia River in recent history.

"The river is mean to our people sometimes," he said softly.

Wesley’s body is being taken to Colonial Funeral Home in Toppenish, and overnight services will be Thursday at the Celilo Longhouse with burial Friday morning at nearby Wishcum Cemetery in Dallesport, Wash.

The longhouse is a a traditional tribal church that overlooks a stretch of the river where water crashed over the great Celilo Falls before The Dalles Dam flooded the area in 1957.

Celilo Falls was a major fishing and trading hub for Northwestern tribes.

Sampson plans to dress his brother in buckskin and may have him buried at the Celilo Village cemetery.

He said Wesley was a woodcutter and hunter as well as as fisherman, and that having his funeral in Celilo will honor his indigenous ancestry.

"I’m just grateful that the Creator did bring him back, right across from Celilo," Sampson said. "We’re all fishermen and we all came from the river."