{{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox river | name = Long Tom River | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = Developed gradually in the 19th century in imitation of a native tribal name<ref name=ogn/> <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = OCFLongTom.JPG | image_caption = The Long Tom River as it appears while passing through the Oregon Country Fair's land near Veneta | image_size = 300 | map = | map_size = 300 | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA Oregon | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Long Tom River in Oregon <!---------------------- LOCATION --> | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Oregon | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = County | subdivision_name4 = Lane and Benton | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|57|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Palmer">{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Tim|title=Field Guide to Oregon Rivers|publisher=Oregon State University Press|location=Corvallis|year=2014|pages=173–74|isbn=978-0-87071-627-0}}</ref> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|753|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Palmer"/> | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES --> | source1 = Central Oregon Coast Range | source1_location = Long Tom Station, Lane County | source1_coordinates= {{coord|44|13|12|N|123|26|39|W|display=inline}}<ref name="gnis">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) | publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = November 28, 1980 | url ={{Gnis3|1123452}} | title = Long Tom River | accessdate = July 26, 2009}}</ref> | source1_elevation = {{convert|1131|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="GE">Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates</ref> | mouth = Willamette River | mouth_location = Norwood Island, Benton County | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|44|22|48|N|123|14|54|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="gnis"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|256|ft|abbr=on}} | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|410|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name = "watershed council">{{cite web |title = About the watershed |url = http://www.longtom.org/geography2.html |publisher = Long Tom Watershed Council |year = 2003 |accessdate = July 26, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100201020406/http://www.longtom.org/geography2.html |archive-date = February 1, 2010 |url-status = dead }}</ref> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}
The '''Long Tom River''' is a {{convert|57|mi|km|adj=on}} tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States.<ref name="Palmer"/> It drains an area at the south end of the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Corvallis.<ref name="topo map"/>
It rises in the Central Oregon Coast Range in western Lane County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) west of Veneta. It flows east through the mountains to Veneta, through the Fern Ridge Reservoir, and then north into the Willamette Valley, roughly parallel to and west of the Willamette River. It joins the Willamette from the southwest approximately 4 mi (6.5 km) west of Halsey. The Fern Ridge Reservoir was created in 1942 when the United States Army Corps of Engineers dammed the river to control flooding.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Fern Ridge Community Resource Unit|url=http://www.naturalborders.com/methods/willamette/chapter26.htm|publisher=naturalborders.com|accessdate=May 6, 2008}}</ref>
The watershed includes approximately {{convert|410|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} of land (262,000 acres, 1060 km<sup>2</sup>) zoned as 45 percent forest, 30 percent agricultural, 8 public, and 17 percent urban or rural residential.<ref name = "watershed council"/> The Long Tom waters support more than 140,000 people in the area, including residents in the city of Veneta and the rural farming communities of Alvadore, Cheshire, Crow, Franklin, and Noti, as well as industrial and commercial land on the western edge of Eugene.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928023244/http://www.co.lane.or.us/parks/documents/profile.pdf Lane County Profile]</ref> These lands were inhabited by the Chelamela group of the Kalapuya Indians prior to European settlement.
The Oregon Country Fair is one of many groups and agencies that work with the Long Tom Watershed Council to protect and restore the river.<ref name = "council funding">{{cite web | title = Funding and partners: 1998–2003 | url = http://www.longtom.org/fundpart3.html | publisher = Long Tom Watershed Council | year = 2003 | accessdate = July 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100201020455/http://www.longtom.org/fundpart3.html | archive-date = February 1, 2010 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
==Name== The river's name, Long Tom, developed gradually during the 19th century in imitation of a native tribal group called ''Lung-tum-ler''.<ref name=ogn>{{cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. |author2=McArthur, Lewis L. | title = Oregon Geographic Names |edition = Seventh | publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press | year = 2003 | location = Portland, Oregon | page = 590 | isbn = 0-87595-277-1}}.</ref> The Native American name of this Kalapuyan group is ''[lámpʰtumpif]'', literally meaning "spank-his-ass".<ref name="Bright2004">{{cite book|last=Bright|first=William|authorlink=William O. Bright|title=Native American placenames of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA255|accessdate=14 April 2011|year=2004|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|page=255}}</ref>
The earliest newspaper record of the source of this name was published on December 13, 1849 in the Oregon Spectator newspaper. The article states the origin as:
"Several years ago a man (a trapper I learned) by the name of Thomas Bass was killed on the stream alluded to; being a tall man his comrades named him Long Tom, and the river has borne this name ever since the death of Bass."<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 13, 1849 |title=Long Tom. |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1849-12-13/ed-1/seq-4/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 14, 2026 |work=Oregon Spectator |pages=4}}</ref>
==Tributaries== Named tributaries from source to mouth are Micheals, Jones, Swamp, Dusky, Hayes, Sweet, Green, and Gold creeks. Then come Noti, Wilson, Indian creeks before the river enters Fern Ridge Reservoir. Hannavan and Inman creeks enter the reservoir as does Coyote Creek. (The topographic map also shows a separate Coyote Creek that leaves the reservoir south of the main Long Tom channel and rejoins it further downstream.) Below the reservoir come Squaw, the second confluence with Coyote Creek, then Lingo Slough, Bear, Amazon, Ferguson, Shafer, and Miller creeks.<ref name="topo map">{{cite web|title=United States Topographic Map|publisher=United States Geological Survey|via=Acme Mapper|url=http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=44.38,-123.248333&z=12&t=T&marker0=44.38,-123.248333,Long%20Tom%20River|accessdate=January 26, 2016}}</ref>
==See also== *List of longest streams of Oregon *List of dams and reservoirs in the United States *List of rivers of Oregon
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.longtom.org/ Long Tom Watershed Council]; includes "virtual tour" and aerial photos
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Category:Rivers of Oregon Category:Rivers of Lane County, Oregon Category:Tributaries of the Willamette River Category:Oregon placenames of Native American origin