WOKAS, A PRIMITIVE FOOD OF THF. KLAMATH INDIANS. 



By Frederick Vernon C'oville, 

 H(»Kir(irij ('iirafor, I)i)yt><l(ni <if PUitita. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Klamath Indians now live upon a resei'vation in the State of 

 Oregon, which lies within a somewhat larger area occupied by them 

 long before their discovery ])y the white race. The I'eservation is in 

 the southwestern corner of the plateau of eastern Oregon, at the east- 

 ern foot of the Cascade Mountains and near the southern border of 

 the State. The rainfall of the region averages only about ^0 inches 

 a year, the greater portion of the moisture that comes from the Pacific 

 Ocean having been precipitated in passing over the Cascade Moun- 

 tains. Most of the Klamath Plateau is covered b}^ forests of yellow 

 pine {Pi/n/x j>(>/t(P/'<>s(f)^ but tow^ard the east and toward the south are 

 tongues of treeless sagebrush country {AiiciiiJsia fi'ldtntafa and other 

 species of the same genus) which extend along the valleys into the tim- 

 ber from the sage plains of eastern Oregon and northeastern California, 

 while about the lakes and marshes mentioned l)elow are several large 

 areas, originally lake deposits, which are now raised a))ove the surface 

 of the water and are covered with gi-ass, but which are still too wet to 

 have acquii'ed a co^'ering of timber. That portion of the Cascade Moun- 

 tains opposite the Klamath Reservation is made up largely of volcanic 

 rock, covered by a layer of })umice gravel and dust. With such a por- 

 ous soil the heavy precipitation in the mountains is not carried off by 

 surface streams, but sinks into the ground and appears upon the plain 

 at the base of the mountains in iinuunerable large springs of very cold 

 and very clear watei', which has filtered for many miles down the 

 mountain slopes. As a consequence, the Klamath Plateau, although 

 having a comparativeh' small rainfall, is nevertheless well watered and 

 possesses some of the most beautiful streams on the continent. The 

 drainage from these springs and streams produces two bodies of water, 

 Klamath IVIai'sh and Klamath Lake, which furnish a wealth of game. 

 The richness of xegetable life, particularly in Klamath Marsh, is no 

 less remarkable than that of the animal life, and the latter is in fact 



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