NO. 8 DRAWINGS BY GEORGE GIBUS BUSHNELL 9 



much of the intercourse hctwecn different tribes is carried on by water, the in- 

 genuity of the people would naturally direct itself to the improvement of canoes, 

 which would gradually become, from a mere safe conveyance, an elegant ornament. 

 We have accordingly seen, on the Columbia, canoes of many forms, beginning 

 with the simple boats near the mountains, to those more highly decorated, 

 because more useful nearer the mouth of the Columbia. Below the grand 

 cataract there are four forms of canoes : the first and smallest is about fifteen 

 feet long, and calculated for one or two persons : it is, indeed, by no means 

 remarkable in its structure, and is chiefly employed by the Cathlamahs and 

 Wahkiacums among the marshy islands. The second is from twenty to thirty- 

 five feet long, about two and a half or three feet in the beam, and two feet in 

 the hold. It is chiefly remarkable in having the bowsprit, which rises to some 

 height above the bow, formed by tapering gradually from the sides into a 

 sharp point. Canoes of this shape arc common to all the nations below the 

 grand rapids. 



Fig. 2. — Wooden bowl collected by George Gibbs at Shoalwater Bay. 

 Diameters 8\ and lol inches, U.S.N.M. no. 692. 



The other types of canoes, larger than those just described, need 

 not be mentioned. Evidently the canoe sketched by Gibbs belonged 

 to the second group mentioned by Lewis and Clark, those which were 

 "common to all the nations below the grand rapids." There is no 

 allusion in the early narratives to the use of sails and masts in the 

 native craft. The mast and sail shown in the sketch had 1:)een adopted 

 after contact with Europeans. 



OREGON, 1851 



A letter from the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated 

 October 25, 1850, addressed to J. P. Gaines, A. H. Skinner, and 

 Beverly S. Allen, stated' (p. 114): 



"In Annual Report of the Commissioner ni Indian Affairs . . . 1850. Wash- 

 ington, 1850. 



