PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 83 



Among- any number of fish there is an abnost endless variation in color, 

 caused, i)erhaps, by some remaining- a longer time in the lake than 

 others. Wallowa Lake is about 4-^ miles in length by IJ to 2 miles wide. 

 It deepens very ra]>idly out a few feet from the shore, and is said to be 

 400 feet deep, and more than that in places. Two small streams flow 

 into the lake, and these form the spawning ground proper for these 

 fish ; and as there are falls about two miles above the mouth of these 

 streams over which the fish cannot leap, they are restricted to rather 

 limited quarters for S{)awning. The only place I saw any of these fish 

 was on the bar near the head of the lake, and there most of them are 

 caught. They can be seen in schools of 100 or more at almost any time 

 during the month of August aud later. This year the run has been 

 very light, and fishing had to a great extent stopped when I arrived at 

 the lake on the last day of August. Four fisheries had been in oper- 

 ation, and these had put up about 20,000 pounds of fish. 1 believe 

 two or three years ago it had been the practice to obstruct the entrances 

 to the small streams at the head of the lake to prevent the fish from 

 running up these streams. This year this was not done, and a number 

 of the settlers about the lake seem to be anxious to have the fish ])rop- 

 erly protected, and it is not at all too soon to do it, either. The placing 

 of obstructions in the above-meutioned streams, and perhaps this year 

 of gill nets on tbe bar, has no doubt something to do with the scarcity 

 of these fish. But the most abominable things of all which I saw j^er- 

 sonally in use are several clusters of hooks tied together, so that they 

 form a circle with a radius.of about 3 inches. Just above these hooks 

 a lump of Red-fish eggs is laid. These are covered with moscpiito- 

 netting, aud by this contrivance thousands of young Red-fish (the set- 

 tlers call them " shiners," others call them " trout," but I am satisfied 

 that it will be found that they are yearling Red-fish*) are caught and 

 salted as well as the full-grown ones. Now, these fish are only about 4 

 inches long, and for every one caught two are crippled and die. So it 

 can readily be seen that an immense number are destroyed yearly, as 

 some parties make it a business to salt these down as well as mature 

 fish. 



I examined all these modes of tishing, and when I hooked with a sin- 

 gle hook about one out of three in some other part of the body than the 

 head, it can readily be understood how murderous such a contrivance as 

 the above must be, and how many young fish can be destroyed by a sin- 

 gle person in a day. They bait them first, and when they become plenty 

 use their grappling hooks. 



The fishermen at the lake complain that the Indians destroy the fish, 

 but from i)ersonal observation I can't at all agree with them. It is true 

 that numbers of Indians come from various parts of the country to Wal- 

 lowa Lake yearly to fish, and they catch a good many. AVhile I was 

 camped at the lake 1 examined the catch of every Indian that passed 



*No doubt ofit..— D. S. J. 



