The first whita men in the area were the fur trappers, traders, 

 and voyagers of 1805 who did not settle or change the original condi- 

 tions in the area other than to remove the fur-bearing animal popula- 

 tiono The first white settlers utilized this area largely for stock 

 grazing, the country then being considered as naturally too arid for 

 large crop produc tiono One of the first reported attempts to irrigate 

 in this area was by an Indian Basmed Kamiakin, who diverted water from 

 Ahtanum Creek in 1852 to grow a vegetable garden. In 1872 a white man, 

 Jospoh Scannon, dug a canal from the Naches River to the original site 

 of the city of YsLkima at Union Gapo The first orchard was planted in 

 ISTOo A large number of settlers entered the area in the last three 

 decades of the 19th tjantury, and many irrigation diversions were made* 

 In 1881 the Konewock (Konnewick) Canal was dug, and was la'^er enlarged 

 tmtil by 1891 it had been developed into a great canal system* In 

 1884 the Northern Pacific Railroad entered the Yakima Valley, and there- 

 after agriculture, utilizing irrigation^ expanded rapidly until today 

 the valley is covered with net=works of canals, both large and smallo 

 The Wenatchee, Methow, Okanogan and other valley areas were similarly 

 deveiopedj, with iVialt production being one of the main industries. 



Virtaally all of the streams in this area supported large runs of 

 silver„ chinookj, and blueback salmon as well as steelhead trout prior 

 to the settlement of the area by white men. With the development of the 

 region and the construction of dams and unscreened irrigation diversions, 

 there was a steady diminution in the abundance level of the runs o The 

 dame impeded and in some instances completely blocked the upstream passage 

 of adult fish, and countless thousands of fingerlings were lost down the 

 irrigation ditches as they were migrating to the ocean. 



As lat© as 1936, the stream survey parties found only 8 diversions 

 screened out of 40 examined on the main Yakima River. This lack of 

 screens was typical of all irrigation canals in the area. Since then the 

 Washington State Fisheries Department, aided in part by the Works Progress 

 Administration, has undertaken an effective screening program. The Fish 

 and ?R.ldlife Service has screened government constructed diversions. 



Another problem in conserving the salmon of this area is raised by 

 the fishing activities of the Indians, who spear, net and snag many of 

 the fish concentrated in the shallow waters below dams and fish ladder 

 entrances^ as at th© Richland, Prosser, Sunnyside, and Wapato dams on the 

 Yakima River. 



TOnder the rreaty of 1856, which is still in effect;, the Indians are 

 allowed "the exclusive right of taking fish in all streams running through 

 or bordering on said reservations eaoao as also the right of taking fish at 

 all usual and accustomed places'*. It is therefore impossible at present to 

 prevent Indians from taking fish in the lower main Yakima and other streams 

 where they border or are in the reservations. White men, on the other hand, 

 are forbidden by State law to take salmon or food fish in "Any and all waters 

 within one mile below any rack, dam or other artifical obstruction, either 

 temporary or permanent, across any river or stream, except as otherwise 

 provided" o A full agreement with renegofcifttion of treaties must be made with 



3 



