most part. Hells Gate, a basaltic construction barrier at river 

 miie 616 had 3 main rapids, the upper being very fast, crooked 

 and dangerous. A fair current existed in stretches between 

 the smaller drops of Hawk Creek, French and Middle Rapids. 

 Spokane Rapids at river mile 6 38 had a steep pitch but was 

 straight, and Freeman went through it on a log raft at an 

 estimated speed of 20 miles per hour in late October, 1920t> 

 Near Gerome Creek, 15 miles above, there was a current of 

 about 3 miles per hour, and here he caught a 50-pound chinook 

 salmon on a pike pole (the fish apparently had been weakened 

 by spawning activities). At the San Foil Bar he saw Colville 

 Reservation Indians fishing for salmon, the *crooked-nose dogs" 

 (actually chinook) of the final run on October 24th. The river 

 was broad and shallow for a few miles below Grand Rapids, (locally 

 known as Rickey's Rapids) which were located 5 miles below Kettle 

 Falls at river mile 692, Grand Rapids dropped 12 feet in 1,200 yards 

 and was filled with hugh basaltic boulders, like pepper, making them 

 very dangerous for any boat. 



Kettle Falls at river mile 698 was in two parts, the lower fall 

 dropping 10 feet in l/4 mile as a tumbling cascade. The upper main 

 fall was divided by a rocky island into two channels. The right or 

 main channel had a vertical drop of 15 feet at low water, but the 

 left channel looped around in a rapid with savage boils and whirls 

 in an elbow called "the chandiere** by the Voyageurs. Early investi- 

 gators report that salmon (chinook) formerly spawned in great numbers 

 on gravel bars in the main river just below Kettle Falls, particularly 

 toward the right side of the river. They were also reported to have 

 spawned near the mouths of several tributaries in this area. (Gilbert 

 and Everman, 1894) Mr. J. A. Meyers, a resident in the area between 

 1866 and 1894, is quoted as reporting that the salmon reached the falls 

 in June, and in great nxmibers . The run continued xrntil October, there 

 having been a preliminary pesik of the run in June (probably fish going 

 through to the upper reaches of the river for the most part), with 

 another later increase culminating in the appearance of the largest 

 nianbers of fish during the latter half of August. Prior to 1878, 

 millions of fish were reported ascending the falls each year. A 

 considerable decrease was noticeable after that date, although there 

 were ^ood runs in some years up to 1882, By 1894 the upper river runs 

 were relatively small, although there were still thousands of fish. 

 Salmon evidently got over the falls with some delay and effort during 

 low water periods, but the earlier arrivals apparently reached the 

 falls and passed them during the high-water period of the spring 

 run-off. Indians had always netted fish at the falls, using large 

 wicker jump-baskets that formerly took up to 300 fish in each of 

 the two or three daily hauls or raises, and thousands of salmon 

 were formerly used for winter food and for trade. The Falls ?ias 

 now been entirely flooded out by the backwaters of Grand Coulee Dajn* 



There were slack water stretches both above and helovr the 

 "Little Dalles" some 20 miles above Kettle Falls and just below 

 Northport. There the river "stood on edge** to race through two 



100 



