COPPER RIVER INVESTIGATION. 123 



ing catches of salmon made this ye&T and Last year as had been 

 reported previously. The salmon wheels used by the natives are 

 crude contrivances but are well located and undoubtedly give reliable 

 evidence concerning the movements of the salmon and the number 

 of fish which go upstream. They are kept under continuous ob- 

 servation and are visited fairh' regularly by the women, so that even 

 if the men are away on hunting trips or working on the road, the 

 records of the wheel represent its continuous service. There can be 

 little doubt that in 19 IS the run of salmon was so small as to furnish 

 only very scanty supplies of fish to the natives, even though the 

 number of wheels at work was several times greater than before. 

 During the season of the investigation the run had been much larger 

 and some families had already caught and dried an adequate supply 

 of fish to carry them over the winter. Some wheels continued to 

 work even until the party returned to this point in September, and 

 furnished a regular supply of food for the natives. All persons 

 interviewed agreed that the run of fish had been good and that it 

 was very muc-h larger than the year before. By cable message re- 

 ceived that evening, Mr. Russell was called back to Cordova for con- 

 ference with Field Assistant O'Malley and did not participate in the 

 later work of the party until August 11. 



On July .31 the pack train was loaded and the party started on the 

 trail up the north bank of the Klutina. Because of an accident that 

 threatened to be serious, it was necessary to send the guide back to 

 Copper Center on the following day, and the party did not reach the 

 camp at the foot of Lake Klutina until late in the afternoon of August 

 5. The camp was located on the river half a mile below the outlet 

 of the lake and directly across the stream from a large eddy in which 

 salmon were seen jumping and above which an old camp and drying 

 rack gave evidence of previous salmon-catching oj)erations by both 

 natives and white men. The following day was devoted to a study 

 of the southeast shore of the lake and the tributaries emptying into 

 it and to fishing in the o(\(\y opposite camp. On August 7 the red 

 salmon caught in the o(\(\y were studied and further examination 

 was made of the tributary streams near the outlet of the lake. The 

 largest stream, known as Salmon Creek, which is the only one of any 

 (•onsith'rable size, evidently constitutes an important spawning 

 ground for red salmon and is discussed in detail later. 



The northeast shore of the lake was carefully studied on August 9 

 when camp was moved to a point near the mouth of St. Anne Creek. 

 The streams which empty into the lake along that stretch are very 

 small. At that season the outlets were choked with logs and debris. 

 The amount of water flowing from them was limited, and the area 

 availa])le for spawning purposes under any circumstances must be 

 insignificant. No traces were founrl in the lake or in the streams 

 mentioned near the lake of present or previous spawning activities 

 on the part of red salmon. August 10 was devoted to a study of the 

 lower section of St. Anne Creek, where red salmon both spawning and 

 spawned out were numerous. One king salmon was also seen float- 

 ing downstream. The details of that examination are given at an- 

 other point. On August 1 1 camp was moved to the head of the lake 

 and the west shore studied carefully en route. No evidence of the 

 presence of salmon or of spawning activities was seen until the party, 



