PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 25 



COLUMBIA RIVER. 



Tlie Columbia, which is the largest river of the Pacific coast, rises 

 in British Columbia, flows through Washington, reaching the north- 

 ern border of Oregon about 75 miles west of the State's eastern 

 boundary: from this point the river forms the dividing line between 

 Oregon and Washington, its general course being westerly. It 

 empties into the Pacific at Cape Disappointment. Its principal 

 tributaries are the Spokane, Yakima, Snake, John Day, Deschutes, 

 and Willamette Rivers, and through these the main river drains an 

 enormous extent of territory. 



This river, which has produced more salmon than any other river 

 in the world, has had a most interesting history. Many years before 

 the white man saw its waters the Indians visited its banks during 

 the annual salmon runs and caught and cured their winter's supply 

 of food. Along the shores of the river at The Dalles for 15 miles 

 were notable fisheries where various bands, who lived south and 

 north, had their respective fishing locations, and to which all others 

 were forbidden access. They used s])ears and dip nets in catching 

 the salmon, the majority of whit^h were dried and smoked for winter 

 use. This dip, or l)ask('t, net was fastencnl to a pole about 30 feet 

 long and slid on a hoop. The Indian iihed it by slinging it as far as 

 possible u]) the stream and then hauling it up, the weight of the 

 fish closing the net by drawing it on the hoop. 



A favorite preparation of the Indians who resorted to the river 

 was pemmican. This was the meat of the salmon cleaned of the 

 bones, pounded i.j) tine, and then packed in hempen sacks of home 

 manufacture. A sack of pemmican weighed from SO to 90 pounds 

 and was worth in barter as much as an ordinary horse. 



Capt. Wilkes, U. S. N., has the following to say with respect to 

 salmon fishing by natives at Kettle Falls on the Columbia River near 

 the present city of Colville, Wash., at the time of his visit there in 

 1841: 



There is an Indian villau'e on the banks of the {jreat falls, inhabited by a few families, 

 who are called "(^uiarlpi' (basket people), from the circumstance of their usinj? 

 baskets to cat<h their lish (salmon l. The seawon for the salmon fishery had not yet 

 (in June ?) arrived, so that our j;entlemen did not see the manner of taking the fish; 

 but, as described to them, the fishing apparatus consists of a large Nvicker basket 

 supported by long poles insertc 1 into it and fixed in the rocks. The lower part, which 

 is of the basket form, is joined to a broad frame spreading above, against which the 

 fish in attempting to jump the falls strike and are thrown back into the basket. 

 This ba.'^ket during the fishing sea.«on is raij-ed three times in the day (24 hours), and 

 at each haul xi< ; unfrequently contains .300 fine fish. A division of these takes place 

 at sunset each day under the direction of one of the chief men of the village, and to each 

 family is allotted the number it may be entitled to; not only the resident Indians, 

 but all who may be there fishing, or by accident, are equally included in the dis- 

 tribution." 



The first American to engage in fishing on the Columbia River was 

 Capt. Nathaniel J. Wyeth, of Massachus<'tts, who in 1832 crossed 

 overland to Oegoii with the purpose of establishing salmon fisheries 

 in connection with prosecuting the Indian and fur trade. He dis- 



Catched a vessel via Cape Horn to th(^ Columbia with trading goods, 

 ut she was never heard from after sailing. In the meantime Wyeth 



o Narrutive of ttip T'nited Statos Kxi)loring Expedition during the Years 1K.'J8, 1S39, IMd, lH41,and 

 1M2. By Charle.i Wilkes, V . 8. Navy, conimander ofthe expedition. In 5 volumes. Vol. IV, pp. 444, 

 446. PhilaUeiphia, L«e & Blancbard, 1»4^. 



