282 FROM MOUTH OF CLARK S FORK TO WALLAH-WALLAH. 



20. REPORT OF DR. JOHN EVANS, OF HIS ROUTE FROM FORT BENTON TO THE LOWER COLUMBIA. 



[This paper, sent from Washington Territory, where Dr. Evans was still employed in the field when the report of Governor 

 Stevens was submitted, was lost on the route.] 



21. REPORT OF LIEUTENANT RICHARD ARNOLD, u. s. A., OF HIS ROUTE FROM THE MOUTH OF 

 CLARK S FORK, BY FORT COLVILLE, THE GRAND COULEE, AND THE MOUTH OF SVAKE HIVER, TO 

 WALLAH- WALLAH. 



OLYMPIA, W. T., February 5, 1854. 



SIR : Jn compliance with your instructions; dated October 23, 1853, I have the honor to sub 

 mit the following report, accompanied with a map and profile of the route travelled by the parly 

 under my command. 



Hearing of your arrival and departure from Fort Colville with Captain McClellan and party, 

 I moved in advance of my command, then encamped about twenty miles from the fort, to learn if 

 any instructions had been left by you that would conflict with those previously given by Lieu 

 tenant Donelson, U. S. A. Receiving the above named, I returned and marched my party to 

 Colville, encamping on the east bank of the river, about half a mile above the fort. Before 

 returning to my camp, I despatched an express to Pend d Oreille mission with the letters, one to 

 the reverend father, the other to Dr. Suckley. The latter one, by some inconceivable mistake, 

 returned to me, but the other had the desired effect. The day after my arrival at the fort being 

 a holiday, 1 was not able to obtain the necessary transportation for the river trip until the 3d of 

 November. I then succeeded in hiring two canoes and four Indians. It was my wish to com 

 mence a series of barometrical observations at the 49th parallel, or thereabouts, to determine the 

 fall of the river from that line to the ocean. The want of transportation prevented. I then had 

 a series of observations taken at my camp near the fort. Leaving my camp at 2 p. m. on the 3d 

 of November, I commenced the ascent of the river, taking one man to run the compass lines and 

 take topographical notes of the country. The swift current, numerous small rapids, and many 

 unforeseen accidents, made the ascent very slow, but at noon of the fourth day I arrived at a 

 point about three and a half miles above the mouth of Clark s fork. Here I obtained an obser 

 vation, the first since my departure from Colville; this placed me in latitude 49 3 25&quot;.9; thus 

 showing a material error in the maps in my possession. This observation having been taken 

 with sextant, may not be absolutely correct, but I feel confident that all future surveys will not 

 find it far out of the way. I then embarked and run down with the current, passing through 

 the rapid Little Dalles, and arrived at my camp on the 8th, having been absent five days and 

 ascended the river thirty-five miles. The weather during the entire trip was very unfavorable. 

 The second and third days after my departure, the snow fell to the depth of six inches, which 

 made the travelling very uncomfortable, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I could keep 

 my Indians from stopping. The view from Colville to Clark s fork was intercepted by mountain 

 ranges, whose tops and sides, covered with snow, presented a barren and cold appearance. The 

 remarkable similarity and unbroken lines they present, with the exception of the passes, through 

 which the principal tributaries flow, take.n in connexion with the country between them, enable 

 me to take a general view of the entire trip. This narrow belt was level, with a gradual slope 

 to the south, covered with timber and generally free from rocks. The soil near the camps sand, 

 with some alluvium. The river in its meanderings divides it into alternate prairies from four to 

 six miles in length, and one to two miles in width. The river has a rapid current, and is filled with 

 innumerable small rapids. The rapid known as the Little Dalles is the only one that would 

 impede navigation. A delay of half an hour at the upper extremity to repair canoes, enabled me 

 to examine it. The river at this stage of the water had contracted to the width of about twenty 

 feet ; the sides solid rock. The current at this time very rapid, and at the highest stage of the 



