404 INDIAN TRIBES OP WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 



in profusion. The business of gathering the^e of course falls on the women, who go out in 

 small parties, attended by a boy or old man as carnp-keeper, collect and dry the berries, or bring 

 into the general camp what is wanted for present food. Such of them as bear keeping they store 

 for winter use, and also for trade, exchanging them for fish, smoked clams, and the roots which 

 their own territory does not furnish. 



Of game, there is but little left. The deer and elk are almost exterminated throughout the 

 country, the deep snows of winter driving them to the valleys, where the Indians, with their usual 

 improvidence, have slaughtered them without mercy. The mountain goat, and the big-horn, or 

 sheep, are both said to have formerly existed here, but, since the introduction of fire-arms, have 

 retired far into the recesses of the Cascades. The black bear alone is still found, though but 

 rarely. The salmon furnishes to these, as to most other tribes of the Pacific, their greatest sta 

 ple of food. Their neighborhood to the fisheries of the Cascades and the Dalles provides them 

 for the summer; while, after the subsidence of the Columbia, later schools ascend the small riv 

 ers, and in the autumn an inferior kind forces its way into the brooks, and even the shallow pools 

 which form in the prairies. 



Very few attempt any cultivation of the soil, though their lower prairies would admit of it. 

 We were informed, however, that the next season many of them intended to build houses there 

 and plant potatoes. Their usual residence during the summer is around Chequoss, one of the 

 most elevated points on our trail from Fort Vancouver across the Cascades, where we met them 

 at the beginning of August. They were, at this time, feasting on strawberries and the mountain 

 whortleberry, which covered the hills around, though during the night the ice formed on the ponds 

 to the thickness of half an inch. Towards the end of the month they descend to the Yahkohtl, 

 Chalacha, and Tahk prairies, where they are met by the Yakimas, who assemble with them, 

 for the purpose of gathering a later species of berry and of racing horses. The racing season is 

 the grand annual occasion of these tribes. A horse of proved reputation is a source of wealth 

 or of ruin to his owner. On his speed he stakes his whole stud, his household goods, clothes, 

 and finally his wives; and a single heat doubles his fortune, or sends him forth an impoverished 

 adventurer. The interest, however, is not confined to the individual directly concerned; the 

 tribe share it with him, and a common pile of goods, of motley description, apportioned accord 

 ing to their ideas of value, is put up by either party, to be divided among the backers of the 

 winner. The Klikatats themselves are not as rich in horses as those living on the plains, their 

 country generally affording but little pasturage, and the deep snows compelling them to winter 

 their stock at a distance from their usual abodes. The horse is to them what the canoe is to the 

 Indians of the river and coast. They ride with skill, reckless of all obstacles, and with little mercy 

 to their beasts, the right hand swinging the whip at every bound. Some of th &amp;gt; horses are of fine 

 form and action ; but they are generally injured by too early use, and sore backs are universal. 

 Indiscriminate breeding has greatly deteriorated what must have been originally a good stock, 

 and the prevalence of white and gray in their colors is a great objection. Wall-eyes, white noses 

 and hoofs, are more than common among them. They are almost always either vicious or lazy, 

 and usually combine both qualities. In their capacity for a continued endurance, they are over 

 rated. A good American horse is as much superior to them in this, as in speed; but they are 

 hardy, and capable of shifting with but little food. Nothing is known of their first introduction. 

 They were abundant when the country was discovered. It is probable that the Shoshonees or 

 Snakes, a branch of the Camanches, first introduced them from the South, and that the breed 

 has since been crossed by others from Canada. The best are those belonging to the Cayuses and 

 Nez Perces. The demand for horses, consequent upon the settlement of the country, has ren 

 dered the tribes possessing them really wealthy. 



Their price is from $40 to $100, but they have some which they will not dispose of at much 

 higher rates. A few of the chiefs have great numbers, and one, it is said, has offered 400 a 

 by no means contemptible dowry to any respectable white man who will marry his daughter. 



