COUNTRY UPON SHOALWATER BAY AND PUGET SOUND. 465 



REPORT OF GEORGE GIBBS ON A RECONNAISSANCE OF THIS COUNTRY LYING UPON SHOALWATER 



BAY AND PUGET SOUND. 



OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, 



March 1, 1854. 



SIR: I have herewith the honor to submit the report of the journey undertaken, pursuant to 

 your orders, for the examination of the country lying between Shoal water bay and Puget sound, 

 as also of a tour through the Sound itself. 



This bay, the entrance to which lies about twenty-five miles north of Cape Disappointment, 

 approaches in its southern extremity to within four miles of Baker s bay and fifteen of Gray s 

 harbor. Its length from north to south is by estimate about thirty miles, and its average width 

 eight. The width of the entrance is reported at five milos. It has two channels, both pretty 

 straight; but the northern only a good beating channel. The depth of water on the bar at low 

 tide is three and a half fathoms. The greater part of the bay is bare at low tide, presenting 

 extensive mud flats, so that vessels can approach the shore in but few places. There are three 

 routes used by the Indians, in crossing between the bay and the Columbia river. One of these 

 is by the Wallacut creek at Baker s bay, with a portage of about a mile and a half to another 

 running into Shoalwater bay. Here the land is so low, that it is said a canal, a few hundred 

 yards in length, could easily be made, connecting the waters of the two. There seems a strong 

 probability that Shoalwater bay once formed part of the estuary of the Columbia river, the rocky 

 promontory of Cape Disappointment being an island in its midst, or at least that an actual com 

 munication existed between them. A second portage, by which I crossed, leads from the Wap- 

 paloche creek, below Chinook Spit, to the Ateesowill, and is about the same length. These 

 creeks are all tide-sloughs, nearly dry at low water. A third is by the Kewitsa, which runs into 

 Gray s bay above Point Ellice, from which there is a poitage to the Nasal, a stream emptying into 

 Shoalwater bay some miles from its southern extremity. This last is not much used. For the 

 establishment of any artificial communication, the first-named is preferable. 



The peninsula extending north from Cape Disappointment is similar in character to the Clatsop 

 plains, much of it being prairie land; it is, however, deficient in water. On the north a straight 

 beach runs to Gray s harbor. Quite a number of streams empty into Shoalwater bay, of which 

 the principal are the Nasal, (already mentioned,) the Copaluks, and the Willopah. The first two 

 must head in the mountains, near Gray s river. The latter rises in the divide between the waters 

 of the Chihalis and the bay, the main branch probably interlocking with the south fork of that 

 river, in a mountain lying north of Cathlamet. On all these, as well as the smaller streams, there 

 is a good deal of salt-marsh near the mouth, subject to flood in winter. The tide, the extremes of 

 which are about the same as those on the Columbia river at Astoria, (viz: 13 feet,) extends from 

 eight to fifteen miles up those rivers ; but vessels could not ascend so far. The country upon the 

 bay is, like most of that in the coast section of the Territory, heavily wooded with fir, spruce, 

 hemlock, and arbor vitas. Upon the rivers, white and vine maple and alder occur. The timber 

 is good and accessible, but there are few sites tor saw-mills. One mill only had been erected 

 at the time of my visit, and that was not yet in operation. A considerable amount of piles and 

 square timber has, however, been shipped to California. 



The settlements are as yet, with the exception of a few scattered claims, at the northern end 

 of the bay; and a small village, occupied by fishermen, has grown up near the mouth of the 

 Willopah. The principal trade, so far, has been in oysters, which abound on the flats. They 

 are taken up, during the low tides of summer, from their natural beds, separated, and replanted, 

 as in the States. They sell alongside the vessel at $1 50 per bushel, and in San Francisco aie 

 worth $7. The fall salmon, sturgeon, and other kinds of fish, are abundant, and the bay will 

 probably derive a considerable importance from this source. No part of the coast affords a 

 greater field for the naturalist than does this place, in its variety of marine productions and the 

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