Expedition to Oregon Desert 149 



tions. I had a department map, sent to me by Pro- 

 fessor Cope, which recorded, mistakenly as we 

 found later, that Sprague River rose in Silver Lake. 

 The government road to the east crossed the Wil- 

 liamson River on a government bridge, and came to 

 an abrupt end in an Indian village on the western 

 bank of Sprague River. So we decided to take the 

 road as far as we could and then follow up the river 

 to its source in the lake. 



When we reached the Williamson River, we 

 found there the lodge of a Snake Indian, who ap- 

 peared dressed in red paint and a breech-cloth, and 

 demanded toll. But as American citizens we had 

 paid taxes to help pay for that bridge; so we refused 

 to pay toll for the use of our own property, and rode 

 across in spite of the threats hurled at us. 



We reached Sprague River that same evening, 

 and went into camp a short distance from a large 

 Indian town. The houses, built by government 

 contractors of rough logs, consisted of a single room 

 with a shake roof. The Indians had torn out the 

 board floors, and instead of using the fireplaces and 

 chimneys which the builders had erected for their 

 convenience, they had cut holes in the roofs, and 

 built their fires in the middle of the floor, sleeping 

 around them at night as their fathers used to do in 

 their lodges or Sibley tents. 



George, who was more familiar with them than I 



