1 78 An Indian Legend. 



and hurled great rocks at each other. Such 

 was the violence of the contest that the ground 

 shook for miles around and in this commotion 

 the natural bridge that spanned the river at 

 the Cascades was broken down and the ruin 

 of this bridge so obstructed the stream as to 

 dam up its waters at the Cascades, raising the 

 river above so high as to almost take away 

 the falls of the Tumwater. 



A two-fold result followed this violent 

 change. The salmon, thenceforth, were able 

 to pass The Dalles, and the Indians of the 

 interior were no longer compelled to come 

 to the Tumwater for fish, while the canoes of 

 the Chinooks were thenceforth shut off from 

 the river above the Cascades. 



The gold hunter takes a pan of dirt and 

 shakes it violently in water till he sees the 

 gold it contains, if there be any. Let us treat 

 this Indian legend to a like process. Is it 

 supposable that any existing cause could have 

 increased the obstructions in the river here 

 at the Cascades so as to have brought about 

 the change indicated in the legend? Or are 



