﻿38 
  INDIAN 
  LINGUISTIC 
  FAMILIES. 
  

  

  Dalles, 
  the 
  best 
  fishing 
  station 
  on 
  the 
  river, 
  were 
  met 
  on 
  their 
  way- 
  

   down 
  in 
  quest 
  of 
  food, 
  their 
  supply 
  of 
  dried 
  salmon 
  having 
  been 
  

   entirely 
  exhausted. 
  

  

  Nor 
  is 
  there 
  anything 
  in 
  the 
  accounts 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  visitors 
  

   to 
  the 
  Columbia 
  Valley 
  to 
  authorize 
  the 
  belief 
  that 
  the 
  population 
  

   there 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  one. 
  As 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  all 
  fish-stocked 
  

   streams, 
  the 
  Columbia 
  was 
  resorted 
  to 
  in 
  the 
  fishing 
  season 
  by 
  many 
  

   tribes 
  living 
  at 
  considerable 
  distance 
  from 
  it; 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  tending 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  settled 
  population 
  of 
  its 
  banks 
  or 
  of 
  

   any 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  drainage 
  basin 
  was 
  or 
  ever 
  had 
  been 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  

   excessive. 
  

  

  The 
  Dalles, 
  as 
  stated 
  above, 
  was 
  the 
  best 
  fishing 
  station 
  on 
  the 
  

   river, 
  and 
  the 
  settled 
  population 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  a 
  fair 
  index 
  

   of 
  that 
  of 
  other 
  favorable 
  locations. 
  The 
  Dalles 
  was 
  visited 
  by 
  Ross 
  

   in 
  July. 
  1811, 
  and 
  the 
  following 
  is 
  his 
  statement 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  

   population 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  main 
  camp 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  is 
  situated 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  narrows, 
  and 
  may 
  

   contain, 
  dining 
  the 
  salmon 
  season, 
  3,000 
  souls, 
  or 
  more; 
  but 
  the 
  constant 
  inhab- 
  

   itants 
  of 
  the 
  place 
  do 
  not 
  exceed 
  100 
  persons, 
  and 
  are 
  called 
  Wy-am-pams; 
  the 
  rest 
  

   are 
  all 
  foreigners 
  from 
  different 
  tribes 
  throughout 
  the 
  country, 
  who 
  resort 
  hither, 
  

   not 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  catching 
  salmon, 
  but 
  chiefly 
  for 
  gambling 
  and 
  speculation. 
  1 
  

  

  And 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  Columbia 
  with 
  its 
  enormous 
  supply 
  of 
  fish, 
  

   so 
  was 
  it 
  elsewhere 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

  

  Even 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  agriculture, 
  with 
  its 
  result 
  of 
  providing 
  a 
  

   more 
  certain 
  and 
  bountiful 
  food 
  supply, 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  

   effect 
  of 
  materially 
  augmenting 
  the 
  Indian 
  population. 
  At 
  all 
  events, 
  

   it 
  is 
  in 
  California 
  and 
  Oregon, 
  a 
  region 
  where 
  agriculture 
  was 
  

   scarcely 
  practiced 
  at 
  all, 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  dense 
  aboriginal 
  population 
  

   lived. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  there 
  ever 
  existed 
  within 
  

   the 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  map, 
  with 
  the 
  possible 
  excep- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  certain 
  areas 
  in 
  California, 
  a 
  population 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  natural 
  

   food 
  supply. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  there 
  is 
  every 
  reason 
  for 
  believing 
  

   that 
  the 
  population 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  discovery 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  

   many 
  times 
  more 
  than 
  what 
  it 
  actually 
  was 
  had 
  a 
  wise 
  economy 
  been 
  

   practised. 
  

  

  The 
  effect 
  of 
  wars 
  in 
  decimating 
  the 
  people 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  greatly 
  

   exaggerated. 
  Since 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  on 
  the 
  continent, 
  

   wars 
  have 
  prevailed 
  to 
  a 
  degree 
  far 
  beyond 
  that 
  existing 
  at 
  an 
  earlier 
  

   time. 
  From 
  the 
  contest 
  which 
  necessarily 
  arose 
  between 
  the 
  native 
  

   tribes 
  and 
  invading 
  nations 
  many 
  wars 
  resulted, 
  and 
  their 
  history 
  is 
  

   well 
  known. 
  Again, 
  tribes 
  driven 
  from 
  their 
  ancestral 
  homes 
  often 
  

   retreated 
  to 
  lands 
  previously 
  occupied 
  by 
  other 
  tribes, 
  and 
  intertribal 
  

   wars 
  resulted 
  therefrom. 
  The 
  acquisition 
  of 
  firearms 
  and 
  horses, 
  

   through 
  the 
  agency 
  of 
  white 
  men, 
  also 
  had 
  its 
  influence, 
  and 
  when 
  

   a 
  commercial 
  value 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  furs 
  and 
  skins, 
  the 
  Indian 
  aban- 
  

  

  1 
  Adventures 
  on 
  the 
  Columbia 
  River, 
  1849, 
  p. 
  117. 
  

  

  