ZOOLOGY. 137 



goat, common to both the Rocky and Cascade mountains, and is wool}^ somewhat like the 

 domestic sheep. The fact that the explorers above mentioned had only seen skins accounts for 

 their imperfect descriptions, as well as for the inconsistent accounts thej^ give of their horns. 

 There is a curious story, common among mountain men, that in leaping from precipices it 

 alights on its horns and rebounds without injury ! I have never heard of this species in 

 California, though they may exist in the Sierra Nevada. The Yakimas and Snoqualme 

 Indians get then in the Cascade mountains, north of the Columbia, in latitude 47° 30'. They 

 were formerly, if not now, abundant on Mount Hood. — See Lewis and Clarke's narrative. — G. 



I have obtained several hunters' skins of the mountain goat from the localities north of the 

 Columbia river mentioned by Mr. Gibbs. Mr. Craig, an old Indian trader, and at present 

 United States Indian agent, among the Nez Perces, says that these animals are quite abundant 

 in the mountains near the Kooskooskia and Salmon rivers, streams which empty into Snake 

 river, and that in the country of the Nez Perces, about forty miles from his residence, they are 

 found in great numbers on the bald hills and bare mountains of the locality, and that upon these 

 they can be seen from a great distance feeding in " large droves." He says that the male is 

 white, the female similar but tinged tcitli yellow, and that the horns are strong and of a beautiful 

 jet black. 



I have seen dozens of hunters' skins of these animals in the lodges of the Indians on 

 Whidby's island, Puget Sound. They were obtained from the Indians living about Mount 

 Baker in the Cascade range. Skins obtained by the late Lieutenant John Nugen and m^'self 

 are now in the Smithsonian collection. — S. 



OVIS MONTANA, Cuv. 



Bighorn; Mountain Sheep. 



Baikd, Gen Rep , Mammals, p. 673. 



The Bighorn Sheep.— There, are several rocky prominences in northern California which, 

 among the old hunters and trappers, have the name of "Sheep rocks," where the bighorn 

 exists, or did exist until recently. One of these lies to the north and east of Shasta butte, (or 

 Mount Shasta,) in the range bordering Shasta valley on the east. Another locality is a singular 

 and conspicuous point between Scott and Shasta valleys. It also exists, I am told, in the 

 recesses of the Cascade mountains, but of this fiict, or of its being found in the Olympic (Coast) 

 range in Washington Territory, I am uncertain. The natives of the northwest coast north of 

 54° 40' make spoons from a substance which I suppose to be their horns, and if so, they 

 undoubtedly exist as far north as that point. An old trapper told me that he had once 

 witnessed an encounter between a bighorn and a black bear, in which the latter was worsted 

 and had to retreat, the ram having knocked him down three times. — G. 



The Mountain Sheep, (Tinoon of the Walla- Wallas?) is said to be found on Mount Hood, 

 near Fort Dalles, Oregon. I once saw a large horn in use as a plaything by some Indian 

 children at the Dalles, which appeared to belong to this animal, but was much smaller than is 

 common. I have eaten the mutton killed in the Rocky mountains, west of the dividing ridge, 

 within the limits of Washington Territory. The flesh is very good, tasting much like the 

 mutton of tame sheep, having the same peculiar flavor, onl}^ a little stronger. They are said 

 to abound in the Black Hills and " Mauvaises Torres of Nebraska." — S. 

 18 Q 



