166 



season, and sul^-^idiug- toward the end of July. Freshets also occur on its 

 tributaries, but these are more directly the effect of rains and are highest 

 in the winter, whereas those of the Columbia arise from the melting- of snow 

 in the Rocky Mountains. The tv/o principal branches on the north, below 

 the Cascades, are the Kathlapntl Wiltkwu, or Lewis River, and the Kow- 

 litz. The floods of these rivers have an important influence upon Indian 

 economy in their relation to the salmon fisheries, which furnish the most 

 important staple of subsistence. 



The mouth of the Columbia might perhaps more correctly be consid- 

 ered Avith the coast section, with which it is intimately connected; portages 

 leading from Baker Bay to Shoalwater Bay, and thence to Gray Hai-bor. 

 The first of these is an extensive but shallow piece of water, about twenty- 

 five miles in length, separated from the sea by a narrow sti-ip of lowland. 



Several streams flow into it, of which the most noticeable is the Willo- 

 pah, which has a rich alluvial valley of some extent. The southern end of 

 this bay is Tsiniik territory, and it was formerly their principal v/inter 

 quarters. The northern end belonged to the Tsihalis, and the Willopali 

 occupied the mountain country lying behind it. It was a district admirably 

 suited to Indian habits, furnishing great quantities of fish and clams, and 

 the neighboring forest abounding in game. A few miles to the north lies 

 Gray Harbor, the estuary of the Tsihalis. Its extent is considerable, 

 being some twelve miles in length from east to west, and aboiit the same in 

 its greatest width. This also is in the comitry of the Tsilialis Indians wlio 

 extended up the river to the Satsop, where they were met by bands to 

 whom the name of Upper Tsihalis is collectively given. North of this 

 there are no land-locked harbors, the streams entering the sea directly and 

 without estuaries; of these there are several, the largest being the Kwi- 

 naiutl, the Loh-whilse, and the Kwillehiut. What is known of this section 

 is chiefly from the journey of Messrs. Simmons and Shaw, who followed the 

 coast down from Cape Flattery, in the summer of 1855. The rivers take 

 their rise in the Coast or Olympic Range, the Kwinaiutl in a lake of some 

 size. South of Point Grenville, a sand-beach stretches along- the coast, aiFord- 

 ing easy land communication and enabling the Indians to maintain a few 

 horses, but between that and Cape Flattery the chore is more rocky and 



