238 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



is called the Clarke's Fork of the Columbia, although the whole course 

 of the river known under the various names of Deer Lodge Eiver, Hell- 

 gate Eiver, and Missoula River might be properly considered as Clarke's 

 Eork of the Columbia, these being the original Clarke's Fork and form- 

 ing one continuous stream as much as the Mississippi does from the 

 Falls of Saint Anthony to Saint Louis. From the junction of the Flat- 

 head and Missoula the river flows for about 75 miles to Pend d'Oreille 

 Lake through a magnificent wooded canon which presents some of the 

 finest scenery on the continent. 



Pend d'Oreille Lake is really formed by the widening of the river, 

 and is a large, beautiful sheet of water surrounded by picturesque mount- { 

 ains and navigable over its entire area. At the outlet of Lake Pendi 

 d'Oreille the river comes together again, taking here still another appel- 1 

 lation, viz., Pend d'Oreille Eiver, and flows smoothly and slowly for a;} 

 distance variously estimated at from 15 to 30 miles, where it flows over 

 a vertical fall 8 or 10 feet* in height and enters a mountainous canon i, 

 through which it rushes with such violence as to be wholly uunavigable, ^ 

 and, finally leaping over a fall of 15 feet in perpendicular height, it emp- 1 

 ties into the Columbia just north of the United States boundary, ini 

 about latitude 49° and longitude 117^°. 



The Northern Pacific Eailroad crosses the great Continental divide! 

 of the Eocky Mountain range just where the little streams and mount- 1 

 ain torrents gather together to form the Deer Lodge Eiver, which, as 

 above stated, is the upper portion of Clarke's Fork under another name, i 

 After crossing the divide the railroad follows along down the valleys of I 

 the Deer Lodge, Hellgate, Missoula, and Clarke's Fork, and passing j 

 around the north side of the main body of Lake Pend d'Oreille, crosses j 

 the western arm of the lake, which finally narrows again into the river. ' 

 Here the road permanently leaves the valley of Clarke's Fork nearly at 

 right angles, and does not strike the Columbia Eiver again till it reaches 

 the mouth of Snake Eiver, at Ainsworth, 336 miles from the ocean. 



My instructions being to select a point for collecting salmon eggs 

 which would be near the line of the Pacific Eailroad, this precaution 

 being necessary both for convenience in operating the station and for 

 facility in distributing the eggs, it follows that any point above Pend 

 d'Oreille Lake would be a perfectly satisfactory place for a collecting and 

 distributing station, provided that a sufficient number of spawning 

 salmon could be secured. This last most essential condition is wanting, 

 however, along this whole line of river channel, for very few, if any,* 

 salmon ever reach Pend d'Oreille or the waters above it. This fact wai 

 a great surprise to the writer, but it is undeniable. jj 



The testimony of all the persons consulted on the subject at Dee 

 Lodge, Missoula, Sand Point, and at various smaller stations on th| 

 railroad was unanimous to the effect that no salmon were ever caugl 

 in Clarke's Fork or above. One man who was interrogated said thafj 



* Dr. Suckley, in 1853, estimated the height of this fall at 6J feet. 



