15] EXPLORATIONS ON COLUMBIA RIVER. 251 



ion left the impression that a great many salmon came uj) in August, 

 t by no means amounted to establishing a certainty. 

 i With a view to obtaining more precise data on this subject, I engaged 

 |i man living at Spokane Falls to collect statistics in regard to the num- 

 iDer of salmon caught by the Indians during the fall run. The statis- 

 |:ics which were collected, however, are not by any means such as the 

 Ijxigencies of the case require. The Indian's information, given with 

 ithe customary Indian explicitness, was that the salmon were as "thick 

 m crickets," which means, of course, that they were very numerous, but 

 night be intended to mean 1,000 or 50,000. Taking the most accu- 

 rate statements that could be obtained and basing a fair calculation 

 ipon them, it appears that about 2,000 salmon were actually caught 

 ay the Indians this season (1883) at the mouth of the Little Spokane, 

 md it is possible that many more than this number were caught. 

 [ should think that with white men's appliances and improved facilities 

 for their capture the number of parent salmon caught by the Indians 

 might be doubled. This would make 4,000 breeding salmon to ope- 

 rate with, which would give a yield probably cf from five to ten 

 million eggs. I do not wish to be understood that this is my opinion 

 about it. I only say that if the statistics collected this year should 

 prove reliable, there is a fair prospect of getting from five to ten million 

 salmon eggs at the mouth of the Little Spokane during the spawning 

 season. I consider, however, that the question of the abundance of the 

 salmon at this point is far from being settled. 



In the meantime, let us see how the mouth of the Little Spokane 

 meets the other requirements of a large salmon-breeding station. Taking 

 them in the order in which they have just been enumerated, accessi- 

 bility of location comes next to the abundance of fish. Here the loca- 

 tion at the Little Spokane possesses extraordinary advantages. Eight 

 miles from the mouth of the river, over a remarkably hard and level 

 road, is the town of Spokane Falls, a new but thriving and promising 

 settlement of perhaps 1,200 inhabitants. This town is situated on the 

 line of the Northern Pacific Kailroad, and is in daily connection with 

 the rest of the world by mail, telegraph, and railroad, the railroad being- 

 one of the great transcontinental thoroughfares of the country. These 

 general facts alone are sufficient to show the accessibility of the loca- 

 tion without the necessity of mentioning details. 



The water supply at the mouth of the Little Spokane for hatching 

 the eggs is practically unlimited. As there is a strong current in the 

 river, and the water does not rise till after the spawning season and 

 hatching season are over, the water can be raised safely from the river 

 tself by a current-wheel, as at the McCloud Eiver station, and this 

 being the case, any required quantity of water can be brought to the 

 hatching house at a small expense. 



The location is also favorable for obtaining water conveniently. The 

 river never rises more than a few feet, and consequently the hatching 



