NARRATIVE OF 1853. 141 
Ouhi, a brother of Kamiakan, encamped near, and were very friendly, their chief being the 
most good natured Indian yet seen in the country. 
Excessively hot weather had prevailed all the way from Vancouver, except on the mountain 
summits, adding much to the hardships both of the men and animals, though at night the 
change was so great as to make the cold feel unpleasant. During the last week of August the 
heat at noon averaged ninety degrees, and rose once to one hundred degrees. 
A week was spent in examining the mountains about the headwaters of this river, with the 
following results: The pass at the head of the main Yakima, some twenty miles north of the 
Nachess Pass, is but three thousand four hundred and sixty-six feet above Vancouver. Ор the 
lowest point of the summit is a shallow lake, about two hundred yards long, from which the 
water runs both ways. From this lake to the west the descent is exceedingly rapid. Towards 
the east the descent in the distance of about three-quarters of a mile is five hundred and thirty 
feet, to another lake, about half a mile long; from this to the large lake in which the river 
heads, a distance of about two miles in a direct line, the descent is five hundred and ninety-nine 
feet. From this last lake (Kitchelus) there is no difficulty in the way of the construction of a 
road of any kind, the valley of the river (Yakima) being generally wide and level, but covered 
in the upper part by a dense growth of timber. The largest of the lakes, the Kleallum is 
seven miles long and from one to three broad; they are all very deep, and are embosomed in 
and nearly surrounded by high mountains, being timbered with pine, бг, and white cedar. Сар- 
tain McClellan examined this pass for only three miles west of the summit. 
On September tenth Lieutenant Mowry returned from the Dalles, and on the sixteenth 
Lieutenant Hodges arrived from Steilacoom, bringing twenty-nine pack-horses loaded with 
provisions. He had been eleven days in returning, a much longer time than had been antici- 
pated, otherwise a fuller examination of the mountains would have been made during his 
absence, though a better pass was still expected to be found further to the north. 
A still further reduction of the force was now made, and three men, with thirty-two miserable 
broken-down horses, were sent to the Dalles, leaving only thirty-six persons in the party, with 
ninety-four animals. The provisions on hand were sufficient to last them for about seventy 
days. 
From the various explorations in the vicinity and back to the Dalles, by Lieutenant Mowry, 
the following general description of the country on the eastern slope is compiled: 
The country between the great bend of the Columbia and the Cascade mountains has the 
general character of the great plains, except that it is more undulating and even mountainous, 
a ridge of considerable elevation rising from the level of the Columbia, both north and south 
of the mouth of the Yakima, gradually towards the commencement of the wooded slopes, to 
from about four hundred to fifteen hundred feet above the sea. The lower part of the Yakima 
valley is less fit for cultivation than higher up, but contains much good grass land. 
It is wide, open, and destitute of timber, except in the bottom lands, and even there few 
trees are found for forty miles up. Fifty-five miles up, on the branch called Atahnam, occurs 
the first oaks met with west of the Missouri river at Fort Union. 
Upon the immediate banks of the river and its branches, where there is sufficient moisture 
in the soil, the land produces pretty well. The potatoes raised by the Indians are very fine; 
but melons and squashes, which they also raise, do not succeed well, perhaps on account of the 
Seed being poor; and corn does not thrive at all. 
The valleys of the various streams tributary to the Yakima vary from half a mile to three 
