NARRATIVE OF 1853. 143 
vision to the eastward; this is the Spokane Plain. On it we could see no indication of water, 
not a single tree; and except on the mountain spur, not one spot of verdure. It was of a dead, 
yellowish hue, with large clouds of black, blending into the general tinge, and appeared to be 
a ‘sage desert,’ with a scanty growth of dry bunch-grass, and frequent out-croppings of basalt.” 
The character of the Columbia along the western border of this plain is thus described: 
‘Through a valley of about a mile in breadth, in which not a tree is to be seen and seldom 
even a bush, and which is bordered by steep walls of trap, lava, and sandstone, often arranged 
іп a succession of high plateaux, or steps, the deep blue water of the Columbia flows with a 
rapid, powerful current; it is the only life-like object in the desert.” 
“Тһе character of the valley is much the same as far as Fort Okinakane. It occasionally 
widens out slightly, again it is narrowed by the mountains pressing in. Sometimes the trail 
passes over the lower bottom, at others elevated and extensive terraces, and in a few places 
over dangerous points of the mountains." и 
“Та this portion of the valley а few small groves of pine are met with, but the general 
character is entire absence of trees and bushes. In places only is the grass good; but we found 
no difficulty in obtaining enough for the animals. The soil is so very sandy that it is not 
probable it can ever be applied to any useful purpose. Granite, gneiss, and syenite occur in 
the valley of excellent quality and in large quantities." 
At the time of his visit, September, the Columbia was 371 yards wide just above the mouth 
of the Pisquouse, fifteen miles further up it was 329 yards wide; the surface velocity 3.6 miles, 
the mean velocity 2.9 miles per hour; a few miles further its velocity was nearly а mile per 
hour greater, these being taken where the strong current was near the shore. 
The country along the Columbia between the mouth of the Pisquouse and the Yakima was 
not examined by any of the parties. According to Captain Wilkes, granite appears at one 
point underlying the basalt on the east bank, but neither rock appears opposite the mouth of 
the Yakima, where the banks are only about thirty feet high, and composed entirely of sand 
and boulders. 
On the west side of the Columbia, around this great bend, the mountains rise almost imme- 
diately from the river bank, rugged and impassable, with forests at the height of about four 
hundred feet above the water, and perpetual snow on their summits towards the west. The 
Pisquouse, Enteatkwu, and Chelan, streams emptying on that side, have no valleys at their 
mouths, being three rough, rocky torrents. The Chelan flows from the lake of the same name, 
lying in a narrow valley 474 feet above the Columbia, and at its outlet over a mile wide. d is 
said to run back among the mountains for about thirty miles, and steep mountains close in on 
its shores within eight miles from the river, which was the portion visible. i 
Near its mouth and northward the country is much superior to the cañon of the Columbia, 
being composed alternately of gently rolling prairies and wooded hills, the open tracts being 
grassy and apparently fertile. There are probably other similar fine valleys among these 
mountains, which the vicinity of the navigable waters of the Columbia will render valuable in 
spite of the bad character of its own shores and the country east of it. 
The Methow river, which was explored nearly to its sources, has a considerable extent of 
good agricultural and grazing land in its upper valley. Its lower part, for twenty miles ар, 
ің hemmed in by high wooded hills; above this, they become more rolling and grassy, and its 
banks are bordered by level wide terraces of better soil than those on the Yakima. 
On October 5, the party proceeded northward from Fort Okinakane, along the river of that 
