NARRATIVE OF 1853. Y 189 
especially January and February, I made treaties with all the Indian tribes of the sound, and 
held councils with all the remaining Indians of the territory west of the Cascades, except 
those of the Cowlitz and Chehalis rivers, and thence to the mouth of the Columbia, which 
enabled me to get a large amount of information in regard to the character of the country, and 
especially of its capacity for settlement, for the question, Where shall the reservation be 
established? made this information an indispensable necessity in order to arrive at just and 
sound conclusions. 
Whilst these operations were going on west of the Cascades, in the way of making treaties, 
Mr. Doty was moving among the tribes east of the Cascades, in order to make arrangements to 
hold councils with them. This took him to the Yakima country, into the Walla-Walla valley, 
and to the Nez Percés country, where we held councils with the various tribes, each in its own 
country, and where the arrangements under my instructions were made that all should assemble. 
at their old council and peace ground in the Walla-Walla valley. The goods for this council 
were sent up the Columbia river in keel-boats, they having been wagoned to the mouth of the 
Des Chütes, and thence taken up the river. This may be said to have been the commencement 
of the navigation of the upper Columbia with keel-boats; and so practicable is the Columbia in 
this respect that the main bulk of the supplies for the Walla-Walla post during the past two 
years have been taken on the line of the river in sailing vessels carrying from forty to sixty 
tons burden. No difficulty whatever has been found in running up in all the rapids, and the trip 
has been made from the mouth of the Des Chütes to old Fort Walla-Walla in twenty-four 
hours. 
About the middle of May, 1855, I started from Olympia, and moving rapidly to the Walla- 
Walla, joined Mr. Doty at Camp Stevens, on one of the tributaries of Mill creek, on the 21st 
day of May, 1855. The account of my subsequent explorations (which is simply a continuation 
of this exploration) I have denominated the narrative of my ы; асшы іп 1855; but this nar- 
rative I will conclude after some general remarks. 
It did not seem advisable to the War Department to order a continuation of these surveys, 
nor have I ever complained that such continuation was not ordered and placed in my hands. 
It was unquestionable that a considerable sum had already been expended, and if the information 
which I had furnished was deemed decisive and controlling in favor of the question of railroad 
practicability, or if the due allotment of the appropriation had been assigned to the northern 
route, it was wise and just to apply the subsequent appropriations to points where the 
question was still doubtful, or which had not received their proper share of attention. I only 
regretted that, as it was admitted that the question of the snows of the Snoqualmoo Pass could 
only be settled by actual admeasurement, a winter post at that pass was not established in order 
to procure reliable information. When the time comes for building the railroad over this northern 
route, the engineers will then make t'ıis examination if they are not satisfied that the snow is 
not an obstruction. They will make the instrumental survey of the Snoqualmoo Pass to 
the sound, because it is a question of the saving of some 130 miles over the route by the 
Columbia and the Cowlitz. If we look to how railroads have progressed in this country, particu- 
larly to the earlier roads; if we look to present projects now being carried into successful execu- 
tion, we shall be convinced of the truth of this observation. On some of the old lines of 
railroads, simply to improve grades a little and to get a better location for depots, the old ах 
has been replaced by a new опе, sometimes for one-quarter of the whole length of the road; m 
some cases there not being an interval of a mile between the two tracks at any point. This is 
the case with the Boston and Maine railroad. But when grades are eighty feet and more. 
