NARRATIVE OF 1855. 197 
estedness that those treaties are entitled to the consideration and the confidence both of the gov- 
ernment and the people of the country; but my present business is to give that narrative and ac- 
count of my explorations which will throw light upon the character of the country. So, not making 
any remarks about the great Walla-Walla council, great both in the fact that many tribes and 
large numbers of Indians were present, and that it had a potential influence in preserving the 
peace of the country, we will move forward on our way to the waters of the Missouri. 
On Saturday, June 16, we left our camp in the Walla-Walla valley at noon, moving over a 
delightful rolling country, well grassed and arable, to the waters of Dry creek, a tributary of 
the main Walla-Walla; and on June 17 we moved twenty miles over a remarkably fine grazing 
and wheat country, and camped on the Pa-at-ta-ta-creek, a branch of the Touchet river. 
The following points of to-day’s journey are worthy of attention, in order to show that this 
region is not the barren desert it has been represented to be. In six and a half miles we 
crossed the Smahine creek of the Touchet, where there was good running water. In three miles 
and three-quarters further on we crossed the Kapyah creek of the Touchet, near its junction 
with the latter stream. There was pine in view in the valley of the Touchet, and the country was 
very beautiful and inviting. One mile further, on a small fork of the Touchet, several porsons 
have taken claims in the vicinity, and four miles further on we struck the valley bottom of 
the Touchet. The descent was somewhat steep, but the bottom was wide, and there were pine 
and other trees in the valley. The whole country in view was well adapted to purposes of 
agriculture and stock raising. In three and a half miles beyond we crossed the Touchet, passed 
over a very low prairie divide, and in one mile and a half we came to the Pa-at-ta-ta, which we 
crossed, and encamped on the right bank. This stream falls into the Touchet one mile below 
where we first struck it. 
Monday, June 18.—To-day we made twenty miles and a half, and camped on the right bank 
of the Pa-at-ta-ta, a tributary of the Tukanon. The following points are worthy of attention. 
The first ten and a half miles are over a very fertile and rolling country, bringing us to the 
crossing of the river. The bluffs or hills, on our course, bordering the Tukanon, are somewhat 
steep, while the valley itself is not wide, but has a very fertile soil. There would be no 
difficulty in laying a wagon road through the depression of this valley, over which very heavy 
loads could be taken. | 
Leaving the Tukanon, we ascended the bluffs and passed over table-land of the same 
character as that of the first portion of our journey, and reached the Pa-ta-haha tributary of 
the Tukanon. This tributary furnishes a large amount of excellent land; its valley, as well as 
the table-land between it and the adjacent streams, is uniformly fertile, and at the present time 
covered with the most luxuriant grass. I will here remark, to guard against misconception, 
that it must not be inferred, when I speak of a country as being covered with excellent grass, 
that it is not an arable country, for I suppose it will be admitted that all arable countries ought 
to furnish grass of some kind. After travelling up this stream three miles, we came to a rather 
broad trail which, turning off from the stream crosses Snake river, eighteen miles below the 
Red Wolf's ground, and leads to the Cœur d' Aléne Mission and the Spokane country. Con- 
tinuing up still further, we made our camp on its banks, in a beautiful grove of cotton-wood, 
with excellent grass. The day's journey has been delightful to all the members of my party, 
for it passed over a most beautiful prairie country, the whole of it adapted to agriculture. In 
the valley of the Tukanon we found a very experienced and kind-hearted mountaineer, Louis 
Moragné, who, with his Flathead wife and six children, had gathered about him all the comforts 
