GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 251 



On the west side of the lake, near its southern limit, starts a range of 

 broken and somewhat rugged hills, which extends northwest to the 

 vicinity of Kootenay Eiver, in the extreme northwest angle of the Ter- 

 ritory. This range, which forms a divide between the waters of Maple 

 Eiver and those of Clark's Fork, is mostly covered with dense pine for- 

 ests. The country, in the vicinity of Kootenay Eiver, is composed 

 chiefly of high rolling prairies, through which this stream, here some 

 two or three hundred yards in width, flows with a moderate current. I 

 am informed by Mr. Bonner, who I believe owns a ferry here, that the 

 immediate valley of this river is from five to fifteen miles wide and 

 well grassed, affording excellent pasturage. Potatoes have been grown 

 there for several years, the tubers being large and^ quality good ; and 

 although the cereals have not been tried, he thinks* the climate would 

 present no serious obstacle to their production. The Kootenay Indians, 

 for the last five or six years, have been raising potatoes for food, but 

 until last season have obtained their seed from the whites, having too 

 little foresight to lay up a supply for this purpose, until forced to do so 

 by the refusal to furnish them any longer. 



For twenty miles Tobacco Creek, a tributary of the Kootenay, runs 

 through an open prairie country. It rises in the forest-clad range before 

 mentioned and runs northwest. Maple Eiver, for most of its course, to 

 its junction with the Flathead, traverses a forest-covered section, its 

 valley being narrow, until it enters the prairie. North of the lake there 

 is a prairie some thirty miles in length, north and south, and fifteen to 

 twenty miles wide, one arm of which extends northwest, in the direction 

 of Maple Eiver, and the other north. 



On the east side of the lake the country is broken and mountainous, 

 rising rapidly to the dividing range of the Eocky Mountains, which in 

 this section presents some sharp and rugged i)eaks, its western side cov- 

 ered with heavy timber, while its eastern slope, which is less rugged, 

 has only a growth of scrubby i>ine, which disappears toward the base. 

 The region immediately around the northwestern angle of the lake is 

 thickly wooded with pine, tamarack, and fir. The western shore is 

 bordered by rocky hills covered with forests the greater part of its 

 length J near the southern extremity these retire, leaving some open 

 prairie country, which is well grassed over, and where some arable land 

 may be found, but the extent is unknown. The eastern shore appears 

 to be closel^^ hemmed in by high and somewhat rugged hills, affording 

 but little level land adapted to agricultural purposes. Below the lake 

 Flathead Eiver is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards in 

 width, averaging 2 to 3 feet deep, and descending at the rate of 10 feet 

 to the mile, at one point having a fall of 12 or 15 feet. 



Hot-Spring Creek, which rises some distance, west of the lake, flows 

 southeast about twenty -five miles and enters the Flathead opposite 

 Fend d'Oreille Mission. Along and in the vicinitj' of this stream there 

 is some level and open country where good farming land can be found. 



The valleys of Flathead and the little streams which enter it from the 

 east afford some arable lands, but these are mostly in small detached 

 areas, in one of which Pend d'Oreille Mission is situated. This central 

 portion of the section under consideration is occupied by one of the 

 reserves for the Flathead Indians. The following statement in regard 

 to this mission by Colonel Wheeler, who visited it last season, may not 

 be uninteresting : 



" We were surprised at the extent of the farming operations carried on. 

 All the grain and corn, potatoes and other vegetables, cattle and horses, 

 butter and cheese needed for several hundred persons, are produced 



