THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



RIVERS AND STREAMS OF OREGON 



With Some Descriptions of the Country, Fish and Fishing — Part 5 



BY 

 JOHN GILL 



ALONG THE COLUMBIA'S SOUTH SHORE 



Retracing our steps westward along the south shore of the 

 Columbia from the junction of Snake River, Walla Walla is the 

 first stream we see. It enters the Columbia 200 miles east of 

 Portland, a sluggish, shrunken river, like all those emerging 

 from the dry plains of the upper country. Many miles back 

 from the Columbia these rivers, where they break forth from 

 the Blue, Wallowa or Cascade Mountains, carry a flood of cold, 

 clear water thrice the volume they pour into the river. Such 

 are Yakima and Nachess where they roll from the mountain 

 portals out into the thirsty valley — each twice as great in vol- 

 ume as the whole Yakima at its outlet. Such, too, is the Walla 

 Walla above Milton, and the Umatilla above Pendleton. These 

 rivers and their mountain tributaries are noble trout streams. 



The Umatilla is a great river in the Spring, but shrinks to 

 small proportions in Autumn. Its main branch, the North Fork, 

 comes from the high mountains north and east of Bingham, 

 which is a summer resort on the O.-W. R. & N. twenty miles 

 above Pendleton. This main branch is splendid fishing after 

 the snows have run out. Meacham Creek, the next considerable 

 tributary from southward, is a fine Spring and early Summer 

 stream. In dry seasons long stretches of Meacham Creek dis- 

 appear, but the trout know where the water is — frequently un- 

 derground — and keep the stream peopled. 



No streams enter the Umatilla from northward for more 

 than fifty miles above its mouth, but west of Pendleton McKay 

 and Birch Creek, rising like Meacham Creek in the summit of 

 the Blue Mountains, are exceptionally good fishing in the Spring 

 months. 



Fagre nine 



