70 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE SACRAMENTO RIVER AS A SALMON STREAM. 
The Sacramento is a large river, navigable for boats as far as Red Bluff, which 
is 225 miles by rail from San Francisco. It is quite crooked, and the distance by 
water from Red Bluff to the Golden Gate is about 375 miles. The river rises in 
several small lakes in the mountains about 20 miles west of Sisson, in Siskiyou 
County, California, and for nearly half its length flows through a narrow canyon. 
The upper portion is a typical mountain stream, with innumerable pools and rapids 
and gravel beds, forming ideal spawning-places for the salmon, though it lias not 
been visited by many of them during the past few years. Near the lower end of 
the canyon it receives Pit River from the east. 
Pit River is a much larger stream than the Sacramento above their union. Its 
lower portion lies in a canyon and except in size is similar to the Upper Sacramento. 
About 75 miles above its mouth are the Pit River Falls, which, until a fishway was 
blasted out, were impassable for salmon. The upper portion of Pit River lies on a 
plateau and during the summer is a very unimportant stream. 
The salmon that pass Pit River Falls spawn in Fall River, which enters Pit 
River a few miles above the falls. When seen in August, 1898, Fall River flowed 
several times as much water as Upper Pit River, though it is only 12 or 15 miles in 
a direct line from its mouth to its source. It is about 100 feet wide and 3 to 4 feet 
deep, flowing through a level plain and taking its rise in several large springs. 
Hat Creek, draining Mount Lassen on the north, empties into Pit River a few 
miles below the falls. It is a considerable stream, but its ascent is difficult for 
salmon on account of very steep rapids. 
McCloud River, draining Mount Shasta on the south, empties into Pit River 
near its mouth. It is two or three times the size of the Sacramento River above the 
mouth of Pit River and is an important salmon stream. Baird hatchery is located 
near its mouth. 
The most important salmon stream of the basin, excepting the main river as 
noted below, is Battle Creek, which drains Mount Lassen on the west and empties 
into the Sacramento between Redding and Red Bluff:'. Battle Creek hatchery is 
located at the mouth of this stream. 
A few miles below the mouth of Pit River, and just above Redding, the Sacra- 
mento emerges from the canyon through which it runs from its source and widens 
into a broad, shallow stream, though the current continues swift. Below Redding, 
for perhaps 100 or 150 miles as the river winds, it continues broad and shallow, with 
many short riffles and usually a gravel bank along one side. In ordinary years 
when the river is in its normal low-water condition the principal spawning-beds of 
the fall salmon are in this portion of the main river, notably in the vicinity of Red 
Bluff and Tehama. In November, 1900, the river was examined carefully between 
the mouth of Battle Creek and Tehama. Few salmon were seen until within a few 
miles of Red Bluff, but from that point on every riffle was covered with spawning- 
beds and dead salmon were everywhere abundant in their vicinity. Seventy-five 
dead fishes were counted at one time in the lower 100 yards of Mill Creek and in the 
river within 50 yards of its mouth. 
A few miles above Red Bluff the river cuts through a range of hills, and for 2 
or 3 miles consists of a series of rapids, the longest of which is known as Iron Canyon. 
After passing Iron Canyon the river again assumes the character found at and 
