FISH-CULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MONTANA AND WYOMING. 
11 
name Hell Gate River, which it bears to the mouth of the canon just above Missoula, 
where it again changes its name and comes to be known as the Missoula River. The 
Hell Gate River is sometimes, however, made to include all that portion lying between 
the mouths of the Little Blaekfoot and the Bitter Root, the latter uniting with the 
main stream just below Missoula; this seems to be the more logical division. For 
the next 30 miles, or until joined by the Flathead River, it is known as the Missoula 
River. From the junction of these two streams, it continues northwest for about 
80 miles through a well-wooded and magnificent canon, and it is to this portion 
that the name “Clarke Fork” is now usually restricted. At the lower end of this 
canon the river widens out greatly, forming the beautiful Lake Pend d’Oreille. At 
the outlet of this lake it begins to flow more slowly and quietly as the Pend d’Oreille 
River, which name it continues to bear until it joins the Columbia. Some 25 or 30 
miles below Lake Pend d’Oreille there is a vertical fall of 8 or 10 feet, known as the 
Seniakwoteen Falls. Here the river is said to enter a narrow canon, through which it 
rushes with such violence as to be wholly unnavigable, and then falls into the Colum- 
bia in a final plunge of 15 feet. The streams tributary to this great river are among 
the most important and most interesting of any of the Rocky Mountain region. 
Flathead River. — This is quite a large river and is the outlet of Flathead Lake. It 
receives numerous small streams from the east, chief among which are Jocko River, 
Mission, Post, Crow, and Muddy creeks. 
Jocko River. — We examined this stream near the railroad station at Ravalli, where 
it has an average width of about 40 feet and a depth of over 3 feet. The current is 
very swift — so swift, in fact, that it was with great difficulty that we were able to use 
the seine. The bottom is of coarse gravel with occasional clusters of large bowlders. 
There is little or no vegetation in the stream. The banks are lined in most places by 
quite a heavy growth of willows, alders, cottonwoods, and other bushes. In some 
places along the stream are small ponds, well filled with various species of Algce at d 
swarming with larval insect life. Frogs and tadpoles were also common, and in cne 
place a number of larval salamanders (Amblystoma tigrinum ) were taken. The water of 
the river is clear and cold, the temperature at 5 p. m., July 31, being 58°. The Jocko 
is a very pretty river, and is regarded by sportsmen as a very good trout stream. We 
found trout quite abundant, as shown by the fact that we caught as many as a dozen 
at one haul with the 15-foot seine. Blobs and whitefish were also common — the blobs 
being large and fine, while only young whitefish were taken. A few small specimens 
of the long-nosed sucker ( Cato stomas catostomus) were also taken. We were told that 
salmon trout are also found in the Jocko, but we saw no specimens. 
Mission Greek. — This is a clear, cold stream, about 25 feet wide and 2 feet deep, 
having its rise in the Mission Mountains northeast of Ravalli, and flowing through 
the reservation to join the Flathead River. We examined it in the vicinity of the 
Mission of St. Ignatius, where we found trout of small size in considerable numbers. 
Post, Crow, and Muddy creeks are other small streams crossed by the stage road 
from Ravalli to Flathead Lake. Each of them is well supplied with trout. From 
Post Creek, which is somewhat larger than the others, we obtained specimens of the 
Columbia River sucker. It appears to be common in this stream and is no doubt 
found in the others of this region. At the Mission we saw several good-sized speci- 
mens that had been brought in by the squaws. 
