SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN IDAHO. 
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Lake Creek. It is formed of two smaller streams, one coming down from Old Baldy 
Mountain on the right, the other from the Manly Creek summit of the Sawtooth 
Mountains. Lake Creek is about 8 miles long. Hear its mouth it is about 30 feet 
wide. The upper portion of the stream is a rapid mountain creek with many falls 
and cascades, but the last 3 miles are through a relatively level meadow or wooded 
plain. The shores are usually covered with a dense growth of low bushes, chiefly 
willows. The bed of the stream is of fine white sand in the quiet reaches and of 
coarse granite gravel in the swifter portions. There are numerous gravel bars where 
the water is a foot or less in depth, and many quiet pools with a depth of several feet. 
The water is extremely clear and very cold, its temperature September 12 being 45° F., 
or less. There appears to be no vegetation of any kind growing in the water. 
The outlet of Alturas Lake is a stream some 40 feet in width. About a quarter 
of a mile below Alturas Lake this stream flows through another very small lake and 
then, flowing 6 miles northward, joins Salmon River just below Stenton’s ranch. From 
the left it receives two small tributary creeks, the outlets of Pettit and Twin lakes. 
These are two small lakes situated at the base of the mountains only a few miles 
below Alturas Lake. 
Salmon River . — The main division of this river rises on the divide between Saw- 
tooth and Ketchum, the divide which forms the watershed between the waters of 
Salmon River on the north and those of Wood River on the south. That portion of 
Salmon River above the mouth of Alturas Creek is about 12 to 15 miles long, but it 
carries less water than Alturas Creek does. Its course is through a narrow valley, 
free of trees in the main and meadow-like in character. Along its shores is usually 
a heavy growth of small bushes. 
At the junction of Alturas Creek and Salmon River the former is perhaps 50 feet 
in average width and 3 feet in average depth, while the latter is somewhat smaller. 
The water in each is very clear and cold, the temperature September 13 being 47° F., 
at noon. 
Above the mouth of Alturas Creek Salmon River receives a number of small 
tributary streams, the principal ones from the left being Beaver, Smiley, and Wash- 
ington creeks, while those from the right are Pole, Lost, and Warm Spring creeks. 
Below the mouth of Alturas Creek, on the right, are two rather larger creeks, known 
as Champion and Fourth of July creeks, while from the opposite side, and about 
midway between these, Salmon River receives Roaring Creek. Still farther down 
are Big Redfish Lake and Stanley Lake, each of which pours its waters into the river 
through a short outlet. These lakes were not visited by us. Redfish Lake is said to 
be a long but narrow lake into which redfish come in large numbers. Stanley Lake 
is smaller, but a lake of considerable importance. 
PAYETTE RIVER BASIN. 
The Payette River is one of the important streams of Idaho. The main river 
rises on the southwest slopes of the Sawtooth Mountains in latitude about 44° 10', and 
immediately west of the headwaters of Salmon River, the Redfish Lakes lying at the 
foot of the range on the east side. After flowing westward about 90 miles it is joined 
by a stream from the north known on the maps as North Fork of Payette River. It 
is this fork with which we are at present chiefly concerned. At the head of this fork 
are important spawning-grounds of the chinook salmon, the redfish, and the steelhead. 
The Payette Lakes are situated here. 
