166 
BULLETIN OP" THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION, 
flows tlirough Perkins Lake. The lower part of Eedfisb Lake outlet was not examined 
by ns ; nor were we able to make any examination of Stanley Lake, the last one of the 
series of Eedfish Lakes. 
THE UPPEK SALMON PIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARY STREAMS. 
In its upper course the Salmon River occupies a broad, treeless valley, whose 
elevation is from 7,000 to 7,300 feet above sea level. Except along the immediate 
banks of the river and its tributary streams, and in certain marshy places, the valley 
is well covered witli sage [Artemisia tridentata). Along the streams are more or less 
dense thickets of willows [Salix rostrata), and in the marshy areas are grasses, gen- 
tians, and a white marsh marigold. 
The general direction of the valley from its head to opposite Eedfish Lake is 
nearly due north and south. The river is very tortuous iii its course, but below the 
mouth of Alturas Creek it keeps chiefly to the west side of the valley. 
The hills and ridges on the east side of the valley are either wholly without 
forests or have only isolated clumps of trees here and there, and narrow fringes of 
trees along the small ci'eeks which come into the valley from that side. On the west 
there is heavy forest everywhere, even upon the long, narrow morainic ridges which 
extend out into the valley, forming such a marked and characteristic feature of the 
landscape. 
Above the mouth of Alturas Creek, Salmon River receives several small tribu- 
taries, the principal ones being Washington, Smiley, and Beaver creeks from the left, 
and Pole, Lost, and Warm Spring creeks from the right. Of those from the left, 
Beaver Creek is the most important. It has its rise on the divide beyond Shaw 
Mountain, and flows northeast. The town of Sawtooth is situated upon this creek. 
All of these creeks are said to be excellent trout streams. 
Alturas Greek . — This is the most important stream tributary to the upper Salmon 
River. It is not mdy the outlet of Alturas and Perkins lakes, but it receives, also, the 
outlets of Pettit and Yellowbelly lakes. The general dii’cctiou of Alturas Creek (or 
Lake Creek, as it is frequently called) is north, and its length is about 4 or 5 miles. 
Its average width is 40 to 00 feet, and in August the depth ranges from 1 foot to 4 or 
5 feet. In its upper course it is relatively broad and quite uniformly shallow, with a 
moderately swift current over an even bed of small gravel. Here and there large 
glacial bowlders are seen in the stream. After passing through Perkins Lake, the 
stream Avidens somewhat for a short distance, then becomes narrower and moi’e swift 
and the banks become less uniform in height; in some places they are 3 or 4 feet 
high, in others low and marshy. The shores are well timbered with Murray pine 
throughout the course except in the last or 2 miles, or along that portion lying 
within the Salmon River Valley proper. There they are covered rvith sage on the dry 
portions and rvillows and an occasional alder where the ground is marshy. The special 
importance of this stream lies in the fact that the chinook salmon have spawning-beds 
in its lower course. 
Alturas Creek receives three tributary streams from the west, viz, Meadow, Pettit, 
and Yellowbelly creeks. Tlie first of these is a very small, cold creek, fed almost 
entirely by springs, and ha,s its head on the mountain ridge separating Alturas and 
Pettit lakes. 
