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TRAVELS IN OREGON, NO. 2. 
Captain Wilkes left Vancouver in June, 1841, and 
proceeded on an expedition up the valley of the Willa¬ 
mette river. The falls of the Willamette are about twenty 
feet in height, and probably offer the best mill-sites to 
be found in the country, besides being at the head of 
navigation for sea vessels, and near the great wheat¬ 
growing valley of the Willamette. A hardy pioneer 
from the United States, a Mr. Moore, had taken posses¬ 
sion of the west side of the falls under a purchase from 
an old Indian chief, and was speculating about the pro¬ 
bability of the Government recognizing his title, and the 
subject of pre-emption rights often formed a topic of 
conversation in the country. 
At the time of Captain Wilkes’s visit to the falls, the 
salmon fishery was at its height, and formed a novel and 
amusing scene. The salmon leap the fall; and it would 
be inconceivable, if not actually witnessed, how they can 
force themselves up, and after a leap of from ten to 
twelve feet, retain strength enough to stem the force of 
the water above. About one in ten of those who jumped 
would succeed in getting by. They are seen to dart off 
from the foam beneath and reach about two-thirds of the 
height at a single bound ; those that thus passed the apex 
of the running water, succeed ; but all that fall short are 
thrown back again into the foam. Captain Wilkes had 
never seen so many fish collected together before. The 
Indians were constantly employed in taking them. They 
rig out two strong poles long enough to project over the 
foaming cauldron, and secure their larger ends to the 
rocks. On the other end they make a platform for the 
fisherman to stand on, who is perched on it with a pole, 
thirty feet long in hand, to which the net is fastened by 
a hoop, four feet in diameter. The net is made to slide 
on the hoop so as to close its mouth when the fish is 
taken. The mode of using the net is peculiar. They 
throw it into the foam as far up the stream as they can 
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