194 
GENERAL REPORT ON WESTERN DIVISION. 
which is here about one hundred yards wide, there is a small lake, some two hundred yards long, 
fed by numerous springs, and surrounded by good grass. In this little lake two streams have their 
source ; one is the head of the Nooksai Nooksai, which runs into the D’Wamish and Puget sound; 
the other into Lake Kitehelus and the Yakima, first passing through a lake nearly one mile long, 
called by the Indians Willailootzas. To the northward of the pass the mountains are very lofty, 
generally bare at the top, often of solid rock, with sharp outlines, most of them with considerable 
snow upon them. As far as the eye can determine, there is no possibility of effecting a passage in 
that direction; and there certainly is none between this and the Nahchess Pass. 
The descent from the pass towards the west is down the narrow, steep, and thickly-wooded 
valley of the Nooksai Nooksai, bordered by rough and high mountains. At the distance of about 
twenty-five miles from the pass the stream empties into Lake Nook-noo; a sheet of water some 
four miles in length, at the foot of which there is a considerable fall. The stream then passes 
through a thickly-timbered and quite level country, into the D’Wamish, which empties into El¬ 
liott bay near Seattle. This country will be described more in detail in another connexion. 
Before leaving the subject of the main Yakima Pass, it should be stated that there is a foot 
trail leading from the head of Lake Kitehelus to the head of the south fork of the Snoqualme. 
The Indians represent this as practicable on foot with the greatest difficulty, and that it is seldom 
used, although much nearer the Snoqualme Falls than by the ordinary horse trail; in fret, there is 
no trail, properly so called—merely a possibility for an unencumbered and active man to get 
through there. 
The size and shape of the mountains seem to verify the truth of their statement. More detailed 
information as to the nature of the pass, the nature of the Yakima river, the quantity of snow, &c., 
will be found in my railway report of February 8, already referred to. The quantity of snow in 
the pass is there stated at from twenty to twenty-five feet; the data for that conclusion are there 
given, and are still believed to be reliable. 
Lake Willailootzas is subject to rises of some fifteen feet above its level at the time we visited 
it. Its outlet is subterranean in low water and makes its appearance some three hundred yards 
from the lake; when the lake is full it passes over. About a mile below Lake Kitehelus the Yaki¬ 
ma (or Yah-inse, as it is here called) is some twenty yards in width and about two feet deep, 
flowing with a rapid current over a bed of cobble stones. The banks are of gravel and about 
ten feet high; the river does not appear to overflow its banks; it gradually increases in 6ize until, 
at Ketetas, it is about forty yards wide and three feet deep at the fords; near the mouth it be¬ 
comes about one hundred yards wide at low water. In many parts of its course it is divided 
by sand and gravel bars into several channels, and is liable to great rises in the spring. Ac¬ 
cording to the Indians, the snow is knee-deep at the mouth in severe wfinters; at Ketetas, to 
the middle of the thigh in ordinary winters ; for some miles before reaching the mountains, it is 
six feet deep ; in the gorges and passes, from twenty to twenty-five feet; and in peculiar local¬ 
ities, even more. In the timbered countiy the snow-marks seemed to prove the truth of these 
statements. 
Having completed the examination of the pass, as far as the time at my disposal would permit, 
I rejoined the main party at Ketetas on the 12th September. 
On our arrival at camp we found some of the party in a high state of excitement; they had 
found gold in small quantities on the margin of the stream, and were most industriously seeking 
for more. The fever soon abated, as the returns were not very remunerative. During our ab¬ 
sence a large Yakima village had sprung up near our camp; it was the band of Owhai, one of 
the very best Indians with whom we met during the trip. 
Lieutenant Mowry had returned from the Dalles on the 10th. I will condense from his report 
a description of the country over which he passed. 
As already stated, he moved from Wenass on the 2d ; he followed the trail passed previously 
over by the main party as far back as some three miles beyond the Sahpeniss, with the exception of 
