404 
INDIAN TRIBES OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
in profusion. The business of gathering these of course falls on the women, who go out in 
small parties, attended by a boy or old man as camp-keeper, collect and dry the berries, or bring 
into the general camp what is wanted lor present food. Such of them as bear keeping they store 
for winter use, and also for trade, exchanging them for fish, smoked clams, and the roots which 
their own territory does not furnish. 
Of game, there is but little left. The deer and elk are almost exterminated throughout the 
country, the deep snows of winter driving them to the valleys, where the Indians, with their usual 
improvidence, have slaughtered them without mercy. The mountain goat, and the big-horn, or 
sheep, are both said to have formerly existed here, but, since the introduction of fire-arms, have 
retired far into the recesses of the Cascades. The black bear alone is still found, though but 
rarely. The salmon furnishes to these, as to most other tribes of the Pacific, their greatest sta¬ 
ple of food. Their neighborhood to the fisheries of the Cascades and the Dalles provides them 
for the summer; while, after the subsidence of the Columbia, later schools ascend the small riv¬ 
ers, and in the autumn an interior kind forces its way into the brooks, and even the shallow pools 
which form in the prairies. 
Very few attempt any cultivation of the soil, though their lower prairies would admit of it. 
We were informed, however, that the next season many of them intended to build houses there 
and plant potatoes. Their usual residence during the summer is around Chequoss, one of the 
most elevated points on our trail from Fort Vancouver across the Cascades, where we met them 
at the beginning of August. They were, at this time, feasting on strawberries and the mountain 
whortleberry, which covered the hills around, though during the night the ice formed on the ponds 
to the thickness of half an inch. Towards the end of the month they descend to the Yahkohtl, 
Chalacha, and Tahk prairies, where they are met by the Yakimas, who assemble with them, 
for the purpose of gathering a later species of berry and of racing horses. The racing season is 
the grand annual occasion of these tribes. A horse of proved reputation is a source of wealth 
or of ruin to his owner. On his speed he stakes his whole stud, his household goods, clothes, 
and finally his wives; and a single heat doubles his fortune, or sends him forth an impoverished 
adventurer. The interest, however, is not confined to the individual directly concerned; the 
tribe share it with him, and a common pile of goods, of motley description, apportioned accord¬ 
ing to their ideas of value, is put up by either party, to be divided among the backers of the 
winner. The Klikatats themselves are not as rich in horses as those living on the plains, their 
country generally affording but little pasturage, and the deep snows compelling them to winter 
their stock at a distance from their usual abodes. The horse is to them what the canoe is to the 
Indians of the river and coast. They ride with skill, reckless of all obstacles, and with little mercy 
to their beasts, the right hand swinging the whip at every bound. Some of the horses are of fine 
form and action; but they are generally injured by too early use, and sore backs are universal. 
Indiscriminate breeding has greatly deteriorated what must have been originally a good stock, 
and the prevalence of white and gray in their colors is a great objection. Wall-eyes, white noses 
and hoofs, are more than common among them. They are almost always either vicious or lazy, 
and usually combine both qualities. In their capacity for a continued endurance, they are over¬ 
rated. A good American horse is as much superior to them in this, as in speed; but they are 
hardy, and capable of shifting with but little food. Nothing is known of their first introduction. 
They were abundant when the country was discovered. It is probable that the Shoshonees or 
Snakes, a branch of the Camanches, first introduced them from the South, and that the breed 
has since been crossed by others from Canada. The best are those belonging to the Cayuses and 
Nez Perces. The demand for horses, consequent upon the settlement of the country, has ren¬ 
dered the tribes possessing them really wealthy. 
Their price is from $40 to $100, but they have some which they will not dispose of at much 
higher rates. A few of the chiefs have great numbers, and one, it is said, has offered 400—a 
by no means contemptible dowry—to any respectable white man who will marry his daughter. 
