LETTER OF CAPTAIN MCCLELLAN. 
623 
Being greatly retarded by high water, we did not reach the vicinity of the falls until January 
7, where we encamped about three-quarters of a mile below the falls, having occupied six days 
in making a distance of some fifty-two miles. 
Thus far the weather had been intensely cold, but on the 7th it moderated somewhat; and on 
the morning of the 8th I started on foot with Messrs. Minter and Bigsby, and Lisette, to reach a 
prairie said to be above the falls, and endeavor to verify, by actual observation, the Indian state¬ 
ments as to the depth of the snow, &c. 
The trail passed for about three miles on the north side of the river, was very hilly and much 
obstructed by brushwood and snow. We then crossed the river in a small canoe, and found our¬ 
selves at the edge of the prairie; walking on about two miles, we reached the bivouac of the 
Indian horse-guard. Before arriving at the falls, I had met quite a number of Snoqualme Indians 
(among them the chief, Pat Canem,) and some Yakimas, spending the winter on this side of the 
mountains. I uniformly made inquiries of them in relation to the mountains, snow, &c., and 
endeavored to procure guides. One Yakima gave a reluctant consent to accompany me as far 
towards the pass as it was possible to go, but the next morning he flatly refused to go, saying 
that he would surely lose his life in the attempt. The statement of all these Indians, given at 
different times and places, was uniformly the same, and to this effect: 
That on the prairie we could find little or no snow; that as we left the prairie we could find 
the snow gradually increase in depth until, at the falls of the Nooksai-Nooksai, (at the head of 
which valley is the pass improperly called the Snoqualme Pass,) it would be about to the arm- 
pits, and thence towards the summit gradually increase to the depth of some 25 feet; in addition, 
that it is so light and dry as to make the use of snow-shoes impracticable; but that at the expi¬ 
ration of “two moons and a half” (about the end of March,) the snow would pack down and 
harden so that either horses or snow-shoes might be used. 
I found the prairie to be about as represented—in places bare, but in others with three or four 
inches of snow. Leaving my companions at the Indian bivouac to make the best preparations 
they could for passing the night, (for we had neither tent, blanket, nor overcoat,) I went forward 
on the trail with two Indians. 
As soon as we left the prairie the ground became entirely covered with snow ; it soon became 
a foot deep in the shallowest spots, and was constantly increasing. All signs of a trail were 
obliterated—the underbrush very thick and loaded with snow—the snow unfit for snow-shoes, 
according to the Indians. I now turned back to our bivouac, and there awaited the arrival of an 
Indian who was out hunting, and who was said to possess much information about the country. 
He soon arrived, and proved to be a very intelligent Yakima, whom I had seen on the other 
side of the mountains in the summer. He had been hunting in the direction I wished to go, and 
stated that the snow soon increased to “waist-deep” long before reaching the Nooksai-Nooksai, 
and that it was positively impracticable to use snow-shoes. He also said that the Indians did not 
pretend to cross the mountains at this season, but waited until about the end of March, and then 
took their horses over. 
Next morning, after again questioning this Indian, I reluctantly determined to return, being 
forced to the conclusion, that if the attempt to reach the pass were not really impracticable, it 
was at least inexpedient under all the circumstances in which I was placed. On the 10th I 
started down the river, and on the evening of the 11th camped near the mouth. The prairie 
above the falls is about two and a half miles in length, by some three-quarters of a mile in width. 
The soil is of black loam and is very rich; in summer it is covered with grass and fern. There 
were about eighteen Yakima horses there at the time of our visit, all in very poor condition; 
several died this winter, and probably more will meet the same fate before spring. I estimated 
the height of the falls to be 130 to 150 feet high; they are very beautiful. 
The Sinahomisli folks about eighteen miles from its mouth ; the north fork is called the Sky- 
whamish, and the south fork the Snoqualme. The general course from the mouth of the Sina- 
