94 
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-DES CHUTES CANON. 
with Mr. Coleman, I decided, rather than to run the risk of ruining it by transporting it in its 
present condition, to remove the mercury, and replace it after rejoining him. 
Abandoning, therefore, my intention of leaving the river as soon as possible and further 
exploring for a railroad pass near the mountains, which the loss of the barometer rendered 
inexpedient, I followed down tbe canon about eleven miles, to where we had crossed it in going 
to the Dalles. The trail was rendered execrable by numerous steep spurs, which ran out to the 
very water’s edge, and compelled us to toil up sometimes as high as 500 feet, and then abruptly 
descend again. We began to find concretes and tufas on the sides of the canon as we approached 
our old camping place; but there was none of this formation near Mount Jefferson. At one 
place there were a few rude pictures of men and animals scratched on the rocks by some 
wandering savage. On the march to-day we shot and secured one of the fine salmon which 
abound in the river, and which are highly prized by the Indians for winter food. Three streams, 
flowing in deep canons, entered the river from the north. One of them showed, by the milky 
color of its water, that it came from the melting snows of Mount Jefferson, and thus proved that 
the country between us and Chit-tike creek was furrowed by at least one enormous ravine, which 
could not be headed. After reaching our old trail, we followed it to Psuc-see-que creek, and 
encamped there after sunset; having travelled twenty-one miles to-day over a most difficult route. 
September 30.—As it was highly desirable to determine accurately the position and character 
of the canon of the Des Chutes river, I started this morning, with one man, to follow down the 
creek to its mouth, leaving the rest of the party in camp. Having yesterday experienced the 
pleasures of travelling in the bottom of a canon, I concluded to-day to try the northern bluff. 
It was a dry, barren plain, gravelly and sometimes sandy, with a few bunches of grass scattered 
here and there. Tracks of antelopes or deer were numerous. After crossing one small ravine, 
and riding about five miles from'camp, we found ourselves on the edge of the vast canon of the 
river, which, far below us, was rushing through a narrow trough of basalt, slightly resembling 
the Dalles of the Columbia. We estimated the depth of the canon at 1,000 feet, but I think it 
would be found to be deeper, if measured. On each side, the precipices were very steep, and 
marked, in many places, by horizontal lines of vertical basaltic columns fifty or sixty feet in 
height. The man who was with me rolled a large rock, shaped like a grindstone and weighing 
about 200 pounds, from the summit. It thundered down, for at least a quarter of a mile, now over 
a vertical precipice, now over a steep mass of detritus, until, at length, it plunged into the river 
with a hollow roar, which echoed and re-echoed through the gorge for miles. By ascending a 
slight hill which rose from the plain, I obtained a fine view of the surrounding country, and 
many valuable bearings to the mountain peaks. The generally level character of the great 
basaltic table land around us was very manifest from this point, although, near the trail, it is 
marked by a continual succession of deep ravines. Bounded on the west by the Cascade moun¬ 
tains, and on the north and east by the Mutton mountains, the plain extends far towards the 
south, a sterile, treeless waste. At the mouth of the Psuc-see-que canon there is a singular hill 
isolated from the plain. Its top is a nearly circular floor of basalt, surrounded by vertical 
precipices about forty or fifty feet deep, and then by a collection of detritus, sloping down at an 
angle of about 45° to the level of the river. 
In returning to the camp, we tried the canon of the creek, which we found very narrow and 
stony, and often so obstructed by bushes as to compel us to climb along its steep sides. About 
a mile below camp it narrowed into a wild, natural gateway, the top of which, elevated about 
500 feet above the creek, was formed of two vertical precipices of columnar basalt, each about 
