, 1858-08-20

:
at this time:
UTsALADY, Aug. 3, 1858.
JAMES TILToN, ESQ, Surreyor General:
StR-I take the liberty of addressing
you, believing that the interest you have
always taken in whatever concerns the Ter
ritOry will serve as an apology,
l have just returned from an expedition
up the Skagit river, undertaken chiefly fol
the purpose of ascertaining whether a com
munication could be made by that route
with Capt. DeLacy's trail from Whatcon
to Thompson river, which crosses the Skag
it towards its head waters. Although un
successful in this object, consider the re-
suit as important in many respects.
The river has several mouths, all enter.
ing the bay through overfowed land; oi
these the northern, or Squonamish mouth
is stopped by drift; the best is the XXI
allus, one of the southern mouths. The
two unite at the Skagit village, about 4
miles up. Six miles from the mouth the
main river, which is about 400 yards wide
is interrupted by three large RATS of drift
wood, extending through distance of a
mile and a half. Trails extend round
these, over which canoes can be haoled
the portages amounting 10 little over a
mile. Above the drifts the stream is clear
from any obstruction for long distance.
As this is the season of the freshet, it was
impossible to ascertain the depth of water
which could be depepended on at low sta
ges, but / am Of opinion that were it not
for the RATS, river steamers could navigate
it easily to point not less than As miles
from the mouth Beyond that point rap
ids are numerous, and / am not prepared
to say with confidence whether they could
at all stages of water ascend further, al
though | consider it probable that they
could for at least fifteen miles. About As
miles from the mouth, the Takullam fork
comes in from the north, rapid and bro
ken stream heading in Mount Baker. This
had already been explored by party from
Port Townsend, but no white men had pre-
viously assembled the main river beyond it.
As the Smalehu village is at the mouth of
this stream, it has been generally supposed
that it was the branch which DeLaey's
trail crosses-a mistake, as / afterwards
found, the trail crossing the main Skagit
itself About miles beyond the last is
the Sakumehn branch from the south, from
which there is trail to the Stolukw hamish
river. There were three hors,s on an
island below the Sakumehu, but could not
learn whence they were brought 1t has
been reported that there was trail from
this branch over TO Lake Chelan, but the
Indians either could not, or would not give
any information about it. Above here the
river goes by the Indian name of MiSkai-
whu,--it is in this part much broken by
rapids, none of which, however, are dan
gerous, and its current is very swift. /
travelled OIL the whole 65 or 10 miles, by
estimate, reaching point which may be
considered the head of canoe navigation,
aud as nearly as could be ascertained, due
east of Mount Baker, from which it is dis
tant probably 25 miles There is a very
bad rapid in pass, half q mile long and
not over so to IS yards wide, above which
it resumes its former width. Leaving my
canoe, went up by trail to the head Of
the rapid aud found q small party of lndi-
ans fishing. They reported that they
could go a short distance up by canoes,
when they met with immense rocks, fallen
from the mountains overhead, beyond which
no one ever went They added that no
Indians now living on the river had seen
this place, but that they had heard Of it
formerly. They reported the mountains
also as impossible. Not being prepared
for the kind of exploration which would
probably be required, l concluded to re-
turn. The great height of the water was
unfavorable for such an attempt, besides
which, the fact that these were the last H.
dians on the river, and that they never had
been further up, seemed almost conclusive
as to its impracticability as useful route.
1 am, however, happy to state that some
gentlemen from Port Townsend have gone
up prepared and determined to explore the
kanyon.
The river at this place seemed but little
diminished in volume, oil the tributaries
which it received below being comparative
ly small, and its average width is not less
than 200 yards Its source is therefore
evidently distant. The freshet rendered it
almost useless to attempt prospecting, but
the indications Of gold in the character Of
the rocks were highly favorable. There
are but few Indians on the river,-not over
fifty families 10 all-above the Skagit viii
lage They are very poor and much scat
tered. They seemed somewhat jealous at
first Of our visit, but offered no opposition,
and we're easily satisfied, and rendered as
distance when required. They have, how.
ever, already got their ideas of prices up to
the Whatcom standard, and for this reason,
persons visiting the river would do well to
take goods in place of money. The proper
form of canoe is the common river o
"shovel nosed" pattern; Chenook canoei
are unmanageable in swift water.
The valley of this river for some 40 mile
mn is the most beautiful l have ever seen
The banks are generally level. The timbe
consists Of spruce, fraud cedar on the highs
ground, and of cotton wood, white aud vim