St. Landry democrat., 1888-02-18
WALLA WALLA WIND.
contrast Between 1t and the Breeze from
the Land of the Chfnooks

@>De"COh HI anu mo kSFeeZ6 from
the Land of the Chfnoolks.
One of the most curious and inter-
estlng features of the report of Gov.
ernor Semple of Washington Territory
TO the Secretary OF the Interior is the
bit OF tradition and rhetoric which he
WeaVes about zephyr through the
mountains.
'Ihe east wind" he says. "the dry
ing Oh chilling wind. according to the
season. that blows down the Colum bia
river with great force sometimes, was
called by them the Walla Walla wind,
because it came to them from the
direction of the Walla Walla country.
In the winter this wind brings freezing
weather, and sometimes will close the
streams with ice. In the summer it is
parching wind, and its approach can
be noted for long distances as it lifts
the dust and debris high in the air. 1t
Is an odious wind, and no one wishes
it to blow upon him. Fortunately it's
reign is always short. It rarely pre-
walls for more than q few hours. but
will sometimes continue for three or
four days.
Its enemy is the Chinook wind, so
called by the Indians alluded 10
above, because ii came to them from
the direction of the country of the
Chinooks. This is a balmy wind
coming from the Kuro Siwo, or Great
japanese current, of the Pacific
ocean. In the summer it is cool
wind, and tempers the heat of summer
80 that nowhere in Washington Terri
tory do people fall do wn with sun
strokes. In the winter it is warm,
moist wind, and is sometimes slightly |
odoriferous, as if spice-laden from the |
tropics. 1t is so gentle upon ordinary
occasions that its presence could not
be noted by its motion, and it is al
most miraculous in its effects. Snow
and ice disappear before it with
rapidity, and it seems to be able to
blow for long distances be-
tween walls of colder air with
out parting with its heat. Some
times it constitutes an upper current,
I'm which case the remarkable spec
tacle is witnessed of snow melting from
the mountain tops while thermome-
fers in the valleys register below the
freezing point At other times it is
the surface current, and follows the
valleys and gorges as fool might
follow them. Itseems to bear healing
upon its wings. like Sandalphon, the !
Angel of Prayer, and it is not difficult {
% conceive that the Indians would I
wish to personify it in order 10 fix |
Upon it their devot ions. ii
''Ihis wind someti mes pcnetrates as
az as the upper stretches of the Mis- I
ouri. and even tempers the air on the $
,lalns OF Dakota beyond the z 1cky I
fountains. Wherever it. goes the t
mans OF winter are unloosened and
ne lce-bound rivers are set free The n
inlnook IS the natural enemy of The 9
dlous east wind and while, ordinari- u
7, 1t Yields its Influence as gently as I
ne zephyrs that watt the thistle downs G.
autumn. still there are times when "
1e two winds engage in ri ant conflicts W
nj night Tor supremacy now in the q
PIPER. then in the lower strata, on the 30
fountains and in the valleys, alter o.
ately driving each other back and II
nth, swaying the trees, tossing the W
ayes. and swirling the rain drops or Pr
lie crystals of snow as the one or the is
her advances. But the com bat is w
yer long. and the victory is always sh
it'll the Chinook. The inhabitants &C
st of the Cascade mountains when
inter has seized them and the east
ind dashes snow in their faces, pray
the Chinook to come. They look fol
day for its moist fro mt and listen fe,
night for the noise of its combat ca,
tn the east wind. and when it sin
aches them they rejoice. dis
''Such is the Chinook wind, the F !
sssed wind of the far Northwest. - flo
1slsi7agto1s Letter, a..