The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-02-17
1T WILL PROBABLY BIZ ESTABLISH
ED At BAKER LAKE
senator Turner PreaareS nm Amend
ment tn Sundry civil Riii Appro-
priating Si0oon-Agent's Reeom-
mendnfton Satisfies Comm sion.

Special Dispatch to the Post-Inielligencer
WASHINGTON, Feb Ex-senator Tur-
ner has prepared an amendment 70 the
sHndry clvil bin. appropria tlng Sle.Voa tor
the establishment Of a llsh culture station
at a pcint 10 be selected by the govern
ment tsh commissioner in the state Of
Washington. for the propagation Of salmon
and other food fishes. and for the pur-
chase Of the necessary land and con-
Struction ana equipment OF the station.
" bile the amendment does not Tx I
location for the proposed hatchery. thar
matter has already been settled. as the
fish commission mas Investigated thor
ougn.y, ana Is satisfied that no place OF
fers greater advantages than Baker lake
and It's tributary streams.
In letter ID Senator Turner, the late
commissioner strongly recommends this
appropriation. He also furnishes the set
a.or. for use before the committee on fish
cries. 10 which his amendment was re-
ferred. report made recently by Prof
Is. W. Evsiman. an agent OF the fish
commission, on Baker lake, III which the
latter says.
Baker lake is situated about fifty miles
a little north Of east Of WooAey. and about
thirty-five miles northeast from Haras3-
ton. the nearest Railroad point. The lake
is about one and ono-baif miles long ana
from one 10 one-Quarter miles wide. ana
is drained by Baker river which is tri9u-
tary TO the Skagit The lake extends
nearly north and south. II is surrounded
on all sides by imposing mountains. al
OF which. except the higher peaks. are
covered with dense forests OF magnificent
ceQars. frs. spruce and hemlock Mounts
Baker. Shoksan and Cleveland tower
grandiy but a few miles distant from the
lake, and in plain view. These mount
aims are sRow-eapped and support numer-
Gus glaciers.
The lake has two principal inlets
Suffer river Greatly the upper part %
Baker river aad Noisy creek. besides
which there are several small streams.
THE Suffer river has some glaciers At
its head. and therefore brings down some
reilly water-sufficient on warm days 10
render the water quite turbld. AT the
time of my visit suffer river. ifa.-r
river. Baker lake Skagit river, and nearly
all of the tributaries Of Baker river whlch
| crossed, were quite milky in color from
the g,acial water. This, however. does
not seem 10 affect the fish. The water of
Baker lake is Of course cold. The sur
face temperature at p. IN. was o. deg;
at ) a. m. - deg.
In this lake tand probably also in SUIT
ter river and Noisy creekl are the only
known important spawning beds OF tie
sockeye salmon in the Puget sound basin.
The Investigations of the United States
fish commission last year and previously.
as well as the inquiries made by the state
commission. established this fact pretty
conclusiveiy. The sockeye is not known
TO run in any river which has not one or
more lakes az its headwaters. The Skagit
river and the outlet OF Lake Wa shing ton
are the only streams tributary TO the Sound
in which the sockeye are known TO run.
II IS however. not unlikely they VIII be
found TO run in some other streams, such
as the S;i.laguamish. but such lakes as
may be at their headwaters are as yet
practically inaccessible. Very few sock
eyes now run in Lake Washington, and
the matter Of a sockeye hatchery site $
therefore narrowed down to the Skagit
basin.
According to all the evidence obtain
able the sockeyes never ascend the main
Skagit above the mouth of Baker river.
and the only spawning beds known are
those At Baker lake. The sockeyes are
said TO come to Baker lake ia great num-
bers. They arrive az Baker river falls.
one mile above the mouth OF Baker river.
about the middle of June and reach the
lake few days later They are said
TO begin spawning In the lake from Aug
list - To September !. and continue until
late in October Live fish are seen as
late as December Il. The height Of the
spawning season seems TO be from Septem-
Der Is TO October IS. There seems TO be
no doubt about the abundance OF sockeyes
spawning in this lake. During my stay
! saw great many jumping. and four-
teen We're taken in a short gilinet kept
set over right. The state hatchery took
6.5o90 coo eggs last year. and say they could
have taken more than twice rs many.
Besides s0ckeyes. silver salmon ana steel
heads also iut. here IN large numbers.
They run through the lake and spawn IN
Suffer river and Noisy creek. The CHI