Portaging Cascades of the Columbia upstream — John Ordway: April 5, 1806

return*1 with 3 Small black cubs which was sold to the Savages
I and 5 more men went over to the S. Side and climbed a high
River hill on which is excelent rich land, went to the Camp of
our hunters and brought in the jurked meat, three more hunters
sent on a head with their Small canoe a hunting great numbers
of Savages visited the Camp continually Since we have lay at this
Camp, who were passing down with their famillys from the country
above into the vally of Columbia in Search of food, they inform
us that the natives above the great falls have no provisions and
many are dieing with hunger, this information has been so re-
peatedly given by different parties of Indians that it does not
admit of any doubt and is the cause of our delay in this neigh-
bourhood for the purpose of procureing as much dryed Elk meat
as will last us through the Columbia plains in which we do not
expect to find any thing to kill &C. the River hills are high above
Quick Sand River Some of the clifts is 200 feet high, on the
tops of those hills the land is excessively rich and thickly timbred
with different Species of Fir intermixed with white cedder. I Saw
one of the Fir trees which is 100 and 4 feet in length. Some dog
wood and small shrubs, in the River bottoms of the fertile valley of
Columbia which we are now leaveing, and which extends for about
70 miles on the River below, the growth is ash cottonwood, large
leaffed ash & Sweet willow principally with sundry other Shrubs
and bushes many of which bear a fruit which the natives make use
of for food, those bottoms also produce various Species of plants,
the roots of many of which the natives make use of prepared in
different ways for food. Such as the root of the anual rush
pasnaque wapatoe which is the common arrow head & a Species
of Fern the wapatoes they geather in the ponds but all other grow
Spontaneously in every part of the Columbian valley.