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50
CATHLAMET ON THE COLUMBIA

answer of Chief Moses, of the Wenatchees, is as good as any. Riding by this self-same Crab Creek in leisurely fashion one Summer day, he was asked how the trout got in. With an indulgent smile for the youthful ignorance that prompted such a question, the old chief answered: "Mika ticka cumtux caqua ucook tenas salmon chawco copa tenas chuck? Na, na, chawco, nesica tillicum be nesika cumtux yaca quansum mitlite." (You want to know how the little salmon got into the little creek? No, no, they didn't get in. My people know, and I know, that they have always been there.)

Another curious question has to do with the scanty native population of Western Oregon and Washington when first known by the white men. The range was limitless and food abundant beyond measure. The country could have