Elk River

“ The following morning we swung around the butte and headed south by a little east, a course that would take us to the junction of Elk River and the Bighorn, my companions said. We crossed the Musselshell River at noon or a little earlier, and that night slept upon the open plain. The weather continued fine. The next morning also broke clear and warm and cloudless. We started on at sunrise and, topping a ridge, Mad Plume pointed to some dark breaks away off to the south, and told [Pg 206] me that they marked the course of Elk River. ”

“ Elk River was the later Elk Creek. The "traverse" and the camp probably were near Drain. 254 Leslie M. Scott the way through a woody country until we came within a short distance of the river when the road lay down a fine sloping hill & across a plain clear of woods & covered with fine verdure on a rich soil. The road then lay along the declivity of the hills which are mostly clear of woods. The soil in the mountains appears good. I observed tim- othy at different places along the road. No stones dur- ing the day's pourney, but the river here runs over a bed of loose stones and rocks. ”

“ The first [now Pike creek] is of little consequence; but the second, called Elk [or as now Little Elk] river, is entitled to more consideration, from its communication with the river St. Peters. They first ascend it to a small lake, cross this, then ascend a small stream [Long Prairie river, a branch of Crow Wing river] to a large [Osakis] lake; from which they make a portage of four miles W. and fall into the Sauteaux [or Chippewa [VII-18] ] river, which they descend into the river St. Peters. ”

“ The portion of this extensive lake which is near the establishments is called The Lake of the Hills, not improperly as the northern shore and the islands are high and rocky. The south side however is quite level, consisting of alluvial land, subject to be flooded, lying betwixt the different mouths of the Elk River and much intersected by water. The rocks of the northern shore are composed of syenite over which the soil is thinly spread; it is however sufficient to support a variety of firs and poplars and many shrubs, lichens and mosses. ”

“ This river, which waters and reflects such enchanting scenery, runs, including its {cxxxiii} windings, upwards of eighty miles, when it discharges itself in the Elk River, according to the denomination of the natives, but commonly called by the white people, the Athabasca River, in latitude 56. ”

“ Settlers on this stretch of river are few in number, for the bottoms are not wide enough to harbor many homes, and, being constantly cut out by the changes of the river's course, are so unstable as to be of little value as farming lands. On the other hand, the new bottoms constantly formed are soon thickly covered by willow brush, while the extensive bad-lands on either side the stream furnish an admirable refuge for deer, antelope, mountain sheep and bear, with which the country is already stocked, and were in old times a great haunt for elk, which might easily be reintroduced there. ”

“ The Elk, which were often in herds of four and five hundred, were not very easily frightened, and seldom ran to a great distance; but the Horses, which were still more numerous and were scattered in large hands all along the river, after having satisfied themselves with approaching and examining us, would dash off across the valley at full speed, and, in their course, whatever bands they came near would join the flight, until frequently the plain would be covered with thousands and thousands flying in a living flood towards the hills. ”

“ We passed several bad sandbars, and a small creek to the south, which we called Yellow Ochre creek, from a bank of that mineral a little above it. The river continues to fall. On the shores are great quantities of summer and fall grapes, berries and wild roses. Deer is not so abundant as usual, but there are numerous tracks of elk around us. We encamped at ten miles distance on the south side under a high bank, opposite to which was a low land covered with tall rushes, and some timber. ”

“ Nothing can exceed the crystal purity of its waters. These springs are often very large. We came to one, in the course of this day, which we judged to be fifty feet wide. It rushes out of an aperture in the rock, and joins the main branch of the river about six hundred yards below, in a volume quite equal to that of the main fork. I found an enormous pair of elk's horns lying on one side of the spring, which I lifted up and hung in the forks of a young oak, and from this incident named it the Elkhorn Spring. ”

“ The inlet is a deep, swift river which flows through a strip of land perhaps two miles long by a mile wide, which separates the lower lake from the upper, and carries the drainage of all the great mountain region about the upper lake. The lower end of this strip of land is wooded with spruces and cottonwoods, but the upper end is a wide meadow covered with heavy grass, where, in old times, buffalo, elk, and deer often fed. The Indian trail which the boys were following was originally a game trail made by the mountain bison and the elk. ”

“ He called the stream Ecola , or Whale Creek . These names did not persist and since pioneer days the stream has been called Elk Creek . The village near its mouth at the north end of Cannon Beach was first called Elk Creek , then Ecola , and in 1925 its official postal name is Cannon Beach . See under ECOLA and CANNON BEACH for addi tional information . R. G. Thwaites on page 324 of volume III of his Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Ex pedition , is confused about Whale Creek and mistakes it for the Nehalem River , the most important stream to the
south . ”

“ Elk City was named by pioneer settlers about 1865 , and the post office was estab lished a few years later with M. W . Simpson first post master . He was still living in 1926 , about 90 years of age . Elk City is at the junction of Elk Creek and Yaquina River , but whether the community or the creek was first named , the writer is unable to learn . It is said to have been the first settlement in what is now Lincoln County . ELK CREEK , Clatsop County . Captain William Clark was the first white man of record to visit the vicinity of Elk Creek , which he did on Wednesday , January 8 , 1806 . ”

“ In the large pools formed by the sudden turns in the river, the elk generally takes his last determined stand, and he sometimes keeps dogs and men at bay for a couple of hours. These pools are generally about sixty yards across, very deep in some parts, with a large shallow sandbank in the centre, formed by the eddy of the river. ”

“ On the northern side was a low undulating wood and prairie land, over which a band of about three hundred elk was slowly coming to water, feeding as they approached.”
[277]
The Merced River is notable in that it flows along the floor of the Yosemite Valley. Like all the other streams that have their rise in the Sierras, its character in its upper and lower reaches is vastly dissimilar. ”

“ From the summit another rivulet trickles away to the south, and finds its way through a frightful tamarack swamp, and through woods scarred by ruthless lumbering, to Mud Pond, a quiet body of water, with a ghastly fringe of dead trees, upon which people of grand intentions and weak vocabulary are trying to fix the name of Elk Lake. The descent of the pass on that side is precipitous and exciting. The way is in the stream itself; and a considerable portion of the distance we swung ourselves down the faces of considerable falls, and tumbled down cascades. ”

“ Holt and Fisher were the highest occupants of the White river valley. They had reached this spot about four months before, and had brought their effects partly on pack-horses, and partly in canoes. The site was judiciously chosen. A finer tract of rich river bottom could not have been found, while the site commanded an illimitable region, above and around it, for hunting the deer, buffalo, elk, and other species, besides the beaver, otter, and small furred animals, which are taken in traps. We tried, at first vainly, to persuade them to accompany us in our further explorations. ”

“ The Elkhorn river is one of the most beautiful streams of the state. It rises west of Holt and Elkhorn counties. Near its source the valley widens to a very great breadth, and the bluffs bordering it are low and often inappreciable. The general direction of the main river approximates to 250 miles. Its direction is southeast. It empties into the Platte in the western part of Sarpy county. For a large part of its course the Elkhorn flows over rock bottom. It has considerable fall, and its steady, large volume of waters will render it a most valuable manufacturing region. ”

“ Peak above peak they rose—some isolated and alone, others leaning upon the shoulders of the higher—all silent, majestic, mysterious, as though they held in their great hearts the secrets of the world—secrets of which Elk Creek Valley could never know. Yet the Valley looked very happy and content. Perhaps it had lain so long beneath their protection that it knew no fear.
The creek, rushing madly from the northern foothills, and fed by melting snow from the higher mountains, had cut a canyon for itself in its tumultuous journey from the hills ”

“ If, as is the case in Alaska, the same valleys have some of the characteristics of youth and some of maturity, a special explanation must be sought.
A second characteristic which results from the normal development of stream valleys is the accordance in grade between main and tributary streams. No matter how fast the main stream may be lowering its valley, even though it be a Colorado River, the side streams, including even weak tributaries, lower their mouths at approximately the same rate that the main stream deepens its valley. ”

“ They pass through this lock with the rapidity of lightning, propelled by the water that had been accumulated in the dam, and which is of itself generally sufficient to float them to Mauch Chunk, after which, entering regular canals, they find no other impediments, but are conveyed to their ultimate destination.
Before population had greatly advanced in this part of Pennsylvania, game of all descriptions found within that range was extremely abundant. The Elk itself did not disdain to browse on the shoulders of the mountains, near the Lehigh. ”

“ This lake is an oval of about one mile in its longest diameter. It lies about half a mile in a straight line south from Itasca. Its shores are marshy, bordered by hills densely timbered. Its sources are boggy streams having little or no clearly-defined course. To all appearance, these bogs and this small lake are the uttermost tributaries to Itasca Lake, and the latter, concentrating these minor streams and sending them out as one, is the true head of the Father of Waters.
Elk Lake was a place of misadventure to us. Our struggle through the thicket and dense forest was hot and exhausting. ”

“ There are many such attractive centres along the banks of Elk, with charming camping-grounds, where neighboring hospitality abounds, and chickens, eggs, milk, corn, and bacon are abundant and cheap, and the finest bass-and other fishing possible, from Queen's Shoal—four miles away—to the old dam above Charleston. Above Queen's Shoal the region increases in wildness and attractiveness for traveller or sportsman. Trout in plenty find homes in the mountain-tributaries of Upper Elk; deer abound, and all manner of smaller game. Where nature does her best work, man is apt to do but little. ”

“ That Congress did not act arbitrarily in determining that 'for the purposes of navigation of said waters and the waters connected therewith,' the whole flow of the stream should be devoted exclusively to that end, is most evident when we consider the character of this stream and its relation to the whole problem of lake navigation. The river St. Marys is the only outlet for the waters of Lake Superior. The stretch of water called the falls and rapids of the river is about 3,000 feet long, and from bank to bank has a width of about 4,000 feet. ”

“ Passing northward through dense woods and almost impenetrable fire-slashes, the next noteworthy region arrived at is the valley of Bridge Creek, the creek receiving its name from a natural bridge of trachyte thrown across the stream. The bridge is narrow, affording scanty room for the well-worn elk-trail two feet wide, while the descent on either hand is so great that a fall from the bridge would be fatal to man or beast. Numerous herds of elk make daily use of this convenient passway. ”

“ The high bluff thus formed is known to the natives throughout all that region as Elbow Rock.
The quiet waters of The Bend move so gently on their broad course that from the porch, looking up the stream, the eye could scarcely mark the current. But in front of the little log house, where the restraining banks of the river draw closer together, the lazy current awakens to quickening movement. ”

“ From the lake of Quinaiult, resting in the foothills of the Olympics, within hearing of the ocean’s roar, many trails are blazed to camps, made long years ago, where fat elk have been butchered and dried by the Indians.
The mountains form the summer’s paradise of the tribe. It is there that bands of elk may be seen gamboling on the unmelted snow in the glare of the sun; and the black bear may be seen in numbers feeding on the luxurious wild berries. But the lake itself, perhaps, is regarded by the Indians as their greatest natural treasure. ”