Page:California Historical Society Quarterly vol 22.djvu/226



56. The oak no doubt was Quercus Kelloggii Newb.; the pine, Pinus ponderosa DougL; and the cedar Librocedras decurrens Torr.

Sj. The ash was Fraxinus oregona Nutt., and the poplar or cottonwood Pupulus Fre- montii Wats.

58. The party has left Pit River at Ash Creek and crossed the hills to reach the stream again below Bieber.

59. Fall River Valley.

60. Fall River which flows into Pit River from the north.

61. Hat Creek which flows into Pit River from the south.

62. The presence of another and rival trapping party in this region was a matter of grave concern to John Work. Skillful trailers, both Indian and white, in his brigade of hunters could tell him that the camp was not that of any Hudson's Bay Company men, therefore he knew he was facing competition.

63. Camp was made on Hat Creek on what is now the Dave Doyle ranch, north of a site called Dutch Flat and not far from the Hat Creek Ranger Station.

64. The mountain pass traversed by Work's party in crossing the Cascade Range appears to be the oldest route used by Columbia River trappers on their way to Cali- fornia. Louis Pichette is said to have visited California in 1820-21. Work recorded on October 1 3 that two of his men had passed this way before. Pichette was evidently one, and Kanota, the Hawaiian, the other. The trail apparently was clearly indicated to Work, and from the entries made by him it was identified by Mr. Reuben P. Box of the U. S. Forest Service at the Hat Creek Ranger Station. The trail passed between Burney Mountain (altitude, 7,871 feet) and Stony Butte (altitude, 7,494 feet). Stony Butte is called Tamarack Peak on some maps; it lies northeast of Magee Peak. A secondary road follows this old pack trail.

6§. The pines were Pinus sabiniana Doug., digger pine, and Pinus attenuata Lefwnon, knob cone pine. The oaks were Quercus Douglasii, H. & A., blue oak and Quercus Wis- lizenct, A. D. C, interior live oak.

66. Six pieces would be approximately three hundred pounds. While a piece varied in weight in different regions it is estimated to have been fifty pounds in Oregon, and two were a pack load for an Indian horse. Work now knows his rival's take of beaver.

67. The brigade has reached the headwaters of Cow Creek, a tributary of the Sacra- mento River, and follows down the divide between Old Cow Creek and South Cow Creek to the plains near Millville, Shasta County.

68. Quercus lobata Ned.

69. Canoe River is Cow Creek after it receives the network of tributaries which feed it.

70. Work uses the expression "the big river" for dijfferent streams encountered sub- sequently, but there is no doubt that "the big river" in this instance refers to the Sacra- mento. Camp was made opposite the site of the town of Anderson.

71. The grizzly bear, Ursus colusus, Sacramento grizzly.

72. These were probably Achomawi Indians of Pit River. A cremation ceremony was going on at the time, the lamenting over the dead being part of the ritual. The staffs or rods carried by the Indians are probably identifiable as digging sticks.

73. The Klamaths and Modocs, prior to their treaty of 1864 with the Government, annually raided the Achomawi settlements on Pit River to capture slaves. These slaves were traded to the Chinook at the Dalles on the Columbia. The incident recorded here by Work probably refers to such a slave raid. The name may be "charlys."

74. Dwarf elk, Cervus nannodes.

75. Sycamore (sometimes Sycamous) River is probably Battle Creek. Five of the streams which were reached and called by name by Work on his progress south along the Sacramento but which apparently were named by his predecessors on this part of