One of the first things noticed by the members of the expedition, when they began to encounter the tribes living near the Rockies, was the fact that every warrior or chief who was looked up to as a brave man wore a necklace of terrible bears' claws. This proved that the possessor had by his own individual prowess, and usually in an encounter at close quarters, succeeded in slaying one of those monster denizens of the wilds, afterwards known as grizzly bears. There can be no doubt that this beast is by all odds the most savage and dreaded wild animal of the Western World. Indeed, there are those who say they would much rather meet a lion or a tiger in its native country than the grizzly bear. When an Indian, with his primitive weapons, and at the risk of his life, was able to take those claws, and string them about his neck, none could dispute his right to the title of a valiant man. Those who have hunted big game under every sun are frank enough to say that if a grizzly bear could climb a tree like a panther, and get over ground as fast as a lion, he would stand without a peer as the most feared game to be found. In these modern days of the repeating rifle of large bore, and the exploding bullet, it is not very difficult to kill the monster; but every one who has seen a grizzly bear in his native haunts is willing to hold in honor those red hunters of the early times, who, armed only with hatchet and knife, deliberately sought an encounter, bent on proving their right to the name of warrior. NOTE 9 (PAGE 300) The Indians took toll of the big silver-sided salmon as they made their way up the Columbia to spawn. They used as a rule a primitive fish spear with which they were very expert. There were always salmon to be found at the foot of the fall, or in shallow creeks that emptied into the big river, but, when the spring finally came, the fish would pass in from the sea in multitudes beyond reckoning, all eager to get up to the shallow waters where they could spawn. Eye witnesses of undoubted veracity have described the scene where, in places, the multitude of these big fish was so great that they filled the stream with a solid mass. Of course those days are past. In these times, when numerous canneries are operating along the river, and millions of tins of fish are put up every season, it could hardly be expected that the supply would continue in unlimited quantities. Though as yet there has been no serious inroad made, thanks to the action of the Federal Government, and the work of the active Fish Commissioners, who see to it that the fish wheels, by means of which catches are made, are regulated according to law. Still the sight of the untold numbers that greeted the eyes of the explorers on that early spring of 1806 has passed forever. NOTE 10 (PAGE 305)