Excerpt from Commercial Tariffs and Regulations, Resources, and Trade, of the Several States of Europe and America, Vol. 16: Together With the Commercial Treaties Between England and Foreign Countries; States of Mexico

The huts were grouped together on the bank of the river, which, from being spread out in a shallow marsh at the upper end Of the lake, was collected here into a single stream. They were large round huts, perhaps twenty feet in dia meter, with rounded tops, on which was the door by which they descended into the interior. Within, they were supported by posts and beams.

Almost like plants, these people seem to have adapted themselves to the soil, and to be growing on what the immediate locality afforded. Their only sub sistence at this time appeared to be a small fish, great quantities of which that had been smoked and dried were suspended on strings about the lodge. Heaps of straw were lying around; and their residence, in the midst Of grass and rushes, had taught them a peculiar skill in converting this material to useful purposes. Their shoes were made Of straw or grass, which seemed well adapted for a snowy country; and the women wore on their head a closely-woven basket, which made a very good cap. Among other things were party-coloured mats about four feet square, which we purchased to lay on the snow under our blankets, and to use for table-cloths. Dogs, resembling wolves, were sitting on the tops of the huts. The language spoken by these Indians is different from that of the Shoshonee and Columbia River tribes; and otherwise than by signs they can not understand each other. They made us comprehend that they were at war with the people who lived to the southward and to the eastward. The river on which they live enters the Cascade Mountains on the western side of the lake, and breaks through them by a passage impracticable for travellers; but over the mountains to the northward, are passes which present no other Obstacle than the almost impenetrable forests. Unlike any Indians we had previously seen, these wore shells in their noses.

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