Ever Wild: A Lifetime on Mount Adams

20 Ever Wild
For thousands of years,
Natives have harvested
Camassia quamash for its
roots. Dense patches still
flourish in Camas Prairie.
it, likely passed Lookingglass Lake (“one small lake”), and the high
point was probably around 6,200 feet on Crofton Ridge. This ancient
Native American route would become part of the modern “Round-the-
Mountain Trail” of the 1950s and early 1960s.
Streamer described their destination as “near the Lake on the Summit
of the Cascades.” The name of the lake is not known for sure, but it was
probably somewhere in the triangle of Ollalie Lake, Chain-of-Lakes, and
Takhlakh Lake. He wrote, “We have a very pretty place to camp in full
view of Mount Adams, surrounded by huckleberries and strawberries of
all sizes.”
Other tribal groups gathered in the area. According to Streamer’s
account, a typical campsite bustled with nearly two hundred Native
Americans and more than a thousand ponies grazing nearby. The
Indians’ diet in camp included huckleberries in every form—mashed,
fried in salmon oil, fried in pancakes—plus salmon, trout, roasted squirrels,
and bread. Streamer described a dessert of “wild spinach” (called
malyak), which was boiled in water with flour, sugar, and camas. In
camp, they dried many bushels of berries on sloped banks facing smoldering
log fires. Dried berries were then stored in tub-shaped cedar-bark
baskets.
Streamer spent hours watching the men gamble, play cards, and play
their traditional stick-and-bone games (palyúut). They bet large quantities
of blankets and even clothes. He estimated that nearly a half-ton of dried
and fresh berries were transported back to The Dalles on their return trip.
The berries would become a food staple and trading commodity for the
coming year.
The Klickitat Indians were fond of salmon-huckleberry pemmican,
made from smoked and dried salmon. Salmon was pounded into paste and