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11 Clarkes Fork between Sinyakwatum & the Lake. Above freshet level consists of [[underlined]] P. ponderosa [[/underlined]], [[underlined]] P. Contorta [[/underlined]], Larch, Douglasi fir with, more rarely, [[underlined]] Thuja [[/underlined]] & white fir - [[underline]] Thuja [[/underlined]] & [[underlined]] Abies Menzesii [[/underlined]] occasionally in the bottoms - Balsam Poplar (?) in the low grounds. Swamp maple - white birch on the terraces - Fir, larch, & [[underlined]] P. Contorta [[/underlined]] on the mountains. A few Hemlocks in the thick woods back from the river. Some White Pine ([[underlined]] P. Monticola [[/underlined]] ) Aspen abundant on the creeks. May 22 [[superscript]] d [[/superscript]] Kamass in bloom. The timber is very thick over the whole country except a few meadows (overflowed during freshets) on the river. But it is, [[strikethrough]] of [[/strikethrough]] owing to the paucity of the soil of small comparative diameter. The undergrowth aspen, alder, willows, hawthorn hazle. The [[underlined]] Aralia [[/underlined]] ^ [[insertion]] [[underlined]] horrida [[/underlined]] [[strikethrough]] spinosa [[/strikethrough]] [[/insertion]] in wet places in the wood. The white pine is now the finest tree in the woods reaching a great height, perfectly symmetrical & with a thin dark colored bark, cones with small very regular scales, [[strikethrough]] which adds to or perhaps produces the idea of [[/strikethrough]] Hemlock also becomes common. [[image - arrow pointing to above paragraph]] On Pack river between [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] Clarkes Fork & the Kootenay there is a superb wood of these trees ([[underlined]] P Monticola [[/underlined]]) Kootenay River, Chelemta Crossing. The same pines, firs & larch on the hills, [[underlined]] Thuja [[/underlined]] in the bottom. The quality of this last as timber is very inferior here to that on the coast. It is rarely sound. The [[underlined]] Pinus Ponderosa [[/underlined]] is by far the best. The birch here reaches a diameter of 24 to 30 inches (paper birch). The Indians use the bark of this & also of the spruce, for canoes. Alders common also. The Columbia pine as usual on the terraces only - always open & free from underbrush
Transcription Notes:
Ambrosia: Reviewed and edited. Latin and place names checked.
freshet means flood
Abies Menzesii = Gibbs uses this spelling through whole project for Abies Menziesii
Kootenay River, Chelemta
Kamass was the native american name for the Camas Lily (Camassia)