A Grave, A Valley, and a Whole Lotta Fish

Just outside of Joseph on the way to Wallowa Lake is grave of Old Chief Joseph.  Although Old Joseph was originally buried near the town of Wallowa, his grave was robbed twice and so his remains were relocated to this cemetery in 1926.




One of the reasons Young Chief Joseph was unwilling to relinquish his claim on this land was that his father was buried here.  Young Chief Joseph had made a promise to his dying father to not sell the bones of his mother and father. 

This is the view from the cemetery.



This is the monument and gravesite.



All around the gravesite and on the adjacent tree, people have left gifts and trinkets for Chief Joseph.



On Hwy 3 about 3o miles out of Enterprise,  there is a viewpoint for Joseph Canyon.  There is a great overlook there with plenty of parking and restrooms (I always like to know that information!).  This is where the Nez Perce would winter.



If you click on the picture below to enlarge, you can read about this canyon and the Nez Perce.



The canyon is huge and it cannot be seen totally form the top.  You can only get an idea of how large it is.  It seems like a well sheltered place to spend the cold winter months.




Back at the campground, we took a walk around the river where it flows into Wallowa Lake.  I love hearing the gurgle and splash of moving water.



It wasn’t long before I saw fish jumping out of the water…then I noticed, it’s spawning season.  I believe it is the Chinook salmon that are spawning right now and the river is teeming with then.   The water is so clear that it is easy to see the red of the salmon just under the surface….but it is hard to get them to stand still for a picture!



Many of the fish have their skin rubbed raw from fighting the rocks as they make their way upstream.



I thought this would make a nice modern art print!!



I remember a few years ago, we were in Skagway, Alaska.  We rented a car and went out to tour the country side.  We asked the car rental guy where we could see salmon and he said just a few blocks over at the creek.  “Plenty of salmon there,” he assured us.

We found the creek and just like the man said, there were plenty of salmon.  The problem was, spawning season was over and all the fish were dead!  The creek and its banks were littered with plenty of dead salmon in varying degrees of decay.  Most must have already been eaten by predators as the ones that were left were in pretty bad shape and looked like they had been gnawed on!  I bet that fella at the car rental place had himself a good laugh at our expense.  Dumb tourists!

One last bit…if you are offended by nature don’t watch this clip.  It shows the activity of the salmon in the river.  I thought it was just like National Geographic but my son thought it was yuk LOL!!!


http://youtu.be/2BOdvPIMNI8


Next a visit to historic Imnaha and an Indian in Enterprise.