Note 271 — OREGON MISSIONS AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF OREGON TERRITORY AND ITS MISSIONS (continued 3)

Alexander Ross in his Fur Hunters, ii, pp. 165-175, speaks of paintings in red ochre upon a rock on Lower Arrow Lake, against which the passing Indians shot their arrows in defiance of the tribes beyond. By examining these arrows, the natives could tell what tribes have lately passed. Doubtless from this custom the lakes have received their name. They are wide spreads of the river, beautifully located, amid high cliffs and peaks. Upper Arrow Lake is about thirty-three miles long and three broad; the Lower is more tortuous, and slightly longer and narrower. The distance between them is more nearly sixteen than six miles.—Ed.