02-Jun-2001 -- On June 2nd, 2001 I visited N48, W118 with my girlfriend's son Ryan (age 16). The confluence is on the northern edge of the Spokane Indian Reservation, in the northwest corner of the roughly 3 million acres occupied by the tribe prior to the 1800's.

[The Spokane Indians are of the Interior Salish group which has inhabited northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana for centuries. (The Flatheads are probably the most well-known of the Salish tribes.) The word "Spokane" is generally accepted as meaning "Sun People" or "Children of the Sun", although the interpretation is somewhat controversial. In 1807 David Thompson, a trapper with the Northwest Fur Trading Company, first used the name "Spokane" (pronounced "spo-CAN").]

The confluence is at the edge of a roughly 5 acre sloped plot that has been logged and burned. There were many such "clearings" in the area. We followed a logging road and then hiked cross-country for 1/2 hour to find the confluence. Naturally, we found another logging road just 10 meters from the confluence. If we ever return, it will be a lot easier!

The countryside is quite beautiful there, heavily treed with some dense brush and some grassy areas intermixed with wild flowers. We saw several deer, and two large wild turkeys as we drove in.