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Title: Pacific Northwest Stream Survey Collection, 1931-1950

Predominant Dates: 1935-1946

ID: MSS PNWStream

Primary Creator: Sedell, James R. (James Russell), 1944-2012

Extent: 11.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Pacific Northwest Stream Survey Collection consists of research data, photographs, reports, and a map generated by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fisheries and Wildlife Service over the course of an extensive survey of the Columbia River and its tributaries.

The collection includes documents outlining factors affecting salmon spawning in creeks and rivers such as pool grade, bottom composition, and artificial obstructions. The research data consists of handwritten notes and narrative descriptions in files and on 5x8 index cards. The photographs consist of black and white prints and negatives of the creeks and rivers featured in the survey and are stored in a card file box and a file drawer. There are also two scrapbooks of photographs with images of the rivers and creeks featured in the survey, the researchers who worked on the study, and salmon management efforts at dams and hatcheries in the region. The reports, published in seven parts from 1948 to 1950, summarize the data gathered in the survey. Also included in the collection is a map of Keswick Dam which documents migratory fish controls at the dam.

Begun in 1934, this survey was conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service to collect information for the development of a program for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the fisheries of the Columbia River. One of the major purposes of the survey was to study the condition of the various tributaries of the Columbia to determine their carrying capacity for migratory fishes. The study was divided up into seven geographic regions encompassing the extent of the Columbia River watershed in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In 1948 the survey was concluded with the publication of the first of a series of seven reports summarizing the data collected for the study.

More Extent Information: 16 document boxes, 1 12x17 oversize box, and 10 5x8 card file boxes

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Separated Materials: The information on the index cards is duplicated elsewhere in the collection. Organized chronologically by the seven geographical areas designated in the study, the cards for areas V through VII were transferred to a Field Office in Boise prior to this accession.

Related Materials: See also: The Pacific Northwest Stream Survey Digital Collection, a resource including over 1,000 field images taken between 1934 and 1945, spanning 390 streams in the Columbia River Basin.

Preferred Citation: Pacific Northwest Stream Survey Collection (MSS PNWStream), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

This collection is not fully processed and a complete finding aid is not available at this time. In Series II (Index Cards) and Series IV (Photographs) in the preliminary container list for the collection, main rivers and river systems, and creeks without tributaries, are identified by bold text; tributaries, and tributaries of tributaries, have been italicized.

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.

SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive.

Historically, "squaw" has been used as a misogynist and racist slur to disparage indigenous American women. Within this historic usage, it has been applied to place names, and scientific or colloquial names for plants. In this collection, the term "squaw" is used in reference to the names of geographic features across the Pacific Northwest.

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information on impacted collections, see the blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: December 2023]

Other URL: A preliminary container list was created for this collection on or before November 14, 2014. Detailed preliminary lists of albums and photos have also been created.

Sedell, James R. (James Russell), 1944-2012
United States. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

Natural Resources