History of the Counties of Oregon 39 the name of the river Cowes, and on page 101, quoting from Hale, he called the Indians Kaus and says they are "on a small river called by their name, between the Umpqua and Klamet" [Rivers]. In Armstrong's "Oregon/' pages 68-70, he says the name of the Bay is Kowes, but that it is usually written Coose, and he quotes from a letter by C. Clark, dated Empire City, April 23, 1855, in which the name of the Bay is spelled Coose. On page 116 he writes of the "Kouse Indians." Coos County is now bounded : on the north and east by Douglas County; on the south by Curry County; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its county seat is Coquille. Wasco County. Wasco County was created January 11, 1854, by the Terri- torial Legislature. (Special Laws of 1853-4, page 26). It comprised all of Eastern Oregon, that is, all that part of Oregon Territory east of the Cascade Mountains, from the Columbia River to the north lines of California and Nevada. It is the name of a small tribe of Indians, who lived at a place which is now Dalles City, but colloquially called "The Dalles," although it is several miles from them. This tribe seems to have had more of a local habitation than a name. The name is not mentioned by Lewis and Clark, nor by Henry, nor Thompson, nor by many of the authors of early books on Oregon. This is probably because these Indians were few in number, and a miserable lot. Most of the early travellers passed by The Dalles in the fishing season when sometimes thousands of Indians, of various tribes, were congregated along the river, from the falls of the Columbia at Celilo, to a point where the Wasco Indians lived. The latter were there- fore overlooked as a tribe. In Com. Charles Wilkes' "Narra- tive," under date of July 1, 1841 (Vol. 4, page 382), he says of these Indians, without giving their name : "There are only a few Indians residing near the mission during the winter, and
