Three Native American girls, of the Umatilla Tribe, are standing on top of the gate of a small wooden dam over a river. The young woman on the left has a pendleton blanket wrapped around herself. She is wearing a headdress with feathers and her hair is loosely tucked under the blanket. The young woman in the middle also has a pendleton blanket wrapped around herself. She has two long braids and is carrying a woven bag over one arm. The design on the bag is of a deer and two flowers. The young woman on the right is wearing a buckskin dress with a belt and a woven cornhusk hat. The dress has two tiers of beaded fringe. She has two arm band style bracelets on her wrist and forearm; the one on her forearm is copper. All three girls are wearing beaded moccasins. The dam spans an inlet between the bank and a sandbar. There is a pile of rocks on the sand on both sides of the dam. The background of the image shows more of the river, a wooden dock or platform, and some shrubs and deciduous trees., Umatilla Indian girls 1904 [Three Umatilla girls in regalia, standing by irrigation flume. One wears bear claw circlet, one has cornhusk bag with deer, one wears cornhusk hat and shoulder-beaded dress with dangles.]
The left side of the image is a large open plain that is covered by sand and sagebrush, with no visible trees or other vegetation. The right side of the image has a farmhouse and a barn. The ground around and beyond the farmhouse is darker in color from the soil content and access to water. In the foreground is a small wooden dam. The sides of the dam are up against a low-tiered wall of sand and rock, built into the embankment. Beyond the embankment, the pathway of the canal from the dam is visible as a dividing line between the the sagebrush area and the farmland area. The canal is identified as the Hinkle irrigation canal, located near Pendleton, Oregon. The house and barn are both constructed of wood. The barn is larger and in front of the house. Only the chimney and part of the roof and one side of the house are visible. There is a fence enclosing the buildings and part of the canal. There is a small white tent or cloth cover to the far right of the buildings. There are some other small structures and farm-related objects near the barn, but not clearly seen.
