The town of Toppenish in the southern half of Washington takes its name from the Indian “Xuupinish,” which means “sloping and spreading.” You get a sense of its meaning in the marshes on the Yakama Indian Reservation and on the Umatilla Reservation on the south bank of the Columbia River.

When the leaves were yellow and orange, and the corn had turned to stubble in the fields, we prospected some of Oregon and Washington’s best California quail and pheasant habitat. In three days, we plied a polyglot of dog power with pairs of Brittanies, German shorthairs and large Munsterlanders, along with a yellow Lab, and English pointer, a Vizsla and an English cocker.

After dark we rolled through…