| Show 1 I gnp to the M I 1 M there are few people even in our intermountain region who know the vastness resources and beauty of the great empire to the northwest it was a revelation even to most of us who have traversed much of the west in setting out from salt lake city I 1 the first thing that is of great scientific interest is the old outlet of great salt lake how many people there are who pass this most interesting relic of ancient times without realizing its importance this occupies what is commonly known as red rock gap on the short f line which is not far above the city of logan in cache valley the old outlet properly begins at swan lake some j few miles this side it then enters a canyon between massive limestone cliffs which are fully a f quarter of a mile apart and then fol lows along an old river bed which is f now occupied by large enough to carry ships of considerable size and led the entire drainage of at least half of the great basin into the portneuf Port neuf and thence into the snake and columbia this was during glacial times and long after man appeared upon the earth since after traversing the great lava beds which cover the country like a blanket from pocatello to glenns ferry we come out upon what is destined to be an empire all by itself the snake river valley it takes the swiftest railroad train nearly half of the daytime to traverse it and it is from arsh creek for many miles the railroad this old river bed and gradually descends with it until the bed swings off to the west in a great bow then the railroad leaves it and cuts across the country few people realize that ance this old river was that time the gradual extension and elevation of the land has made the climate so dry that the great plateau has become a desert and its beautiful fresh water seas have shriveled to salty klakeg without an outlet 15 three to ten miles wide the country is densely covered with sage brush the soil is very fertile and the water supply is inexhaustible and unlimited the country can be watered net only by the boise payette and weiser rivers but also by numerous other streams and by the snake which is as yet almost unused and carries during a part of the year at least second feet of water the elevation is so low only about 2000 feet above the level of the sea that the climate is very mild and differs little from that of salt lake city except that it is more humid all kinds of crops except lemons and oranges are raised there while fruit and hay are unusually fine the writer in walking through a meadow of timothy found the grass coming up to his chin and standing thicker than k in any place he ever saw considerable lu cern Is raised there but the stronger grasses are more common the forage on the hill sides is nearly double the height of that in utah and Is less easily killed out by the tramping of stock there is no cedar or pinon on the hillsides hill sides but only a few miles mile in the higher hills and low mountains there are dense forests of yellow pine tamarack and spruce which furnish the finest kind of lumber in unlimited quantities the most beautiful city in the entire region is boise the capital which is not only the largest but is also the leading city in the state for twenty miles south of this place the orchards and green fields extend the visitor is struck with the cleanness of the fields the brightness and the prosperity of the people then opens up into as beautiful a lake as one would wish to see this is called payette after the river and valley and is twelve miles long and three miles wide vide and has the most magnificent forests coming down almost to the waters edge this is the head of the river of the same name and is full of the finest trout grayling etc the fishing here is excellent and the accommodations are of the old style yankee kind where one can get the finest beds meals and old fashioned hospitality game of all kinds Is plentiful around the great sawtooth range rises immediately to the northward and is never without its great banks of snow and beautiful flowers it Is also the heart of a great mining region from which millions and millions in gold have been produced i S V A AA 4 V 7 7 f oracion of 21 merton rard As we pass along the valley to the westward there are numerous towns such as mountain home payette and weiser the latter destined to be one of the greatest cities in the state there are two great valleys which run from the snake far up into the mountains to the north these are payette and weiser at various places along their course they widen but dut and have local names there is a little town in each one of these places which is surrounded by prosperous ranches which raise large quantities of grain hay and root crops payette valley at its upper end is like the prairies of the states it then passes into a park like coun try with magnificent forests around and the heads of all these rivers have extensive placers which have been worked lor for many years the seven devils mining region lies along the weiser river on the west with its inexhaustible supplies of copper from the head of the weiser over to the salmon river is one of the most picturesque trails in the world the great snake river canyon one of the finest in the country lies just over on the western side of the seven devils after we cross the snake river near huntington the railroad winds around up a rolling country which terminates in low mountains at baker city and then it as gradually descends over the great swell s well to pendleton on the edge of the columbia plains this whole section is a region cov ered with gold mines and in former birnel tl was the great placer region of oregon ore around baker city in the schist are in i numerable mines the most paying ones one i t ing near sumpter in the wallowa gallowa moun bains to the northward is the great corbu cora copla copia district although the general section is covered with brush sage all the highe high valleys and mountains are covered alth dense forests and therefore is a great lum jut her ber region it is a beautiful section in which to pass the summer bebau because s e it is high and 1 cool when we come down upon the great columbia plain we find a vast rolling region deeply cut by rivers and colored light broza brown by the wild oats which seem to have taken possession of the land this is a region without summer showers and Is a paradise for the small grain raiser because there Is sufficient moisture in the spring to mature the grain crop it is a hot and treeless re gion except along the streams but ha has a all ai abundance of timber where most of thi the cities are located As we come to the dalles at the entrance to the columbia canyon where it cuts the cascades the scene is instantly changed 3 to one of beauty and grandeur c comparable amp araold 4 only to the rhine we take the boat at the dalles and drop down the great columbia I 1 river between walls of sloping rock which are perpetually opening out into beautiful gorg gorges es and canyons with their orchards fruit farms and summer residences the black forests cover all the slopes with dense vegetation the mountains rise to snow carped capped peaks on either side in places jhb th river is as placid as a lake and dotted with beautiful islands in others it is as swift as a millrace mill race and as rough as the sea in a storm thus we drop down through the columbia gorge past beautiful waterfalls and nestling towns until we come out into the moisture laden hazy atmosphere and black forests of the western slope here again is a transformation as sudden and as startling as before the whole country is covered with a mantle of black except where some farmer has cleared off the primeval forest for his crop here we come to real rivers on every hand band and are soon at the beautiful city of portland rising up from the waters of the willamette river we have often heard of the roses of california and the small fruit of the states but it would take half a dozen california roses to make one grown in portland while the small fruit of the states is not to be mentioned by the side of what the cascades produce in the park at portland WO we saw many roses six inches in diameter which rd reminded minded one more of peonies than of roses NO their colors were as rich as their size was enormous from portland to seattle the country ls is much the same as from the cascades to the sea but here her 6 and there are parks wa prairie flowers throughout the forest seattle the city of many hills lies on the shore of the silvery puget sound and like its twin sister tacoma has all the facilities for growth into a great city seattle is characterized by its reckless push and energy and tacoma by its conservatism and high intelligence the one is about as easily reached as the other and each is in the eyes of its citizens the only town on the coast of all the beautiful places in the united states rates there is nothing like puget sound with its silvery inlets dense forests coming close to the sea and endless resources A person feels like one traveling through an enchanted land as he goes from one inlet to another which in one place opens out into the great navy yard at Br emerton and at another contains great lumber establishments and large cities abone As one traverses this country lip he sees more inlets without inhabitants than with where some day there might be a population many fold greater than new york city there seems to be no limit to the possibilities of this region here all the business of the northwest seems to gravitate naturally the people are of the wideawake wide awake enterprising and intelligent class which once characterized the new england states and they seem to be adopting that which is highest and best in american civilization from seattle through the courtesy of its citizens and the steamship company we passed over puget sound to the island ot of Van vancouver douver and landed at the quaint old own of victoria here with truly english we were taken on the railroad along the center of cf the island to mt sicker which is of conical shape rising several thousand feet in height and having exten sive copper mines near its summit at its base we were transferred to a little train hauled by a familiar shay engine which whisked us around innumerable curves and through vegetation so dense that it was difficult I 1 d for a person not to believe that he was traversing a tropical forest here were great bunches of ferns often ten feet high s there were tangled logs in every direction P CoY covered ered with dense moss flowers and ferns i every few minutes we would pass so close clos e to the salmon berry bushes that we could snatch the berries as we went at last after winding up the spiral we came to the top 5 where we could view the sea and ane sound with its innumerable inlets after descending we crossed the island to the sound on the east where the great smelter recently erected is located it is a beautiful spot surrounded by dense forests where ships can unload their ores at the smelter belter and take on bullion without difficulty fi there is every facility here for the development of the greatest smelting smelling sm elting indus try y on the coast the sea is so deep that it s only a few rods from the shore to where any seagoing sea going steamer can discharge its cargo the water is so clear that a person can see the bottom at twenty five feet and observe the fishes as they play around the piling the day we were there a whale was sporting in the waters of the bay A fortunate delay in the arrival of our boat which was to carry us back to victoria necessitated sailing over the sea in the night the writer had often heard of the sea in the tropics but never nevar expected to observe it here nevertheless as the night drew dark the trail of the ship became luminous and a little later as we leaned over the rail the swiftly moving boat rolled up the water in a little wave on each side which became a mass of flame which here and there sparkled with bright spots of light like innumerable discharges of electric sparks there were many surprises on the trip but none that made such a profound impression on the mind like the great northwest |
