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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1878)
THE WEST SHORE. January. SNOQUALMIE RIVER AND FALLS, iiv LOU. F.. MUCH. Away uji tlio Hides of the mountains Are tint hearts of the bright, tiny streams, Iturstinji forth from thu icy fountain 'Ncatli the blow flukes' glistening beams. They rijinle along through the flowers, And down where the fir tree wares, Their music ofalmtl pntfl to the powers Which called them from out frozen graves. At lat o'er the foothill roaming, While HI king t heir jiath to the sen, They Btfti with a rushing aud foaming, And form the Snoijualmie. Tfac ttrtftU rinplei on, often turning, Like MMM fair, youthful Queen in her prlflaa Though toyat, hhe cannot ho scorning The MfDirjf no fair on each aide. Sho turns u she luaies the ateep mountain, Views thu btftutiM around on each bund, Laugha idled to the snowHako and fountain, Kre ahti Imjm o'er the ( ataruct grand She jnusuii, a sigh for the ocean, A rippte no sweet, flllx the air. She think of the- snowbird's devotion, Ami the II jwer-decked glen, ever fair. She lo ikl ORM again toward the mountain, Whoro the deer on the billaidca play, Sight farewell to the IDOWfl&kfl ami fountain, An she hinks ninth thu Minding spray. nil FA U.S. (J rami, mvful Sood. 1, trembling, viuw Thy fentliM y foam, and wee, far through Thy mint, clmnls tipped with ruinliow's hue, Hung o'er thy stony throne. The bftWM fan thy oloildl of Bproy, And OrMUM thy nitty veil away, Aa near thy bunk 1, fearful, atray, Thou work ol Hiin unknown. Slowly thy waters whirl and creep Down near thy brink, aa if anleep, Then wiik.-n with a start, and leap lluwn o'er thu dark abyss. Down iMpi the roaring, sparkling sheet, Kurtli tti'inblt us thy waters meet, Aud wives, btloWi thy l oluuini greet With sullen, set-thing hiss. Thy watcm btthi with foam the short:, And rork npMt thy in u filed roar, While lemming e.tglus oVr thee soar, Rfjololng in thu night. Ths in'k-ryeil fawn and cautious deer, With mini steps, draw womieritig near. And at Ihrnigh mint wet leaves they peer, BN ruiubow ever bright Then why not mtn Creation' king - With pUD ll thoUgbU) thy praises ting;' An 1 nak the mines tottoh raeh string of adnlnHon'i Ijm y Could man t mute at such a scene, Where iparkllng toftuii with diamond ileam BaMaoti the rainbow'i giistemug n, Ukl pin and heavenly tro 't Ab no I the htari unhid - . . i : ". when in hi hiu ti nohla nam ws dwtll, Or of lliy gt.nnbur iboold we tell Although in future years. Long live thy mim'iL lreh and bright Thy daufaulnj roar thy shifting light Thy raiubtiw t iir most gorgeous sight Thy DroWU i'f dewy tears. Tbo spray Irotn the entnraet lifting, As it' iwayad to and u- . by the wind, Si-enu KiKHpi limb's form, ever shifting, Catching gllnpuMl of lulls left behind, lake the ihiiiitms nf Youth, perfect seeming, With Hint DUBUm fair and grand, While II , mi the futUN is Warning, Tltay fade a we OUtatratoh the band. Smouojiimi Ciiv, V. T. NOTKS AMI REMINISCENCES, LA VINA OV1 Mill MTAUMIIIINU rill OLD III MIQIAM1 KOAtl INTO tOtrrHUN 01 ROOK, IN rtti VMK 184& IIV 1 1M.AV AITI ROAl . 1 1 fitin.taf.) prom rui l hi: TO fill SPRING IN 1 til; DRSRR r. ( In the morning of July th wa left our camp on the little creek (now called Hot creek), unci continued our course along tin short of Lower Klamath Lake. This threw us. oil" our coune considerably, aa the lake extended tome null's to the southward of our last e unp, mill we did mU reach the eastern ihore until the day was Air sin-nt. We camped on the lake ihore, and the next morning, July 6th, we ascended a Ugh rocjiT rklge to the eastward for the purpose of m ik'in observations, Near (he DMO of the ridge, on the gaaL was n largo lake, perbapa twenty mile in length. Beyond it. to the eastward, we cotdtl see a limbered butte, appar ently thirty miles distant, at the baaoof which there appeared tt be a low pass through the mountain range which seemed to encircle the hike basin. It appearing practicable to reach this pass by passing around the north end of the lake, we decided to adopt that route and began the descent of the ridge, but we soon found ourselves in the midst of an extremely rugged country. Short lava ridges ran in every conceivable direction, while between them were caves and crevices into which it seemed our animals were in danger of falling headlong. The farther we advanced thr worcc became the route, so that at length we decided to retrace our steps to the smooth country. This was diffi cult! as our horses had become sep arated among the rocks, and it was some time before we could get them together and return to the open ground. Then we discovered that one of our party, David GofT, was missing. While in the lava field he had discovered a band of mountain sheep and in pursu ing them had lost his way. Some of the party went quite a distance into the rocks, but could hear nothing of liim. We decided to proceed to the meadow country, at the head of the lake, by en circling the lava beds to the northward, and encamp until we could find our comrade. While we were proceeding to carry out this programme we dis covered a great number of canoes leav ing the lake shore, under the bliills, and making for what appeared to be an island four or five miles distant. We could also see a lone horseman riding leisurely along the lake shore, approaching us. This soon proved to he our lost friend. The Modocs hail discovered him in the lava fields, and probably supposing that the whole party was about to assail them from the rocks, they took to their canoes. He said that, seeing the Indians retreating, he concluded he would Ave the rocks and ride along the lake shore where the going was good. We uooned in a beautiful meadow, containing about two section-;, near the head of the lake. After spending a couple of hours in this splendid pasture, We re-packed and started on our way towards the tim bered butte, but had not proceeded more than a mtle before we came sud denly Upon quite B large stream (Lost river) coming into the lake. We found this stream near the lake very deep) with almost perpendicular banks, so that we were compelled to turn north ward, Up the river. Before proceeding very far we discovered an Indian crouching under the bank, am) sur rounding him, made him come out, By signs, we indicated to him that wc wanted to cross the river. By mark ing on hil legs ami pointing up the river, he gave us to understand that there was a place above where we could easily cross. Motioning to him to advance, he led the way up the river about a mile and pointed out a place on our left, and encamped for the night. After using the alkali water of Lower Klamath Lake the previous night, the fresh, cold water of this spring was a real luxury. There was plenty of dry wood and an abundance of green grass for our animals, and we enjoyed the camp exceedingly. Sitting around our fire that evening, we discussed the ad ventures of the past few days in this new and strange land. The circum stances of the last day had been partic ularly interesting. Our adventure in the rocks; the retreat of the whole Modoc tribe in a fleet of thirty or forty canoes across the lake from GofT; the singularity of the natural bridge; the vast fields of tide around the lake, and the fact that the lake was an independ cut body of water, were subjects of pc cullar interest and only intensified our desire to see more of this then wild land July 7th, we left the valley of Tule Lake to pursue our course eastward over a rocky table land, among scatter ing juniper trees. We still observed the timbered butte as our landmark, land traveled as directly toward It as the shape of the country would admit. This butte is near the State line, be tween Clear lake and Goose lake, and probably distant fifty miles from the lava ridge west of Lost river, from which we first observed it, and suppos ing it to be about thirty miles away. In pursuing our course we passed through the hilly, juniper country be tween Langell valley and Clear lake without seeing either the valley or lake, and at noon arrived at the bed of a stream where there was but little water. The course of the stream was north or northwest, and appearances indicated that at times quite a volume of water flowetl in the channel. This w as evidently the bed of Lost river, a few miles north of where this singular stream leaves the Clear lake marsh. Leaving this place, we pursued our journey through a similar country to that passed over dining the forenoon, anil encamped at a little spring among the junipers, near the base of the tim bered hill, and passed a very pleasant ght. On the morning of July 8th, we passed our landmark and traveled nearly eastward, over a comparatively level but extremely rocky country, and nooned in the channel of another stream, where there was a little water standing in holes. On leaving this place wc found the country still quite level, but exceedingly rocky; for eight or ten miles almost like a pavement. Late in the afternoon we came out into" the basin of a lake (Goose lake), appar ently forty or fifty miles in length. Traversing the valley about five miles along the south end of the lake, we came to a little stream COmlnff in from the mountain- to the eastward. The ood, we en camped here lor the night. Game where an immense rock crossed the I grass and water bein river. J lie sheet of water running i camped here over tiie i.kk was ahout titteen Inches seemed ntenHfiil. nn.l ,. (lt' ti, .,rt.. deep, while the principal part of the killed a fine deer in the vicinity of the river seemed to flow under. This WW camp, From a spur of the mountains, the famous Stone Bridge on Lost river, near our camp, we had a splendid view so often mentioned after this by trav- of the lake and of the extensive valley eier. t o: m.tnv war the .vatei- ol borderin Tide Lake have been gradually rising, so that now the beautiful meadow on which we uooned on the day wc dis covered the bridge is covered by ihc lake, aud the back water in Lost river long ago made the river impassable; is now probably ten feet deep over the bridge. After crossing the bridge we made our pilot some presents, and ull shaking the lake from the mountain chain. A the north. On the east, between the lake and mountain range running nearly north and south, and which we siipjKiscd to he a spur of the Sierra Nevadas, was a beautiful meadow country, narroyv, but many miles in length, across which the lines of willows ami scattering pines and cot-1 lonwoods indicated the courses of a number of little streams comm? into' nanus w.m mm, leit nun standing on the river bank. Purnuing our way along the northern shore of the lake a few miles, we came to a bc.mtifid spring, near the base of the mountains little southeast ol our camn there an. pcarcd to be a gap in the mountain w all, i and we decided to try it on the suc ceeding day. July oth we moved up the ridge to- 1 wards the gap, and soon entered a little valley, perhaps containing a hundred acres, extending to the summit of the ridge, thus forming an excellent pass. The ascent was very gradual. The little valley was fringed with mountain mahogony trees, giving it quite a pic turcsque appearance. This shrub, which is peculiar to the rocky high lands, is from fifteen to twenty feet high and in form something like a cherry tree, so that a grove of moun tain mahogany strikingly resembles a cherry orchard. About the center of the little valley is a spring of cold water, making it an excellent camping place, and for many years afterwards it was the place where the immigrants were wont to meet and let their ani mals recuperate after the long, tire some march across the so-called Amer ican Desert; for this Sierra ridge sep. arates the waters of the Pacific from those of the great basin which extends from the Blue mountains far southward towards the Colorado. The little stream on which wc encamped before entering this pass is called Lassen creek, taking its name from Peter Las sen, who led a small party of immi grants across the plains in 1S4S, follow ing our route from the Humboldt through this pass, thence down Pitt river to the Sacramento. From the summit of the ridge we had a splendid view. Northward the ridge seemed to widen out, forming several low ranges of timbered mountains, while south ward it seemed to rise very high, as we could sec patches of snow along the summit in the distance. East and south of us, at the foot of the ridge, was a beautiful green valley, twenty or thirty miles in extent, and containing a small hike. A number of small streams flowed from the mountain into and through the valley, affording an abund ance of water for the wants of a settle ment. This fertile valley on the border of the desert has since been called Sur prise valley, and now contains quite a population. As we stood on the Sierra ridge, we surveyed the vast desert plains to the eastward of Surprise valley, apparently without grass or trees, and marked ly numerous high rocky ridges running north and south. After deciding an our course, wc descended the mountain ml nnn Minn tn a littlo ifraiim tlip banks of which were lined with plum bushes completely loaded with fruit. There was a grove of pines at hand, and there we deckled to noon, as the day was extremely hot. Game scented plentiful about this rich valley, anil while wc were nooning a large band of antelope grazed in sight of us. Spend- about two hours among these pine, which were the last wc saw during our long and weary march on the desert, we packed up and moved across the ley eastward. After crossing the valley we entered a very sandv district. where the traveling was laborious, and next ascended to a table land, the sur face of which was covered with small eravel. Iiv this time most of our horses were barefooted, and our prog ress through the rocky country ' consequcntlv very slow. The country was so desert-like that we had abo"' despaired of finding water that night, but just at dark we unexpectedly can" to a'little spring. There was but ft water, but by digging some wc r( able to get quite enough for otirsebf; and horses, though it kept us busyunt; about midnight to get the horse tered. Although we hail met w- suiL'ularlv "ood fortune in thus tindWf water at' the close of the first a' inarch on the desert, wc could not ways expect such good luck in the fu ture; and as we lay down ia blankets among the "sage-brush l( night, we could not help some " oinnv tiir. lini nnr in M'Cii"" the future of our expedition. (70 bf ".! :'