Novemober, 1881.
THE WEST SHORE
WHERE IS THE BETTER PART OF THE
UPPER COLUMUIA IiASIN.
Much lias been saij uik written of
the great basin of the Columbia, be
tween the Cascade and Bitter Root
mountains, its climate, soil and produc
tions, and probably in no instance has
this basin been overrated. When Geo.
Stevens and party first visited this sec
tion, he conceived a limited idea of its
future and yet he deemed it of sufficient
importance to warrant the construction
of a railroad to penetrate it from the
east, and when the first engineers of
the Northern Pacific came through on
their surveys, Roberts their chief,
claimed that it would become the great
grazing country of the Union. But
none ot them foresaw that it would be
come the great grain country of the
United States; but the tests made of
the soil by some of the early settlers
soon disclosed its wonderful productive
ness in wheat, barley and oats. But
the knowledge of this fact was very
limited till as late as 1S74-5 and in fact
but little attention was called to it in
the east till the Indian wars of 77-8,
when it was penetrated by numerous
officers and soldiers from the cant, all
of whom were impressed with the
wonderful fertility of the soil, the
salubrity of the climate, and the vast
area that invited the agriculturists to
come here and settle and many were
the letters to private friends in the east,
to the eastern press, and official notes
sent to the war department, all convey
ing in the most authentic manner des
criptions of the advantages of this
country. Rev. Geo. II. Atkinson of
Portland took up the subject and gave
a series of letters (several of them ap
pearing in the West Shore) which
have done a vast amount of good in
portraying the facts and assigning the
natural ciuses why the lands are so
fertile and so well adapted to the
growth of wheat and other grain.
With all this showing, men of large
capital have been induced to visit sev
eral sections of this basin in person to
see if what had been told them were
true, and on coming here had found
that not the half had been told them,
and they have gone back all inspired
with a rivalry to invest means to open
up this basin by means of railroads to
carry off the surplus the country can
b made to produce, and immigration
has rapidly come to us and is still com-
379
mg in large numbers, and now the
whole people of the cast is excited
about the wonders of t!.!s l.inJ, am!
are seeking to release themselves from
the ties of home and birth place ami
means of reaching this land of promise.
The great cry has been the Palousc
and emigrants painted on the wagons
" Palouse or bust " under the impres
sion that the Palousc was all there is of
the country. The north and south
Palouse and the streams tributary pen
etrate some of the best lands in the
whole Columbia basin. But not more
so than do the Clearwater and its trib
utaries including the Potlatch, Hatwai,
Lapwai, Jack's creek, Oro Fino creek,
Ford's creek, Cottonwood, Three mile
creek, John's creek. To these add
Alpowa, Pataha, and Tucanon, Assotin
creek, lower Grand Rondo river and
Joseph creek. All these streams drain
some of the !cst lauds in the whole
Columbia basin, only a small portion of
which are yet occupied by settlers, am
into no part of which save the Pataha
and Tucanon are any railroads project
ing with prospect of construction within
the ensuing five years. , But they have
the navigable waters of the Snake and
limited navigation of the Clearwater as
means of ingress and egress. This
section last dcscrilcd possesses a milder
climate than the Palouse, as the thenno
metrical record of the two years lat
past fully shows. The very heart of
this section is penetrated by navigable
waters while the I'mIoum; country Is not,
and a large part of this section is tatter
adapted to fruit growing than is any
part of the Palousc, When the Cascade
division of the Northern Pacific is com
pletcd this section will have the choice
of an outlet to the sea cither via the
mouth of the Columbia or via rail over
the mountains to Tacoma with prospect
of cheap transportation. If necessary
competing steamers can run between
this place and Ainsworth the eastern
terminus of the Cascade division of the
Northern Pacific, and LcwUton will be
the central point fur business In all Ibis
section, with the best climate of live
whole north-west At present we are
being overlooked am! neglected by the
attractions of other localities where rail
roads are being built and money of the
companies U being di.bursrd. Hut
when the construction complete!,
.1 .11 tnmnt and ntare locate! in
order to become of importance to! wide fame and resort upon the heatc4
themselves or to the railroads must 'earth near Unkville.
havo a good producing country around
them, otherwise their denixens will
only have the pleitr ( th
cars hurriedly pa by without leaving .;
then) one cent. But when we one
get our connection with tho Sound as
we have suggested, s people of Lewis,
iston and in the vicinity of the Clear
water need have no fears that they will
le neglected. We aro In the best part
of tho whole Columbia basin, and no
railroad engineering north or south of
us can rob us of the natural advantages ,
we enjoy and the man who thinks of
bettering hi situation by going north
along the lino of the railroad fur any
other than a temporary residence while
the road Is being built is making a
mistake. We may be the last In im
portance as considered by the capitalist
who invests, but when they do come,
we will bo firt on the list of rapid
progress to wealth mid prosperity, and
wo must not overlook or forget this
prediction. Tilltr, '
' 1. ,
THE SOt'Tllt;HNOHK(iUN HOT JCAHTtI
CI KK,
On Maj. q. Arilrook's land near
Linkville. Lake Co., is shout an acre of
ground which Is kept hot by vapor ttial
ascends from some mysterious source
of heat below. Just beneath the stir
lace this earth l too hot to hold the
hand upon, and at twelve inches from
tho surface in some place it send the
mercury up to 105 ilrg, rarenheit.
Whether thi heat is of chemical origin
near the surface or I front direct con '
nection with the val molten interior of
the earth, is a yet a matter fur pure
simulation, but the theory of chemical
derivation seem the more . rational.
However that may be, the hot earth,
which I a kind of red loam in coin
position, has been found to have astoit
shing curative pmiwrtics in case of
rheumatism, tame back, diseased ami
stiffened Joints, and many other sflrc
tions. A numlcr of remarkable cures
are rcjwrted already, two of them be
ing of acute affection of Our back, re
suiting from recent accident, one case
being that of Mr, Alcsamler, who was
crippled in the stage accident between
Liukville ami Yreka last May. The
treatment differing in the difference In
the cae. In tout Instance the af
fected part or even the whole body of
the patient 1 buried In the earth, which
is tempered to a suitable warmth. In
other case live patient I given a vapor
bath at hot as can I borne. As yet
the use of the hot earth a a remedial
agent ha Just begun, but it gives
Promt of becoming of vas utility ami
f. t . I
, innrm 10 miucn numsniir, iimj w f
I. ...
thouta not I supricl to tee some ay
a sanitarium of national, even of world.