March, 1883.
5
THE WEST SHORE.
fourteen mile from Sprague and eleven from
Cheney, in the midst of a prosperous farming
community. The land it well watered, and there
ii a fine belt of timber, m it K a new saw mill, near
the town. A grist mill will toon be erected about
two miles distant. Stevens is one of the shipping
points to the Dig fiend country.
Spangle, .Spokane county, is a prosperous place,
and is becoming quite an important town. Two
storrt, two blacksmith shops, a millinery store,
livrry stable, harness shop, notion store, saloon
and hotel comprise its business enterprises. It is
eighteen miles south of Spokane Kails and twelve
from Cheney, with which it is connected by a
stage line. The location is beautiful and a large
farming country surrounds it. A splendid open
ing for business of various kinds is offered there.
1-umhei from a saw mill, four miles distant, sells
fur $15 j wood at $ J per cord.
Walla Walla is increasing in prosperity daily,
keal estate in the city is thirty per cent, higher
than a year ago, and land near by is selling at
$150 and Jjooanacre. Several fine brick blocks
were erected last season, and others will 1 built
the coming summer. An elevator, to cost about
$150,000 will be built and in readiness to handle
the crop this fall. The Trustees of W h itman
College contemplate erecting a new Iniilding, to
o,o. live Suim will build a fine hos
pital, and the F'rehytenans a Urge church. Cap
italists are investing in Walla Walla with great
confidence in its future.
The Waitsburg Timti says ol a faim near that
town :
This farm emprise 1S.S0, acres of as fine land
as is lo he hmnd in in hillt 1 .. 1
- . , 1 bvk m viiucii
ate now under the plow, and will this year, if the
amtnint of at.ono huKrU ni .h,,. a. .iT- .-
I a -..-. ri uic lime
of our v,ul there were si. (ahorse tram, em-
im"Ttm m setMing and harrowing, and Mr. I'rrstnn
.n-nmn us ,nat ne w.mld inceasc the force im.
medutrlv. IT the 1,1,1.... .J ... ...
.. . . s 1m.1t icams.
..... ,vh me view it simply magnili
cent At one sweep the eye take, in a rart
the llue mountain r,tm.t... 1 . ..
, ........... .K , lnc mam a
00 the south, to th T.r,. ... .1..
. . . . " - uu me north.
pnts at least one hundred miles a;.an, while far
lo the westward itw sum... .1.- '
. , , ii s.srane rarure
?!l?.,imlVncr1' ,h fo' " ML Tacom,
Walla !la Columbia and Yakima counties.
WashircUin Term.r ..! 11 .
. .. , couiiiy. Lire-
f. are all undrf iK- " . .
col and Hunt.nlle art readily located
What is known as the B.g Bend country will be
s. . . many emigrant, to Fastem Wash
!. the c.nmg season. It consists of ,,,
fUtUau nfik. f1 I s
" " ,uc '-wumou surrounded on three side
bytheCoJwn, rivee io h. lg ,.p t0 ,h
north, and far to the nonhi .J .k. v.....
Pacific railroad ahm the mcmlt ...
The Und iB wfxct lnd chirififf
"en or hilly. ,M c,,, ,
V The srttl,, hl
nmw, fc im, l,-ltHV,. Cl(
Irtut. hay ot st,.k: can tu.M . - n .
. - u go into
b-vne A rallH Mammon has been
ony m.lcl ftor!h, of Spi,
"o ooww snake thrtr ....
" 1 in ii
, 1 1 company Unj j. n
1. ac skl a.-wtK. TV. k . .
,-cur " retnmonUnd
so toU be all taken up thn ,K,t
1ST
n.
into
and
the
Sprague, Stevens and Cheney are the railroad
towns the most accessible to this region.
The town of Belmont or Colville was laid out
the past winter in Colville valley, while the snow
a fool deep on the ground. It is beautilully sit
uated on an incline from which apand view can be
had of the valley and surrounding mountains.
Lime rock abounds and a ledge of marble exists
within five miles of the town. Building com
menced before the town-site was fully surveyed,
and much activity has been displayed in preparing
for business with the coming immigrants. The
I lofstetter brewery is 'located here. The valley
is thus descrilied by Lieut. T. W. Symons in his
report of the Upper Columbia:
The Colville Valley, one of the pleasantest and
finest valleys to be found anywhere in the North
west, has been retarded in its settlement and
advancement many years, by the fact that it is
occupied and the lands held in large quantities by
Indians and half-breed descendants ot the old
Hudson Bay fur traders. These people, owing to
the way they has-e been treated and the insecure
tenure on which they hold their lands, are shiftless
and unprogressive, make no effort to improve and
are a stumbling block in the way of civilization.
v hen the land is surveyed and can be taken up
according to the laws of the country and titles be
obtained, settlers will assuredly flock into the
country and Colville Valley will take the high
rank that it deserves to hold among the most pro
ductive, pleasant and beautiful regions of the
earth.
An accumulation of drift and dense crowth of
underbrush in and along the lower portions of
me v.oiviue river, nas caused it, during the higher
stages of wa:er, to overflow its banks and inun
date large areas of the valley. A small expense
wouid remove an this obstruction and double the
agricultural area of the valley.
Fort Colville and the town of Colville are situ
ated alwut fifteen miles from the Columbia in the
valley 01 M, creek, which is a branch of Colville
river. To the east of Fort Colville the high hills
and mountains commence and stretch over to the
I'end d'Oreille rivei, with here and there an at
tractive valley. In this direction trails lead to
the different points on the latter river, especially
to the Calispell Lake and Mission.
The mountains are not hith. are timlwral. and
abound in game. To the north of Fort Colville
K.e is a pretty valley, called Echo Valley, an
offshoot from Mill Creek Valley. It is bounded
on the east by the same timbered mountains that
..c m 01 oivine, and on the west by a low
"Ti !"' ,,lr,ly ,inlbered and Partly covered
IDAHO.
lings.
coun'
The total value of ih. ,
, , , , i-.w.i, assessed
Idaho for last year is $9,339,281.05.
Several new firms have begun business
"eiser City, or are nrrnirm., 1 . l ..
...B iuuki nuiidini
A business b.m of considerable magnitude
.sis. vj llll lwr.
Near the Washington line, in the Palouse
trv it Ik . . . ....
' - ,own 01 i-our Mile. It con
tore, saloon, post office, and blacksmith
and is soon to have a planinc mill.
In anticipation of ,he Mpfcle(i ac,jvi
company has been
ired therewith a canital f e, .
rent, and improve real estate in that city,
hey v tlf J"n Pia election wi
"N;: r"'yon,hequeUion
permanent lwii... -r .l. 1
... ' county seat. Th
test is heist. ,1,- ' "
. "'J i-ewiston, and M
, t,"u musing nsil.
in
in
t contains 1
shop
organ
b.uy.
ill lie
of a
con
old and
Idscow, its
The citizens of Lewiston have subscribed $1 000
to open a road to what is known as the Putlatch
country, the trade of which will be of great bene
fit to the city. The spint of enterprise has taken
strong hold of the business men of the oldest city
in Idaho.
Hailey expects to become a city of 5,000 people
within a year after the Wood River Branch of the
Oregon Short Line is completed. The Record is
paper published there by the Idaho and Oregon
Land Improvement Co., owners of the Hailey
and Shoshone town sites.
It is stated in Southern Idaho that its popula.
tion was increased 5,000 last year by the policy
adopted by the Union Pacific and Oregon Short
Line, of giving free passes to all laboring men
who desired to corns. A continuation of the policy
is expected this year.
The telephone companies of Utah Idaho, and
Montana have consolidated as the Rocky Moun
tain Telephone Co. The system is to be extended
into the Wood River country, and telephonic com
munication will soon be established between all
the principal towns and mines in the three terri
tories. Ogden is the headquarters.
Bellevue, the most populous town on Wood
river, is situated at the head of the Wood River
valley, on a plateau about one mile wide. Water
works will be completed in June, and about the
same time a branch of the Oregon Short Line
will reach it and infuse new life into its already
energetic business men. It is the gateway for
the whole Wood River country, and is surrounded
by fine agricultural lands and many valuable
mines.
Some of the Nez Perce Indians on the Lapwai
reservation have fenced in tracts of eighty acres
and recently the agent was instructed to restrict
them to the twenty acres allowed by Congress,
Me replied that it would take the whole force of
the Department of the Columbia to enforce the
order, and it was therefore withdrawn. The com
missioner recommends in his report the allowance
of 160 acres to each Indian. The reservation
contains 746,000 acres, of which 300,000 are good
wheat land. There are 1,236 Indians, and at
150 acres each they would occupy one-fourth of
the whole, or two-thirds of the grain land, if they
should all select soil of that character. The re
mainder could then be thrown open to settlement.
A judicious decision of this question will be of
vast benefit to Northern 'Idaho.
Shoshone is the name given to the present ter
minus of the Oregon Short Line in Idaho. It ii
at the junction of the Wood River branch of the
main line and is situated about fifty miles south of
Hailey, in the open meadows of the Little Wood
River valley, at an allitude.of 4,500 above these.
It is forty miles north of the famous Goose creek
country, and to the north of it lie large areas of
fine agricultural land, while rich bunch grass lands
afford grazing for large bands of stock. It will be
the commercial, supply and. shipping point for a
vast agricultural, mining and grazing region.
Merchants of Salt' Lake, Boise City, Blackfoot,
Ogden and other places have opened business
houses here, and a few weeks have seen a city
spring up in the wilderness. It is a division ter
minus and will have shops, round house, etc, kJ
will become one of the most important commercial
and railroad towns on the line. Shoshone Wlt
one of nature's greatest wonders and second only