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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1883)
104 THE WEST SHORE. M ay, 1883, Casting 1 farewell look upon the forest-rimmed lake, we follow up the course of Clarke's fork, :roi the Montatn line and plunge into the great OEUR D'ALF.NF. CANYON. I'm the next twenty miles the scenery is sublime, awakening mingled sensations of delight and awe. We creep over high trestles and bridges, rush through deep cuts, gaie up to towering cliffs nnd down into deep gorges, see the pines bend ing to the breeze far above us, and he.ir the sub dued roar of torrents well up from the cavernous depths below. On our right rise the Cceur d'Alene mountains, while on the left the great Cabinet range is piled up to form the dividing lidge between Clarke's fork and the erratic Kootenai. Yet these mountains were not created imply to awe mankind into reverence by their sublimity nor to enchant him with lovely pictures, (.edges of mineral, marble and granite arc await ing development, and from the lowest level to the highest ridge is one almost unbroken forest, from which lumber can be supplied to the country m all sides for years to come. A competent Judge has estimated that one-uartcr of this is white pine ami the remainder yellow pine, fir, cedar, tamarack and hemlock, in about equal pro portions. The whir of the saw and the ringing ttcho of the axe already resound in the mountains, ml the forest monarchs that have withstood the Masts of ages are bowing before the inevitable. Still continuing up Clarke's fork, we emerge Irom the canyon, pats Cabinet Landing and Thompson river, and gradually approach a more open country, with mountains and hills les. stupendous and crowned with a lighter growth of irees. ai uorsc riains we lind a valley on the border of the great Flathead region and but a few miles from the reservation. Away to the north west is the celebrated FLATHEAD I.AKK, and above it is a magnificent country, feitile and well watered, which is just beginning to attract the attention of settlers. Now that the railroad approaches within sixty miles and renders it of easy access to immigrants, it will no doubt fill up . II.. 11 . I 1 .1 . ... mihuij. 1 ne iaKe is tinny miles long and dotted with beautiful islands. IIOKSK PLAINS is favorably located as a general starting point and supply station for the whole upper Flathead river country, and quite a business town may pring up here. Hut we can not ause to canvass future prowcti. for we are already over the line of the Flathead reservation and rapidly crossing It in a toutheasteilv coune. Leaving to the Mi the St. Ignatius mission, a successor of the one esUbluhed lung Vrs ago by the oU, U,ho,ic missionaries, and passing the Jocko agency, we gradually approach the southern line of the res ervation and croi once more uwn the public domain. We are vn engulfed between the wall, of O Keefe canyon, and creep cautiously over the Kigamic trestle that bridges 4AINT wu.ll. This trestle i. extremely high, and i4. Irate, how sconce and eng,eer.gkill can ol. comt natural barrier, that fcw year ago were conudcitd unconquerable obstacle, to railroad building I, im feet long. 84 feet wide a, the ba. and at on, point the top i, Jl6 fect tU) the Mcky foundation upon wh:h the timber. tnl TU lensatioo as w, Clte inl0 thc y over one which we hantr on such a slender thread, is of utter helplessness and entire reliance for safety upon the skill of others. In times like this how insignificant is the man who believes that no one can be trusted ! In the bridge, the engine and the cars are represented the hands and brains of ten thousand men, and did one ot these fail in his duty we might be plunged headlong upon the iaeeed rocks below. How these thoughts crowd npon us as we are suspended in mid air, and how we sigh with relief as we see solid ground beneath the wheels once more 1 The next point of importance is MISSOULA, just beyond the junction ol the Bitter Root and llellgate rivers. It is a thriving city of fifteen hundred inhabitants. For years it has been the trade center of Western Montana, and will con tinue so to be, and keep pace in its growth with the development of the country. In its vicinity are large tracts of excellent farming land, especially the famous Bitter Root valley. All crops are irri gated by little ditches running from the numerous streams, and a failure is thus rendered impossible. A branch railroad extending up the valley from Missoula will no doubt soon be constructed. Fort Missoula, a U. S. military post, is a few miles west of the city. Many promising mines are located still farther west in the Bitter Root moun tains, a continuation of the Cceur d'Alene range. HELLGATE RIVER. Leaving Missoula behind us we take an easterly course, still following up the Clarke's fork, here known as llellgate river. In the next hundred miles we cross twelve Howe truss bridges, ten of them spanning the llellgate, one the Big lllackfoot and one Gold creek. We are now ascending the main ridge of the Rocky mountains, and are forced to jump from one bank to the other to maintain an even grade. The scenery absorbs our entire attention, and we never weary of gazing at the endless variety of gorges, cliffs, peaks, mountain torrents and noble forests. At the mouth of Little Blackfoot the Hellgate turns sharply to the south and is thereafter known as Deer Lodge river. A town named Carrie h.. been laid out at this point, as the Utah and iiorinern narrow gauge road from Ogden, pass 'ng through Butte City and De-r 1 :n won form a mnction here with the Northern 1 wine. DEER LObc.E. This is one of the oldest mininrr inw. ; vr- "ana, and ,, the county seat of Deer Lodge county. The mountains in whirr, i. it.. minerals, and the many little valley, teem .'h ca tie. and are dotted with fine farms. , ' " ""rew BauKe rd U completed to Little Blackfoot, Deer Lodre will hi. Js.. communicaUon with the east by two routes, th Northern Pacific and llni, t..-.c.. . w" v.iuc : aiso two route, to r0land and nn. . c. . Th. , oau 'rancisco. The che.,, lransporiat.on oaid m developing its wealth of resources, .d K.ly .ncrease its present MoZ BUTTE CITY J-htaUnHw above the level "le For year. 1 u,,. 1 , . w lK " has crown with lights, gas, three bank, and all the adjuncu of a metropolis. Surrounding it are gold, and copper mines that are being worked on' large scale, with extensive reduction and smeUi works. In business enterprise, value J mineral output, volume of trade, and rapid in crease of population, it has nobly earned the title of the " Little Giant of the Northwest." THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. We now pass up the valley of the Little Black foot and shoot through a tunnel 500 feet in length, rising rapidly towards the summit of the mouritaim. Names are often irrelevant, but throughout the great west, those bestowed by the early explorers and trappers have generally a peculiar significance, The towering peaks and vast pyramidal heaps of barren rocks, rendered all the more coo spicuous by an absence of the dense forests that beautify the Cceur d'Alene range and hide its rocky masses, attest the fact that these, above all others, are the "Rocky Mountains" of the world. Upward we climb until at last the sum mit is reached and we glide into the long, dark, smoky interior of the MULLAN TUNNEL. This great hole through the backbone of the mountains is 3,850 feet in length, but at we roll slowly through it and wait for the first faint glim merings of light, we can hardly convince ourselves that it is not thrice the distance. Though oe the main ridge of the Rockies, the pass is so lot that we are but 5,548 feet above sea level, and seventeen feet lower than Bowman tunnel We now glide rapidly down the mountains, pus through a short tunnel on the Mullan grade, ud in fifteen miles reach the city of HELENA, situated at the base of the mountains in the edge of the beautiful little valley of the Prickly Peir, a small tributary of the Missouri. This is the Cjueen City of the Mountains, the seat of gov ernment nf thr tori-i'tnru -nnnlu wot of Lewis and Clarke county, and the commercial ind financial rcntpr nf Mnntana Tr is i thrivinp citT of 7,000 inhabitants, having an extensive whole sale and retail trade, large mining and stocx in terests, two daily papers and four national banks. Everything suggests enterprise and prosperity, and the mining industry, which has been supreme fnr turAnrtt ..aam. la win!11.i ,1 Qi-nl nni n rr In UTttltX proportions under the advantages offered by the railroad. The scenery of the PRICKLY PEAR is grand in the extreme. It cuts through I !' of the mountains for a distance of thirteen mile. The walls of the narrow gorge rise in places to vertical height of 1,000 feet, and along them the stage road has been cut in the solid rock. Thirty miles from Helena we reach the Mis souri river, up whose banks we go in a southerly direction till we come to the UDVfiiin AO Ttl 17 WiTPBS. the point where the Jefferson, Madison and Gal latin rivers unite to form the mighty Mis"1 From here, the initial point of that great Urea . . . . . .L.A..h oars a cnip cast upon its bosom is Dorne imi- -canyons, over falls and rapids, is beaten nnf wherll nf ilnn mcvi ritipL towns and . ' lares almnet wilhnnr nnmW until, having M""" 0 - ' - more than 4,000 miles, it floats out upo " broad expanse of the Gulf of Mexico ana forever.