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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1884)
THE WEST SHORE. 809 OUR ILLUSTRATIONS. IN preparing illustrations for the current number our artiste have selected representative scenes from every State and Territory in the Northwest, including Califor nia, the Province of British Columbia and the newly created Territory of Alaska. In each Nature soenis to have done her utmost to please the eye and captivate the senses. Everywhere, be it the Bwaying pint's and sing ing waters of the Sierras; the fir forests that crown the summits of the Cascades; the broad fields of white that drape the barren sides of lofty Hood; the crags and can yons of the Rockies, or the verdant coast of Alaska, skirted by fields of floating ice, broken from the hugo glaciers pushed seaward from the Borean regions of the .interior, she has set her seal and calls upon man to ad mire the perfection of her handiwork. Go where you will throughout this broad expanse objects are found to excite the deepest admiration. Nor are they a monoto nous repetition to weary the eye and dull the awakouod senses. No two are cost in the same mould, and the wealth of material commanded by the moulder has given us an endless variety of objects of grandeur, beauty and wonder. Mountain torrents and lovely valley streams; graceful waterfalls and grand cataracts, whose roar re sounds for miles, and causes the very ground to tremble; spouting geysers and boiling springs; rocky peaks, timber-clad summit ridges and snow-draped mountain giants, whose white crowns aspire to pierce the zenith; rocky or timber-covered mountain ranges and green-carpeted val leys; great bays and inland seas; deep lakes and mirror like mountain tarns; rivers rushing tumultuously between high canyon walls or spreading out into broad and peace ful estuaries; rocky promontories thrusting themselves far out into the oceau to do battle with the billows, and lng, gracefully curving stretches of Bandy txiach, where the tides peacefully come and go, or the angry breakers, lashed into fury by the wind, rush impetuously up the gentle slope, until their force is exhausted in vain effort to find something to opjwse them such are the scenes, ever fresh and inspiring, which the traveler through the Great West has constantly revealed to him, appealing to his nobler nature, and lifting him, for the time, above the harassing cares and vexations of life. V Army life in the Department of the Columbia is roblrnd of many of those hardships traditionally associ ated with the lot of a soldier. With a climate far from distressing at any season, with large and cleanly-kept barracks for the privates, and for the officers comfortable houses possessing all the requisites of a home, including the families of those who possess such military imjwtli. nwnta, with a beautiful green-turfed parade ground and lovely surrounding landscapes, it would seem as though few complaints should le mode. A glance at the engrav iugs of Fort Canby and Fort Ccour oTAlene will give one a splendid idea of the character of our military jxatt, the latter being more typical in ita style, since Fort Canby was compelled to accommodate itself to circumstances. A large, rectangular paruda ground, a nearly level as possible, and ooverod by a thick and elosely cut turf, in the center of which rises the flagstaff, is surrounded by the houses of the officers, tlio barracks of the soldiers, hospital, guard house, gymnasium, etc, tho whole pre senting a highly pleasing appearance. The various posts have been selected with special reference to their conven ient location for military purposes and tho Inmuty of their surroundings. Fort Vancouver, tho headquarters of the department, stands on tho north bank of tho Columbia, on a bench sloping gently from tho water's edge, and commands a fine view of tho river, tho Cascade Moun tains and the kingly Mount Hood. Cumr d' Alone rests on tho bank of that beautiful mountain lake, surrounded by the grand landscapa of tho Cumr d'Aleuo Mountains. Fort Canby lies at tho inside base of tho promontory at the north side of tho entrance to tho Columbia lUver, known as " Cape Disappointment " or " Hancock," It is one of tho regular attractions of that region, and is annu ally visited by the thousands who go every season to Ilwaco and North Beach to spend a few days at "tho coast" Fort Walla Walla, a favorite cavidry post, stands on an elevated bench in the valley, at tho very edge of the city of Walla Walla, back of which, in the evening, rise the purple and indigo summits of tho Blue Moun tains. Other Hsts, all of them in most beautiful loca tions, are Forts Doiso, Lapwai, Klamath, Spokane, Col ville, Adams and TownseiuL The Twenty-first Infantry and Second Cavalry will never forget these beautiful homes they occupied so long, which will no doubt become ere long as dear to their successors, the First Cavalry and Fourteenth Infantry, to whose former stations iu Montana and Nebraska our old friends have gone. The McLood (usually and improierly spelled "Mo Cloud") is one of tho most Itcautiful streams of tho Sierra Nevada Mountains, and with Fit Hirer forms the chief source of the Sacramento. The latter stream heads in Goose Lake, a large bmly of water lying along tho California and Oregon boundary linn, ami is, in fact, the true source of tho Sacramento, being much longer and larger alove the point of junction than tho branch which now bears the title of the main stream from it source at the base of the whito-rolxxl Shasta. In early years Fit Iliver was called the "Kant Fork of the Sacramento," and it was up this stream that Fremont passed in the spring of 18M, and down which ho returned a fow weeks later on his way to inaugurate tho campaign which wrested California from Mexico. Pit Iliver received it name from the custom of the natives along its banks of digging pits in which to capture Iwar and deer, and even entrap strange warriors who might set hostile foot in their hunting grounds. The pits were dug in the regular trails made by animals, ami were from twelve to fourteen feet deep and conical in shape, with a small opening at the top, which was covered with brush and dirt ao care, fully aa to completely deceive the unpractical eye. All loose dirt was removed and a trail made over the pit, near which signs, such as broken twigs, etc, were placed, that gave warning to members of the tribe of the location