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