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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1891)
WEST SHORE. 50 OFFICERS OF THE IDAHO LEGISLATURE. The first Idaho iUt legislature hag been in teuton at Boise City (or two weeks, and is making a splendid record as a deliberative body. The president of the senate is Hon. John S. Gray, a well known attorney of Boise City. He was born in Albany, New York, November 25, 1833. In 1861 he came to Idaho from California, where he had resided for several years.. Mr. Gray has always taken a prominent position in the affairs of the territory and state. He has occupied the positions of probate judge of Boise comity ; member of the territorial legislature of 1880 ; member of the committee for the revision of the territorial statutes, in 1886, and now rep resents Ada county in the senate. He was in the two Indian campaigns of 1877 and 1878. Mr. Gray's experience, ability and legal attainments emmi nently qualify him for the honorable position he occupies. He is a staunch republican in politics. The speaker of the house of representatives in Hon. F. A. Fenn, repre sentative from Idaho county. Mr. Fenn was born in Jefferson, Nevada county, California, and was educated at the United States naval academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He has been a resident of Idaho since 1862, and has held several county offices, besides serving in the territorial legislature in its fourteenth session. He served as a volunteer during the Nei Perce war in 1877. He is a merchant, and is largely interested in sheep raising. Mr. Fenn is an ardent republican, and has always taken a great interest in the success of his party. This session is a most important one, and calls for the greatest legisla tive ability and wisdom. It is necessary to enact a large number of impor tant laws to render the provisions of the constitution operative. OFFICERS OF THE WA8HINQT0S LEGISLATURE. The senate of the state of Washington, now in seesion, is presided over by Hon. Eugene T. Wilson, the gentleman who managed the republican campaign last fall as chairman of the state central committee. Mr. Wilson has long been known in newspaper and political circles as a man of brains, energy and executive ability. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin, Decem ber 11, 1852. At the age of thirteen he crossed the plains to Montana. In 1876 he settled in Columbia county, in the then territory of Washington, having been for the six years previous engaged in mining and lead smelting in Utah. He served in the Nes Perce Indian war of 1877, as first lieutenant of the Lewlston volunteers. In 1881 he founded the Pomeroy Republican, and two years later purchased the Dayton Chronicle. In 1885-6 he was chief clerk of the territorial council. In 1887 he sold the Chronicle and re moved to Ellensburgh. Mr. Wilson was a member of the Vancouver re publican territorial convention in 1882, of the Seattle republican convention of 1884, and of the Tacoma republican convention of 1800. He was member and secretary of the Tacoma republican convention of 1886, and also of the Yakima republican convention of 1889. He was elected a member of the first state senate, from the county of Kittitas, and, being one of the holdovers, is now serving his second session in that body. He is now a member of the hardware firm of Wilson A Agati, of Ellensburgh. Mr. Wilson Is a clear headed, practical, spirited debater, a good parliamentarian, and a safe, level-headed party leader. The speaker of the house is Hon. Amos F. Shaw, of Vancouver. Mr. Shaw was born January 14, 183!), In the town of Franklin, New Hampshire ; brought up on a farm nntll 1859; emigrated to the then unorganised terri tory of Dakota. Was elected a member of the provincial legislature that met at Sioux Falls, Dakota, in the winter of 1859-40. In January, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, Dakota volunteer cavalry; served three and one half years. Was sheriff of Clay county, Dakota, from 1866 to 18C9. Served as secretary for territorial council, session 1869, as member of the house of representatives, sessions 1871 and 1875, and council, session of 1881. Came to Vancouver in the fall of 1881 ; bought and cleared land and planted a prune orchard ; remained until the spring of 1884, when business interests called Mm to Sioux Falls, Dakota. Appointed warden of the Dakota peni tentiary, at Slonx Falls, in the spring of 1885, serving two years. Returned to Vancouver in July, 1887. Is senior member of Shaw Brothers, prune growers and packers. Was a member of the first state legislature. MOUNT SHASTA. The snow peaks of the Paciflo coast are the objects of the admiration of every tourist who visits the golden west. Of them all Mount Shasta Is con sidered by many to be the most beautiful. It la situated in SUklyon county, in Northern California, and close to the line of the Oregon branch of the Cen tral Pacific This noble mountain Is 14,443 feet high, only one foot lower than the kingly Mount Rainier. On the center pages is given an engraving of the mountain as it appears from Strawberry valley, through which the railroad runs. As the valley is but 3,000 feet above the sea, the mountain rise from It as a distinct peak nearly 11,500 feet, much higher than any other on the coast. It is easier of ascent than any of the others, and its summit is visited by many venturesome spirits every summer. Fourteen years ago the government coast and geodetlo survey erected a monument twenty feet high on its summit, which was carried up and placed in position with great difficulty. The mountain has two peaks, one of them about 500 feet lower than the other. The lower peak is but the shell of a huge crater half a mile in diameter, filled with snow. The extreme summit of the high er one consists of a barren ridge of rock, rising a hundred feet above a com paratively flat tract of an acre or more in extent. On the flat are hot mud springs, the last indication of the great fiery furnace that built np this great heap of earth. The heat keeps the snow melted on the summit, and once saved the lives of two men who were caught on the mountain In a fierce stjrm. By lying ail night in the hot mud, parboiling on one side and (reel ing on the other, they saved themselves from perishing, and were rescued the next day in a most pitiable condition. A very good trail has been made to the top of Shasta, and tourists will find it the most accessible of all the western mountains to climb. Good summer hotels are kept at its base, where everything necessary for the ascent can be procured. More than thirty years ago, John R. Ridge, a Cherokee, whose nom it fhmt of " Yel low Bird " appeared below many fine poems In the papers of California, wrote the following fine ode to this beautiful mountain: Behold the dread Honnt Bhuta, when its stands Imperial midst tht letter holghte, and, Ilk Borne mightr, nnimptttioned mind, oompanionleca And oold. The ttormt ot heaven mar beat In wrath Against It, but It etude In unpolluted Grand ear still ; and from the rolllni mlite upborne , Its tower ot pride e'en pnrer than before. The wintry thowert and white-winged tampeete leave Their froien tributes on ita brow, and it Doth make ot them as overluttng crown. That doth It, day bit dj, and ase bj age. Defy each stroke ot time i still riling highest Into heaven I Aspiring to the eagle'e cloudiest height, No human toot hu stained Ita snowy side i No homau breath hae dimmed the loy mirror whioh It holds unto the moon, and start, and cov'nign tun. We may not grow familiar with the eeoreta Ot ita hoary top, whereon the geniue Ot that mountain bulldt hit gloriout throat I Far lifted in tht boundltee bint, he doth Knolrole, with hie gas supreme, the broad Dominions of the weet, which lie beneath His feet, in pioturee ot eubllme repot No artiet ever drew. Be mm tht tail, Gigantio hint arite in eUentueit And pesos, and in tht long review of distant Bangs themeelTee la order grand. He tees the sunlight Flay upon the golden etreame whioh through the valleys Glide. He bean the mntio of the great and solemn see, And orerlooke the hnge old western wall To view the blrtbplaoe of undying melody I Iteelf all light, save when some loftlott aloud Doth for a while embraot Ita oold, forbidding Form, that monarch mountain oasta its mighty Shadow down upon the oownleee peak below, That, like interior mlodt to some great Spirit, etand in strong tontratted littleness I All through the long and summery months of oar Host tranquil year, it points ita toy abaft On high, to eatoh the dueling beams that fall In showers ot splendor round that crystal oont, And roll In floods of far magnlnoonr . Away from that lone, net reflector In In the dome of heaven. Btill watchful of the fertile Tale and nndnlellng plains below, The areas grows greener in lie shade, and wetter bloom The flowers. Strong purifier I from Its snowy creel The breeeae oool are wafted to the " peaceful Homes of men," who shelter at ita feet, and lor To test upon it honored form, aye standing There the guarantee ot health and happiness. Well might it win oommonlllat so bltst To loftitr feelings and to nobler I bought The great material eymbol ot eternal Thlogi I And well, I ween, la after yean, bow In the middle ot his furrowed track the plowman . In tome eultry hour will pause, and wiping From hie brow the duty sweat, with rmrenoa ' due upoa that hoary peak. The herds man Oft will rein bis charger In the plain, and drink Into his Inmost soul the calm sublimity And littie children, playing on the green, shall Ceeee their sport, and, taming t that mountain Old, ehaU of their mother ask i "Who made It t" And aha shell answer " God I" The Indian name of Shasta is " Ieka " (the white). The name Bhuta if a corruption of " Tchastal," given it by the Russians of Fort Ross, and originally spelled " Chasta " by Americans. The name " Ieka " has been corrupted to " Yreka," and Is borne by the chief city of Siskiyou county.