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THE GREAT FALLS OF SNAKE
RIVER.
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THE WEST SHORE.
No one state of the Pacific coast
can lay claim to the possession of more
than its share of the beautiful scenery
for which this region is gaining a world
wide reputation. Each one of them
has much to excite admiration, and each
has some special feature distinct from
all the others. Idaho's unique attrac
tion a the great Shoshone falls of Snake
river, a few miles south of the town of
Shoshone on the line of the Union Pa
cific. The river is confined between
basaltic bluffs more than 1,000 feet
high, rendering the scene wild and pic
turesque in the extreme. The fall con
sists of two parts. The first descends
eighty-two feet and is separated by an
island, which fact has won for it the
name of " Twin falls." A few yards
below this comes the final plunge of
the united stream a distance of i 10
feet. The river is at this point 950 feet
wide, about half the width of Horse
shoe falls of Niagara; but the height
of the falls is fifty feet greater and the
surroundings more picturesque and awe
inspiring. If one were compelled to
make a choice between these two
mighty cataracts, he would better select
Shoshone. The time is coming when the latter will .enjoy all the popularity
the former has gained by its years of propinquity to civOizatton. During the
tourist season a stage line conveys visitors Iroin the railroad to an excellent
hotel at the falls, and it is well worth the little time and trouble a traveler must
take to see this mighty canyon-bound cataract
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ENTRANCE TO THE COLUMBIA.
Both in its historical and commercial aspects the entrance to the Col
umbia river is deserving attention. The Columbia is an important stream
SHOSHONE FALLS. IDAHO,
in the commerce of the Pacific coast more important than all others com
bined. This fact has been recogniied by the government, which has expended
large sums to render the entrance passable for the deepest draught vessels,
and to remove the obstructions farther up the stream that prevent its continu
ous navigation from the great producing interior to the ocean. The river en
ters a broad bay, or inward curve of the ocean, and is at its mouth an estuary
ten miles wide, so that it has no appearance of being the mouth of a river
from the deck of a vessel approaching it from the open ocean. On the north
is Cape Hancock, bold headland called by the English navigators "Cape
Disappointment," and by the Spaniards " Cabo de San Roc." A low point,
terminating in a sand spit, encloses it at the south,' called " Point Adams,"
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ENTRANCE TO THE COl.l'MHIA RIVKR.