Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1872-02-08

logs to the bank, lashed them together with
ropes, end, launching on the swiftly running
stream with shout and hurrah, were soon
out of sight Of the land troubles, and in for
voyage of eighty miles through the heart of
an unknown region of defiles, canyons and
mountains, Jai - EilGF }a3t 3= b getpt.ar
Towering cliffs weald rise above, Us, re- =
fected in the depths of the stream below.
We passed over pools Of unknown depths in
the bed Of the stream, where the limpid wa
ter eddied black in Its profundity. Through
these we circled and drifted slowly, giving
us time to view the details of the wonderful
scenes through which we were passing;
then shooting into the shallower water we
would see trout of large size resting in the
liquid bath beneath US, still so deep that
pole twenty feet long seemed not to reach
half way to their spotted, shining sides.
We would be hurried swiftly over gravelly
rapids to pass over other CULTS, into which
we peered in awe as we gave scope to our
imaginations in conjectures as to their black,
unfathomed depths. a4j ..1s-. '2Ea"a'.u14 VI"
We stopped and prospected the country
by climbing up the mountains through which
we were passing, but no trace of any pre- q
vious exploration met our eye. Nothing but
the forest priiMeval. i One of our three days
journey will give an idea of the voyage.
, We arose at dawn, cooked our breakfast,
lashed on our cargo, and started adrift. We
soon came to an island dividing the waters
into two channels; selecting the 'swiftest, as
by. experience found to be the most nayiga.
bic, we pushed into II, and were whirled with
the volicity of an arrow for a hundred yards,
when we struck a fallen tree, whose slippery
trunk, cleaned of bark and wlitened by the
lowing waters, turned our raft suddenly at
right angles, we were scraped along its side
swiftly toward its upturned root. Here
limb caught our bough; held us in firm
grip between it and the partially submerged
trunk rock just below caught the raft in
the middle; the current, seizing the upper
side of our raft, turned it up edgeways, and
threw us all into the water In the twinkling
of an eye. We scrambled out, threw off our
blankets and grub, cut the limb, righted I'D 4
the raft, took an inventory of property, and
found that our only cooking utensil was
broken handled shovel. Our camp kettles
and frying pans had disappeared. We re-
mounted our raft, undismayed, to search for
bar big enough TO dry our wetted outfit. We
at length found fiat, where q jam of drift
wood stopped our further progress. We
spread our blankets on the stones-hot in the
sun shine; set the officiating cook to get din
ner, while the rest explored the drift for
passage The exrlegislator built his fire ON
the upper part of the drift, which soon was
wrapped in wreathing flames which even
scorched us as we made hasty retreat, car
rying our dry goods across the river for safety.
We dned on bacon fried on our shovel and
on bread baked on fat stones transported
M ftn nI.om so, I,,,sl&
other raft, and in an hour were afioat in q
clear channel. Ere long we entered chute
where the stream was confined between high
gravel banks. AT the end of this chute a
large rock in the centre Of the channel tossed
the water into foam. To try to stop was use.
less ., TO avoid It was impossible. Bracing
ourselves, we awaited the shock. In few
seconds We struck the swelling wave, bound
ed over the rock, and quietly fioated away
over another inky pool; AS I'VE ofoated II
away in silence, deer would look at US from
the shores where they were grazing; at our
approach would leap with airy bounds into
the woods and disappear; and the warbling
birds and silent fishes were the only denizens
OF this their secure retreat. l. .,,a,,.f a.
As we neared the mouth of this stream,
three miles above the Cour d'Alene Mission,
It lost its character of the mountain torrent,
and flowed through, wide, swampy lands
covered with those giant cedars which form
q characteristic growth In these regions We
canie in sight Of throngs of men that dotted
the bank and cheered US as we passed by with
the first white mans craft that had nagigated
its channels; and finally, on nearing our
road we stuck on the last rock; mlOaded
our cargo, and thus finished our eventful voy-
age, and rejoining our companions. RI ~@6'9
We learned, then, that our departure from
Walla Walla had been noticed by the papers;
that some 600 men had followed US in regular
style. From the Boise Basin, in
Southern Idaho; from the John Day mines, +
in eastern Oregon; from Portland, and some
even from California, had come to be the first
In the new diggings, and had met about the
Mission awaiting our return.
When W. and our mountain party
emerged from the region which we had ex-
plored reporting no diggings, the men, indig-
nant at having journeyed SO far for nothing,
proposed to execute the usual sentence upon
men who excite stampedes without any pros
pect, and were talking loudly of hanging him
up on the tree that overshadowed our town
site. But our men, who had done the work
and endured the hardships, swore they would
protect him, and the cleaning, clicking six
affected compromise. The crowd
took him up TO the Mission; placed him un-
der the care of the priest, who having receiv-
ed q hint, put him In q canoe with an Indian
guide, who by daylight had removed him
silently, swiftly away from the reach of his
outraged, lawless prosecutors. When they
found him non est; they soon departed, and
the assembled crowd, In twenty four hours,
were vending their way east and west, some
to explore gold fields, and others in search of
Thus ended the Cour d'Alene stampede Of !.