Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-02-11
THE FAR NORTHWEST.
A YOUNG ARMY OFFICERS OBSERvA-
TONS.

On The For'y-ninth Parallel. Forty West
Amon;, a Peculiar PeOple-WhO
They ara and What they do.
Special Correspondence of the INTELLIGENcER.
Forr CoLvILLE. W.T..
Jan Is. 1880.
Nothing strikes one more forcibly in a
new country than the absence Of that
character SO often unappreciatcd, "The
Oldest Inhabitant. - stranger yourself,
YOU at first are given to asking questions;
but find everyone else rs much of
stranger as you are, and that their mior-
nation results, not from any knowledge,
but from the truly Western talent for
| handling unknown subjects with ima!:ina-
tive complaccncy. Protiting by ono or
two impositions on his crcdulity. the |
stranger" strikes boldly ont and always
knows more about the country than any
one he meets, whether the latter he from St |
Louis. Chicago, Philadelphia or New
York, from which four points every one
seems either directly or indirectly to hail.
An air of mystery pervadcs the dolngs
and conversation of all your travelling
companions, and tacit etiquette prevents
any alusion to occupations or intentions
as you near the line of the railroad this be-
comes more and more apparent, and. lying
over day or SO to obtain conveyancc-you
sec the whole party scatter hcltcrs skeltcr
on Indian ponies, mules and on 'shanks
mare" after the most hasty breakfasts.
Later you run across one ut work on
quartz vein with hammer and micro
scope others arc seen wading streams
!, in search Of mill-Sitcs or listen
ing. note book in hand, to
the concllrrng reasons for some cmbroyO
, town becoming the metropolis of the Spo-
kane country, as they are cmphatically cx-
, posed. by its half-dozcn citizens, whose
, tent-cOyered houses arc supposed, with the
assistance of a stake or two, to indicate
labyrinth of avenues ard streets and the
sites of the omniprcscnt court house, church
and school house, upon one of which, all
unconscious. he may be standing. The far
- greater number of your companions only
turn up dusty and weary as the SUN drops
behind the "buttes,' and, from the gen
|
them and the determination to ''try it fur
thcr out on the line Cyou arc already
three hundred miles ahead of the first pick
on the n. p. r. R.). you discover that
these are the contractors, spectators,
!, u miners, land agents and mill men. who
are always found OH the outer edge Of en-
l. iYration, looking for "a good thing of
any description riM money IN it.
A striking feature Of this immigration is
l. that the foreign element is entirely want.
Il ing. leaving it not only purely American,
:, :, but modern (not to say young American)
y Wagons, harness, plOughs, arms and tools
'' arc all of the latest and most improved pat,
. terms. The wagons are all from one or two
= large manufactures, with their parts made
10 by exact patterns and interchangeable SC
. that you can pick the part you break from
y the nearest wreck Here, what the unin-
~ i,iated would call a wagon is a Balm or a
Studcbakcr, just as the word rifle has been
superseded by the terms Winchester :
and " Remington
~ Clothes, too, show similar pcculiarities
~ everyone. even the Chinaman and Indian
wears the brown canvas hunting suit will
its riycted buttons. seams and game pock
J. cts, its braces, reinforce straps and buckles
y, conveniently distributed to meet ever!
possible requirement Of wear and tear
y, and all bearing the trademark OF some New
~ York sporting emporium. Like everything
else up here, when they begin to wear on
they are thrown away and new one:
k bought a cheaper plan, even with th'
2 high premium for transportation, than t.
! attempt repairs where labor is SO dear
ID Yet here, as in certain parts OF our East
T. crn country there arc districts which seen
> destined to bc passed by, undisturbed b..
the tide Of progress. The valley of th'
Colvillc, differing as it docs in its histori
l. cal associations (for it has history, il
!. its inhabitants, institutions, and language
- from the country around it, may, lik'
~ Sleepy Hollow on the highlands Of th'
. Hudson, withdraw itself from the world
- and live over and over the traditions of it
~ forcfathcrs undisturbcd by the jostlings o
civilization outside its guardian noun
rS tlIhS. some lINiHS VI lhe ~oCi 0oiA
=, tury, fleeing from the hustle of Walla-l
r. or from the (by that timc) crowded city o
n Spokane, to pass quiet summer among TIN
j. pines, may find here race quite as quaint
,c quite as original, as the placid ol'
H. Dutchmcn whose pretty daughter
is and rollicking sons brought the COB
Inns about the ears Of "Ichabod Crane.
Quite as romantic as the landing Of oI'
mt IIcndrick Hudson is their pilgrimage acros
of this continent, wild as 1t was fifty year.
he ago and earlier, when the Jesuit mission
ty aries and the great Hudson Bay com
e. pany" We'd with each other in picrcin!
st this new Morse land. Their boat prov
1 !; ploughing unknown water; the shadO1
d. of the tall cross lashed in the bow, fallin
in in weird outline OH the placid surface
IA while to the splash of the paddle is tune
the French boat song of the voyasers o
the chants of the missionaries. Or els
scudding over the frozen snow crust il
l. dog sledges and camping under sno,
nd drifts, while bringing in the 'catch " Q
costly furs from some "IIudson Bay com
= pany's' ~ factory Gas their forts were called
&c, or carrying to the 'Facteur" (thc lon
th Scotchman" in command of the " fac
"a tory" and the score of the Frencl
.,o ..,o ssseryants - of the cOmDany StatiOne,