Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-08-10
TME No1TaERNFaCsFIc ReTTE ASp
COUSTEY.

OF. IaCL. July 2i.-CCi. ChaS. b. Lam
born. Land Commissioners of the NORTH,
ern Pacific Railroad Company. returned
Yesterday toSt. Psa. aftez sn absence
cf tTo months Oh sn overland ii.
through Montana ard Washington Ter.
rIory along the line of the road low IN.
der construction, and is stopping al the
metropolitan. oil. Lamborn. previous
to his appointment as Land Commits
sloner OF the Northern Pacifc. wss OH.
ciaily connected with railways and land
operations in Kansas, Colorado and
New Mexico for period Of sixteen
years. and Is 80 familiar with the coun-
try t-aversed by the Onion and Southern
Pacific Railroads that his comparison Of
that o.untzy with the route which he has
recently been over are more intelligent
~ made than would be possible with q
person Of less experience.
TEE OBJECT OF HIS TRIP
Across the continent was to acquains
himself with the general character and
resources OF the country through which
the line of the Northern Pacific road
runs: and as the readers Of the Pioneer
Press, and especially the merchants Of
st. Panl and Minneapolis, have q very
deep interest in what the vast interior
region west may develop under the cd
vantaRes OF communication afforded by
the great railway. Col. Lamborn was in
terviewed Immediately upon his arrival
home; and his Impressions and views
those OF very wide awake and expert
enced man-are here given:
After the Colonel had animated that
the weather seemed rather warm, some
Wav, tho reporter asked:
What was your route westward?"
Il left st. Paul May IS for the end of
the track in the Yellowstone Valley. and
from there took private conveyance to
Billings, where Mr.. E. v. Smaliey, for
merry of the New York 1ritune-whO is
now writing series Of articles for the
Century Nago-iae, descriptive of the
New NOrthwest-aud MIR. Charles j.
Woodbury. of the New York E,eniag
Post, and Mr.. Richard Goerdeier, emf
grant agent in Germany for the compa-
nv, joined mo and went through with
me 10 the Pacific Coast. We travelled in
our own conveyancss, and
ouE GENERAL BoUTc
Was by the Yellowstone Valley tn Ben
sons Landing, thence across tho Belt
Range to Bozeinan, thence to Helena
and over the main range to Deer Lodge.
From that point We went down the He'll
Gate river to MissoUla and along Ciark's
Fork of the Columbia river to Pend d.
Oreiile lake, whore We struck the COM
pletsd end of the road low being built
eastward. We reached this point June
Is, Just one month out from st Paul.
Then We went west by rail and steamer
ION the Columbia River to Portland.
Oregon. We afterward made trip
through Pupet Sound to ths British
town of Victoria, on Vancouver Island.
SmaI!ey and Woodbury. remained at Pu-
get Sound, while GOerdeler and return
cd home by way of San Francisco aud
the Central and Union Pacific railroads.
Was the trip made interesting by any
possible danger from Indians or other
things to be dreaded?
Not at all. People travel through
Montana alone and without arms.
WE DID NOT SEE An INDIAN
Until We reached the Flathsad reserva-
ton i'll Montana, where the flatheads,
Nez PercesSand Kootenai Indians. culti-
vate considerable tracts Of land; in fact
we awaited ourselves of their assistance
in procuring horses and pack animals
to tote Us one hundred miles along
Clark's Fork, and in canoe ride down
Clark's Fork river, which, however. end
cd rather disastr0usiy, IA, after ride of
thirty miles, We were caught in the rap
ids and our canoe WAS overturned, and
We were compelled to swim ashore and
leave our canoe and traps behind us in
the swift current. That experience put
a damper on our desire for canoe voya-
eing and We afterward kept to the land.
The journey across is rs safe, and can
be as comfortably made as a wagon trip
through Minnesota. For three hundred
miles beyond BE- nson's landing we fou nd
good wsyside inns and ample accOmmo-
dations for our party every night; and
the mountain roads are excellent high
ways.
What were your
IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY
Through which you travelled!
The country along the entire line Of
the Northern Pacific railroad from Lake
Superior to Puget Sound is much better
than that traversed by any other trans
continental line. There il not square
mile of absolutely waste land in tho
entire distance. The valley of the Vel
lowstone, from eight to twelve miles i'll
width. is good agricultural land, and
there il an ample supply Of water for
all the needs of irrigation. In the upper
portion of the valley irrigation is neoes-
sary tn produce good crops. For 100
miles west of Glendive irrigation il not
required. We found ranches scattered
along the entire valley, and new settlers
are going forward in great numbers.
The uplards are valuable grazing land,
and are now attracting the attention of
the owners of large herds in Colorado
and Wyoming.
SELF.
The country from Bozeman to Mis-
soula has been we'll settled up for many
years, and the valleys, although narrow,
are extremely fertile, and, 1t is claimed,
produce an average OF forty bushels of
wheat per acre and seventy bushels of
oats. The upland and mountain ranges
are covered to their submits with luxu-
RANT bunch grass, and along Clark's
Fork in western Montana the heavily
timbered valleys and mountain sides
have rich underground of wild clover.
Taken a. q whole, Montana is the finest
grazing area in the United States, and
it's capacity for stock raising ia much
greater than that Of either Colorado or
New Mexico. In some localities. like
the Deer Lodge Valley. there are large
numbers of sheep. and the raising Of
horses is carried on TO n considerable
extent. In eastern Washington Terrific
~ and northeastern Oreeon-nOrtk OF
the Blue Mountains, in what il called
the great basin Of the Columbia rive
there ia, probably.
THE rINEsr STRETCH OF WHEAT LAND
In the world. This region is as yet
somewhat sparsely settled, but in the
older settled portions around Walla
Walla, wheat farming has been carried
on for seventeen years without single
failure in the crop. Tho average yield
Of wheat per acre in this locality is Civ
en- by reliable farmers at thirty 1--we to
forty five bushels per acre. Crops OF one
hundred bushels 81 oats per acre are not
unusual. Very superior apples and
peaches are also raised IN this region.
This belt of wheat country is about two
hundred miles long and from eighty to
one hundred miles wide. and some of
the best informed people in Oregon esti-
mate that IL in cApablo Of producing 100.