Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1883-09-18
LOST RIVER.
ANOTHER COMING CENTER OF
ACTIVITY.

A Lovely Country, Astounding in
Game, Fish, Water, Timber, and
Good Mines.
Lyttleton Price, W.T.. Riley, Texas
Angel, and --- Brown returned last
evening from trip to Lost River,
whittier they went last Monday, to look
the section ove:.
Leaving Haley about 10 o'clock
Monday morning with a good team
and wagon they stopped the first night
at Fish Creek, so miles out on the
Blackfoot road. From that point
they started early the next morning,
following all the meanderings of the
road on the edge of the lava, at the
base of the canyons, which are like the
fingers OF ones hand, to Champagne
station, where they stopped the second
night. This is the headquarters of
Lava Mining District, in which there
is fair showing of milling ore. At
this place they left the Blackfoot road
and struck across country toward the
Blackfoot and Chalis stage road-af-
ter following which they reached the
mouth Of Alder Gulch, at a distance
of about 10 miles from Haley. Set
tiers, there, however, affirm that by
going over the trail through Quigley
gulch to Muldoon, and then up Null.
doom canyon to the head of Antelope
gulch, Alder gulch can be reached in
IS miles from Haley. 1t is also stat
ed that by the new toll road up Trail
creek the distance will only be 70
miles.
The party did not have the time
necessary to make thorough exam
ination of the mines; but during the
two days of their examination they
visited several noted prospects, and
were quite favorably Impressed, not
only with the properties visited, but
with the appearance and formation of
the country. The grade Of the ore is
not high, but the lodges appear to be
strong and large. Ores are smelling.
The country is we'll timbered, and
abundantly supplied with fine water.
The Lost River valley is much
wider and of very different charac.
ter from the Wood River valley. The
river itself carries from 80 to 50 per
cent. more water than Wood River, is
much wider and deeper, but not SO
rapid; the river bottom is timbered,
more or less, with alder, aspen, and
cottonwood, and is simply success
sion Of fine natural meadows upon
which large quantity Of hay was
cut this year. There are no indica-
tons of any freshets, no boulders or
cobbles being visible, either in the
stream or in the bottom, and the river
appears to be confined to its banks at
all times. The whole valley and bed
of the river seem to be underlaid with
stratum of coarse gravel, in which
one can hardly find cobb!e as large
as ones fist.
The river and tributary streams
contain no fish of the salmon family.
but there are great numbers of white
fish and mountain herring. Lost River
has no visible outlet. After flowing
to the lava fields below Arco, it sinks
in the ground. Hence its name.
The interval land, on the eastern
side, between the river and foothills,
is very wide at the mouth of Alder
gulch; the soil is Of excellent quality,
from three to six feet in depth, covere d
with sagebrush, white sage and bunch
grass, and lies in admirable shape for
irrigation. Farming is carried on on
small scale as yet, and fine beets,
potatoes, turnips, wheat and oats were
raised this year and last. As graz
ing country 1t is very fine, the cattle
being sleek and fat and in splendid
condition the year round. 1t is said
to be as good winter range as there
is in the Territory, and there have been
no losses Of cattle from cold weather
during the past four years-or since
the first settlement Ct the country by
the whites. The ranchers say that
they get fine fat beef from their herds
IN tho cprinor opl <bo% <b,;, o,..l