The Dillon tribune. [volume] (Dillon, Mont.) 1881-1941, 1883-12-22
The West Side and Ceur d'Alene.
Special Correspondence.
SPOKANE FALLS, w. T., Dec. {.

Special Correspondence.
SPOKANE FALLS, w. r., Dec. {.
a residence Of dozen years in MINES
ota, VIII, re had experienced some of the
best gotten up billiards that Boreas could
furnish, prepared me in measure for any,
thing OF that character that might happen
along out here. The Minnesota article is,
however, nothing but gentle zephyr when
compared with one Of those gulch whirls
when charged chuck full Of weather. To
imagine the air full Of cambric needles
pointed at both ends, and blown against
your face as Il shot O 1t Of Calling gun,
Is not too strong simile Of blizzard fresh
from the Rockies. The granulated snow
or hail AS il swoops down the mountain
side is simply irresistible in its advance.
taking in its course huge trees s, which with
the underhrush are swept to the base of the
mountains like chat. For miles upon
miles where the railroad passes along the
side ofthe mountain the track ia obstructed
to an extent that requires the almost con.
slant occupation In winter Of hundreds of
men to guard against the delay Of trains
From early November to late In April
therefore, period Of six long and SEEM
ingly interminable months, is the mission
Of the shove. and the snow-plow under
requisition. 1t was through the canyon that
is fringed BY Hellgate River that your cor.
respondent was passing when this blizzard
overlook him, and your readers can i,nag-
inc, il they have anything like warm i'm
ag'nation, how strong his desire was to be
in the "Sunny South" instead of being
out here interviewing these Manitoba ear.
twisters.
But Il the scenery is picturesquely beau.
tiful along the valley of the Hellgate in
summer, no words Of mine can paint its
grandeur and absolute loveliness in winter,
which one enjoys despite the penetrating
blasts that laugh at fur overcoats and ig.
more the warmest kinds Of head, neck and
foot.gear. Here are the almost perpendic.
ular sides Of the tremendous Bitter Root
Mountains, respondent in all the gorgeous
ness Of icy festoons pending from the rocky
Drinks, with the SUMS rays dallying with
them, not to melt them away, for they can.
not, but to increase the magniicence Of
their ever.increasing beauty. The weird
stories Of enchantment; Of caves studded
with the wonderful stalactite and stalag-
mite, all have their realization here.
On from Missoula we hasten toward the
terminus Of our journey. passing through
that sublimest Of Natures architecture, the
Ceur d'Alene Mountains, which, besides
being an enchanted region, a5ounds in
lodges of mineral, marble and granite
Surely, with their scarcely concealed de.
post. they will not long await the develop
ment Of Western enterprise. Here, too, is
an unbroken forest from which lumber can
be supplied to the country tor an indefinite
period, and it will be lumber that will bring
In the ca ly stages of settlement most fab
alous ices. Already the buzz Of the
steam.driven saw, and the echoes Of the
axe, reverberate through these forests, SO
recently the home of the savage alone
For twenty miles do we pursue our course
through this forestry which time we strike
the circuities Of Clark's Fork Of the Co.
lumbia, crossing the Montana line and
speedily making Roadway toward the beau.
tiful Lake CGur d'Alene, whose waters
abound in fish, and whose shores offer the
most tempting inducement to the sports.
man. Then we come into the kootenai
lands, aregion pa-celed out between Wash.
ington, Idaho and British Columbia, Mr.
Bull, as usual, getting the lions share. l,
will be but few years at most when this
will be the agricultural Mecca Of the PEG.
pie OF both countries, for lids ricl, in fertil.
ity richer in its mineral deposits and riches,
in its vast and l might say inexhaustible
lumber resources. To this beautiful and
and fertile country railroad is soon to en-.
ter from Spokane, intending to develop
the riches OF the Kootenai and the Colvillc
countries.
To Cheney, the county seat Of Spokane,
we reluctantly made our way, because we
missed the most attractive spot in the re.
gion by going through the village Of Spo.
kane Falls in the night. I am told that
there is nothing like waterfall in the
world that bears any resemblance to tina,
Of Spokane. 1t stands alone as the mas.
terpiece awe.inspiring work Of Nature,
whose eccentricities are also to be seen up.
on every hand. 1t is here that "the old man
Of the Spokane" can be viewed in all the
pict"resqueness Of toothless jaws, crow
track temples, bald head and aquiline nose,
clear-cut profile in a jstting rock on the
very edge Of the fall. When the water.
power at this point becomes utilized, l dare
not guess the future Of this spot, but do
know that another decade Of years will
find here a large city, with manufac.
turing establishments of every possible
character, scattered along the shores OF this