Milford chronicle., 1885-04-03
A QUEER WESTERN TOWN.
THE WAY BELIkNAP WAS FIRsT BUILT
BY MISTAKE ON A CRUST OF SNOW.


THE WAY BELkNAP WAS FIRST Bull
How It was Built Up so Suddenly aud Wh
it Went Down so Quickly.
The story of the town of Belknap ha,
never been fully told, but it is wortI
telling. Rumors Of the great wealth t.
be had for the seeking in the Cmul
d'Alene country had reached the outel
world in the fall OF 1888, and, being very
persistently kept afoat, gave plain indi
cations that a boom Would set in early in
the following spring. Two enterprising
men, who were entirely familiar with the
art of creating cities, started from Den
yer in January, and riding along the
snow-bound line Of the Northern Pacific
until they came to point which looked
as if it night be somewhere near oppo-
site to the promised land of gold on the
other side Of the mountains, jumped of
into the snow and claimed the town of
Belknap. Their reason for stopping at
this particular point was that the engine
had halted there to take in water from
tank, the only structure within a hun
dred miles of the place. It was not an
over promising site for a town. On the
/ left of the track the steep hill, heavily
| timbered with immense pine trees, ex-
tended skyward at an angle of As de-
grees and on the right of the track sloped
downward at about the same incline.
The pine trees were so close together in
some places that it was almost impossible
for these pioneers, wading in the snow,
to run the lines for the survey Of their
proposed metropolis. Having, however,
chopped down a tree or two and claimed
and named their town, they set out in
search of inhabitants, feeling tolerably
sure that nobody would steal the prop.
erty during their absence.
By promises of corner lots they in.
duced a sufficient number of laboring
men to accompany them to the chosen
spot from Butte City, Helena and other
Montana towns, and, having at last
cleared away an opening in pine forest
sufficiently large to accommodate a few
big tents, they imported a big gang Of
Cinnamon from the Pacific slope and
began in earnest the laying out of
streets, Shovelling out anywhere from
six to ten feet of snow from around the
trees, they sawed the giant trunks as
close to the ground as possible and in
the course of few weeks had construct
ed Broadway, which was about 300 yards
long and 40 feet wide, running at right
angles to the railroad track, and First,
Second and Third streets, narrower
thOroughfares of varying length, which
crossed Broadway at regular intervals
1t being a matter of dispute whether the |
section of land upon which their town |
had been located was the property of the !
Northern Pacific Railroad or the United |
States Government, they entered into |
some sort of an arrangement with the
by which the latter undertook
to make the titles of lots good in either
event.
All was now in readiness for the sale
Of real estate. The Northern Pacific ad.
yertised Belknap throughout the East as
The entrepot to the Ceur d'Alene coun-
5ry, and maps of this new city, showing
Ill the desirable building corners, were
lung in all the real estate offices of
Denver, Cheyenne, Salt Lake and other
Western centres A gentle
nan who had large and profitable hotel
II Denver sold out his property and
bought two lots at the corner of Broad
way and Second street, l think, for
which he paid 81 900 apiece. He shipped
awed lumber to Belknap by the car
Dad, and took out enough furniture to {
quip two ordinary hotels Arrived at ,
5elknap, he found his corner occupied
y trees of CO., X growth. Nothing
ht. Ieu 49, tIe 'Puster trunks $
esseSl - ~, IeVeI' using he stumps )
L az the ssnie9t and ready made ioTndo 1l1li
. cor yor his neiaae6'eaIiy Aha Other I newcom-
eTs ,snH se SRRR8S such sogn5 oy the first Of
Ii1'.rny Gowns e e is9und 20 N OF saving 9
Moquette carpets again, e
oIg M%ToI bsmmering ,r,,3c r. as FHi iinua ualmost
dreamed of in this primeval forest. New
streets were laid out and shanties began
to 20 up in every direction.
But now a most astounding and en-
barrassing thing occurred The forest
having been cleared for large space
the rays of the midday sun began to play
havoc with street payements. What ma"
before appeared to be firm foundation
began to prove uncertain. The surface
of tbe street. and Of such building lots
as had been cleared of timber, began to
drop ont in spots, and it was then found
tnat the town had been laid out SIX or |
eio ht feet above terra 6rma. In shovel
inc away the snow, in order to get at the
trees the builders of the town had come |
upon what they supposed to be the |
Ground but which now proved to be a |
mere ernst of leaves aud twigs, and tal- |
len bonghs and branches resting upon
foundation of snow which, as has been |
said was from six to eight feet deep. |
The result can easily be imagined
Houses which had appeared to be on |
solid ground were suddenly found inse-
curely balanced in the air on massive |
stills, and Broadway was no longer |
passable, being thickly studded through |
out its length with ungainly tree trunks. |
The founders of the town, however, and |
the owners. having made certain that
they had at last reached a genuine soil,
sawed the trees a second time, and re- !
paired their falling buildings. In ten
weeks after its inception the town OF
Belknap contained 1900 inhabitants,
not including the Indians, who came in
troops from all directions, supplying
the new market with an abundance OF
game. There were seventeen corner
liduor stores on the first of April on
Broadway alone, and the foundation was
being laid for a large theatre-unfalllng
signs of prosperity in the West.
But lust about this time Mr.. Thomp-
so,, rri,o bod n hand in the building of