Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-29
A QUEER WESTERN TOWN.

Rhs Way Beiknap was First Built by
Mistake on Crust of Snow.
The story Of the town Of Belknap, says
Denver letter to the New York Sun, has
never been fully told, but it is worth tell
fsg. RumOrs Of the great weaI'b to ha
has Es- ~ @s~knIE IN the CGur d'Alene
country had reached the outer world in
he fall OF 1888, and, being very persist
entity kept afOat, gave plain indications
that boom would set in early in the fol-
lowing spring. Two enterprising men, who
were entirely familiar With the art Of
creating cities, started from Denver in
January, and riding along the snow
5Ouad iIne 81 the Northern Pacific until
hey came to a point which lDuked as If il
might he somewhere near Oppos tie to the
promised land Of gold on the other side of
the mountains, jumped OF into the snow
and claimed the town OF Il lkuap. Their
reason Tor stopping at this particular
point was that the engine had halted there
% take IA water from a tank. the only
ztruC ure within hundred miles OF the
place. lt was not an over promising site
FOR town. On The left of the track the
steep hill, heavily timbered with i'm
IneBee pine trees, extended skyWard at
an ar he OF IS degrees. and on the right Of
A.
same Incline. The pine trees were so close
together IN some places that 1t was al
most impossible Tor these pioneers. Wad-
LSg thruugh tue snow, TO run the lines for
tbs s.-rNey Of their proposed metropolis.
Having, however, chopped down a tree or
I'VE, aud claimed and named their town.
they set out in search OF inhabitants, feel
ny lOieTably sure that nObndy would steal
ne property during their absence.
BY promises OF corner lots they induced
sufficient number of labOring men To
accompany them TO the chosen spot from
Butte CITY, Helena, and other Montana
seWhs. and, having at last cleared awav
aa speuing in a pine forest sufficiently
large O. accommodate few by tents,
hey imported big gang Of Cinnamon
ron The Pacific slope and began IL earn
81 the laying cut II streets. ShOveling
cut anywhere from six to ten feet of
sasW from around the trees, they sawed
ne giaut trunks as clnse 20 The ground as
possible. and in the course OF few Weeks
had constructed Broadway, which was
aboHt 80 ysr,is long and 40 feet wide,
running at right augl TO tine railroad
Rark, aud First. Second and Third
streets, narrower thOroughiares OF vary
iag len ID, which crossed Broadway at
regular intervals. It being "A mater Of
dispute whether the section of land upon
ghich their town had been located was
Zee property OF the Northern Pacific
Railroad or Of the United States Govern
msHt, they entered into some sort of an
Arrangement with the railroad by which
he latter undertook % make the titles f
les good in either event.
All Was now In readiness for the sale
u real estate. The Northern Pacific adj
VeFtlsed Beiknap throughout the East as
ne eutrepOt 20 The Jeur d'Alene cOuu-
~, and maps Of this new city, showing
ali the desirable building corners, We're
Aang IN ali the real estate oil ses Of Dem
yer. Cheyenne, salt Lake, and other i'm
Bortant Western centres. A gentleman
WHO had a large and profitable hotel here
IN Denver sold out all his property here
and bought Two lois at tie corner of
Br02u way and second street. j think, for
which ne paid leo apiece. He shipped
50 ed lumber h Beiknap 10y the carload.
suC look out enough furniture to equip
two ordinary hotels. Arrived at Belknap,
he tgund his corner occupied BIZ trees OF a
oeBtury's growth. Nothing daUnted, he
sawed the monster trunks of at the street
level, Gsing the stumps as Il convenient
and ready-made foundation for LIS new
E0tel. Other newcomers did the same,
and by laTch 1 there was such a sound
q saving ana hammering as had never
been dreamed Of IN this urImeval forest.
Sew streets were laid out and shanties
-=hG 10 ~ ~ III EfEA AAAE CAAUm
But now q most astounding and embar-
rsssiHy thing occurred. The forest having
seen cleared iCr a large space, the rays
81 ihs midday sun began 10 play havoc
with street paSemeuts. What had before
appeared 10 be q firm foundation began 10
prove uncertain. The surface of the
street. and of such building lots as had
been cleared of timber, begsn to drop out
in spots, and il was then found that the
I'D hunu a ~ = v mr. srhF
above terra frma. In shOveling away the
snow. IN order 10 get at the foot OF the
trees, the builders of the town had come
upon what they supposed TO be the
ground, but which now proved TO he a
mere crust Of leaves and twigs and fallen
bOughs and branches resting upon a fOun-
datIOn OF snow which, as has been said,
vas from SIX TO eight feet deeD. The re-
suit can easily be imagined. Houses
which had appeared 10 b. on solid ground
were suddenly found insecurity balanced
in the air on massive stills. and Broad
waV was no longer passable, being thick
" studded throughout its l5ngth with IN
saiDly tree trunks. The founders of the
Town, however, and the owners, having
made certain that they had at last
Eaas ed . genuine soil, sawed the trees
stce1d time, ana repaired their falling
buildings. In ten weeks after its incep-
ton the Town Of Belknap contained 1900
Inhabitants, not Including the Indians,
who came il troops from all directions,
supplying the new market with an album
dance 81 game. There were II corner
liQueF stores on April ! on Broadway
alone, and the foundation was being laid
Tor q large thestre-Gnfalling signs of
prosperity in the West.
But just about this time Mr.. ThOmp-
son, VINO bad hand in the building Of
IseBdyilie, arrived at Belknap. and mod
estly requested 10 be let into the town
company. IL was then that the authors Of
Belknap made a grand mistake. They
should have propitiated Mr.. Thompson
had IL tsken two solid business blocks to
do Is. They, however, gave him the cold
shoulder, wheTeupOn he Immediately
iourneyed back half 3 dozen miles on the
railroad and started town Of his own.
The msgnates Of Belknap snapped their
fingers at his rivalry, conscious OF the
fact that their relations with the North
eTn Pacific Railroad were such that all
passengers Tor the C9ur d'Alene would
Re ticketed direct to Belknap. Such was
the case, but IL didn't worry Thompson In
the least. He simply presented every
conductor and brakeman on the line of
the railroad with a corner lot, and trust
q the consequences. The consequences
we're as satisfactory 20 him as they were
disastrous 70 Belknap. Each train man
lAl Cohtululeu himself htl-appOlnleQ
missionary to rescue passengers from the
horrors OF Belknap. and twO-thirds Of the
travel was in this way switched OF at
ThOmpsOu's Falls, which was declared
~ the railroad employees TO be the only
point from which there was cOmmuniea-
ton 20 the CRur d;Alene mines. The
Truth Of the matter is there was no means
u getting % the point where the gold was
supposed 70 be from either Of these
-. 4 - IL
narrow trail which ran over the summit
Of the mountains. Men. women and
children we're landed at Thompson's or
Belknap, as the case might be, only. TO
and that thirty miles Of snow, which
could only be crossed on foot, lay be-
TWEEN them and the FL Dorado of their
hGTsea.
Why the C9ur d'Alene bubble did not
.xpsaLi 70 greater proportions before IL