, 1889-09-12
The Poet Of the Sierras Discourses
Beautifully About the City
of the Falls.
The Trip From Tacoma Through
the Yakima Valley to the
Giant Metropolis.
The People Designated as a Com
munity of Train Catohers,
All in Hurry.

ii was his intention TO write something
concerning his impressions of this mar
velous city. This he has done and the
following characteristic pen.picture APP
peared In the New York Independent of
September 81
TACOMA TO SPOKANE.
About five hundred miles of sun and
snow, of sand and sngc-brush, of burning
desert and bristling peaks, u variety of
cline and of scene such as you would
not encounter in all the journey from
London to Jerusalem; and the trouble is
not what to say, us you look back over
this long swift dash from tide water to
tho interior of this new state, Washing
ton, but what not to say
The first few hours out from Tacoma
you are in a narrow path between i'm
pcnetuble walls of moss-hung and over
hanging trees. a dlmple now and then
to right or left, little dot OF house
and barn, hop-iicld, few fat cows,
| belly.deep in grass and flowers, great
thickels of grapes, wild and tame, flash
ing trout stream away down under the
trclls or wooden bridge, and that Is all
you see or know of the thousands upon
thousands Of square miles that make up
the great wOod-world, Washington.
After while we pull up, rattle and
a clank, the >hunt and pun and gruan of
our weary engine, and then two mon
strous big creatures, two huge black en-
ginos such as were never seen IN the
states, | reckon, come stealing out from
the round .hOusc, and we know
there is heavy work on hand;
we are about 10 climb the Oregon
Siurras, and pierce their SUBMITS by the
route of tiic great tunnel OF thc Northern
Puciiiv railroad, only recently completed.
We pass ono, two, five, ten, twenty
great lumber mills; strings OF oxen half
"A mile long; little armies OF men with
nA, saw aild oS-whip. | tell yoI it is II
busy place
TINS WASHINGTON .wooD-woRLDl
Get land get land, get land here
lumber land; for California, Nevada, the
plains, all thc civilized world wants
lumber 10 build with.
"Muuld you care to ride through the
two.milc tunnel OH Jumbo with the
enginccrf whispers the Kind conductor,
"Nc8, that Should but have been
through the Mount Gems, and the
lIoosac too; and YOU have to keep your
windows and your doors, even your eyes
and mouth Shut or you will have
trouble"
"Not 50 here" answers the conductor
in quick whisper for fear others may
hear and ask to ride with the engineer;
"thC tunnel is clear and clean of smoke
and everything; you see there is trc-
mcndous draft through toward the hot
ana dry country east of the mountains
I from this wet and humid region by the
ocean, aud all YOU have to do is to hold
| ON 40 your Init
And ound this ~ he said the wind
| fairly whi,tlei as It whirlcd past tho
| mighty engines IN their rumbling ilight
| down and through the long and flashing
lane OF lire. ou see, tuis tuuutpl is
| lighted with thousands of electric lights.
/ There is not such another sight ON the
face of the earth; there is NOT such an
other sensation by sea or by land us this
laundering dash ON and up and down
and through this
wIyp-roRN rrNNEL or FLAMEl
once through the tunnel and we left
the monsters of steam ana iron and
glidcd on down and around and around
and down until patches Of brown lund,
like the brown grasses Of California, be-
gan 20 stand uut among the tall uud
splendid yellow pines.
In passing through that tunnel we
had passed into another world. The
Titanic black peaks of fir and cedar for
got tllCir garments of smoke aud cloud
and sea-mi,t, and here Oh the eastern
side of the Slcrras they stood bare Hnd
bald, bold and dCsolatc, defiant in the
blazing ana uninterrupted sun.
We are now NJ last in the great valley
OF thc Yakima. DO you remember tic
Yakima war! Wull, Il was "a great deal
more To Oregon than even the Hack
hawk war, or any other of the little In
dian wars of old to the United States.
+. THE YAKIMA HORSES.
And finally, when the Indians were
beaten and surrendered their camps and
cattle and horses to the whites, the gem
cril OF the United ttates army Ordered
that, rs there WAS no means Of taking
these horses out OF the country, they
should be killed.
They Wcre beautiful horses; spotted
a. pied and spotted Us Jacobs cattle
and by tho same poetic touch of nature.
The spotted mountains and dotted
heights ol snow and lava Were as the
spotted and tho striped sticks which
Jacob set up in the water for his cattle to
look upon.
Tho volunteer troops Of Oregon were
detailed TO do this work of dos,ructiun
and the thousands of horses were
hemmed in on a high plateau that rost-
ed against and hung 100 feet above the
TOck-bound bank of the Oregon river.
Nollcy after Vollcy was poured In upon
the poor hrutes, till the men stopped
loading and firing from very wcarinrss.
Then Il splendid black stocd came
galloping out and stood right before the
men ;s they drew up their guns to re-
new the deadly work. but tho splen-
did audaCity of this noble animal, as he
stood with nostrils extended and mane
like u banner of battle, challenged their
admiration too deeply and they refused
TO fire, At last, as II impatient to die,
he gtllopcd up and down the line that
shut him and his doomed band In above
the river and gave that
WILD .tNp DELIBERATE pEATM-cRY
that few men ever hear, and, II is said,
that Il horse never utters but once.
| And with this cry he dashed through
the remaining horses, and leaping down
| the precipicc into the rocky river led
every one of the faithful creatures TO in.
slant death and glorious destruction.
Gold mines have since been found on
! the Yakima river all worked out You
see dozen or two little old mud covered
cabins STOPPING low down with age by
/ the rivers bank. Only one place did 1
/ see smoke stealing out from the chin
ney of the miners cabin; ''played OUT
| is written all along the gravel banks of
the gold bearing Yakima.
! And why do | have so much 10 say
| about tho Yakima, u land that nobody
ever heard OF before? Because IL IA "A
| bigger place than all Massachusetts and
| Rhode Island and Connecticut bundled
up together. Because battles have been
| fought here that gave an empire to civil
] izutiou. Were ] the Northern Pacific
railroad | should see that
N,nxttMrxra .ra u,.,rx,.,