Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-06
A VALLEY OF BEAUTY.
The Grandest River Scenery in the
World is on the Columbia.
FOUNTAINS, FALLS AND PALISADES
more Than Make Up for the Castles Of the
Far-Famed Rhine.
ITS CRYSTAL WATERS COLD AS ICE
FOUNTAINS, FALLS AND PALISADES
ITS CRYSTAL WATERS COLD As ICE
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE p1spArcH.I

1OhILAND, ORE., June ZS.-Ihe pre-
verbal ingratitude of republics has neve
been better illustrated than BY the fact ths
not one of our AZ States is named after tn
discoTerer of America. An excellent OF
portunity was missed on the occasion of th
recent admi ssion of Washington Territory I
Statehood of changing its name to Columbis
However, even if it failed to use its oppo,
tunity for adopting the name of Columbi
for one of its States, the Northwest has don
more to honor the name of Columbus tha,
any other part of the country; for here i
British Columbia, with its magnificen
mountain scenery, more than eight times a
large as the State of New York; and bette
still, the Columbia river, 5000 miles il
length, with the grandest river scenery il
the world.
1 have repeatedly seen the Hudson, tn,
st. Lawrence, Mississippi, Missouri, Sacra
mento, the Rhine, Elbe and Danube anG
none OF these rivers impressed me as deeply
as the Columbia, with the exceptions of the
castles on the Rhine, combines the best feat.
ures OF all them and adds to them what th ~
all lack-a back ground of 10 ty peaks
covered with eternal snow. Grandeur is
the vatchword of the Columbia, which, with
this mountainous background and the stu
pendous sculpturing of its banks towers
above other famous rivers as the high Alps
of Switzerland do above our Adirondacks
and Catskills.
THE GRANDEsT OF SCENERY.
The real scenic part of the river is the
Upper or Middle" Columbia from Port
land to the Dallas. 1 have seen a great
T,arf IF fbraa nonfipapfc hnr r xvara Fad
what considered the best investment of a
4ive-dollar bill 1 had ever made for
combined asthetic enjoyment and hygienic
exhilaration, should name this trip on
the Colum bia river. On both sides there
are innumerable charming home sites, on
gently rising round, with fertile soil, plenty of
wood and water, excellent market facilities
BY rail and steamer, and the finest scenery
in the United States for background. Yet
these shores are now an absolute wilderness.
Had the unreasoning multitudes who rushed
to Oklahoma quietly taken up homesteads
In this region they would have avoided their
wholesale disappointment. The steamship
company is very accommodating to the few
settlers along the river, and stops at frequent
intervals to take on their lumber, shingles,
salmon and farm products, and to land mer-
chandise for them.
Two hours after leaving Portland, Mt.
Hood. whose base had been previously con-
cealed by the Cascade Ridges suddenly
comes into view, life size, from top to base.
Were the banks of the Columbia as fiat
and monotonous as those of the lower MIS-
sissippi, this sight alone would crown it
king OF rivers For two hours more the
mountain remains in sight till it is once
more hidden behind the Cascades. A hotel
was opened last summer just below the snow
line Of Mt. Hood so that the ascent can now
be made with great conf tort. Mt. Hood is
IL OBS feet high, and it is ascended by nu-
merous parties every summer, including
ladies.
AS CLEAR AS WELL WATER.
The river itself is almost as awe-inspiring
in its grandeur as the snow peaks visible
from it. No other river has ever given me
sucb<a vivid and oYerpoweriEg sense of
as the Columbia, by its great ex-
panse Of waIery surface and its tranquil,
deep, majestic movement. And whereas
the Mississippi at a corresponding point in
its course is so muddy that one almost hesi-
tates to bathe in it, the Columbia is so
clear and pure that in glass it
seems like well water, and tastes
almost as good. The color varies with
wind and weather, but is usually a
yellowish green, as grateful to the eve as a
new mown lawn. Standing at the prov of
the boat surveying the vast expanse of
placid or agitated water, it is fascinating
exercise of the Imagination to think that
almost every gallon of this monarch stream
came originally from some different creek,
spring, melting glacier or snowfeid-some
Of them in the Cascade Mountains near bv.
some in the Rocky Mountains in distant |
1erritories-for the Columbia's sources are |
N Kriti tiSh n in
and Territories-Oregon, Idaho, Montana,
w ashington, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. |
Think what romantic canons, what vast, |
gloomy forests, these waters have passed 4!
through on their way from the crest of |
he continent to the ocean; what num- |
0ers of speckled trout have darted |
through them in the mountains, hat hordes |
# big salmon and sturgeon in the Columbia,
and what exciting scenes they have noted
# seals chasing these unfortunate fish
For even as far up the Columbia as this
he seals make their excursions.
TWO FAMOUS SIGHTS.
As Mt. Hood disappears, Rooster Rock
ONES into sight. Rooster Rock is large
owlder which, from different pointsc view.
ooks like an uplifted thumb, or like man.
1oth seal with head on high, just ready to
lunge. Barely Is minutes elapse before
mother OF the famous sights of the Colum-
Ia comes in view-Cape Horn-whlch at
rst sight seems merely precipitous rock
rejecting into the river; but as the boat
raws near and begins to round it, all the
aSsengers rush to the lett side of the ship,
nd chorus of rapturous admiration bursts
ON their lips.
Cape Horn is vertical wall of bare rock.
sing abruptly out OF the water, and stand
&c
.mbling little pillars sculptured haut relief.
4 the center OF the rock a miniature cas-
Ide runs down smoothly over mossv bed.
as the boat moves on in close
10 the rock. another PERCEPTIONS
all even higher than the first, rises above it |
lorned with several more miniature water
lis, whose moss-grown channels are the
lly green in the barren, rocky scene, At
mes the wind blows SO wildly that none
1t steam vessels can pass. The Columbia
yer wind current, by the wav, is very ac-
mmodating to sailing vessels, for it usu-
ly blows up stream, so that it is almost as
sy Tor them to go up as down. In the
ture commercial development of this !
giOn this will be factor of considerable
lportance.
The master landscape garnener who
AIMED the Columbia river provided not
|
max, but for constant scenic variety. So,
Ter the snow mountains, and Rooster
ock, and Cape Horn, the tourist is treated
the sight OF few picturesque water falls. =
le hrst of them is the MuItnomah Fall, !
llch is sighted only a few minutes after s
iVlng Cape Horn. AT first it is some r
lat disappointing. since only the upper U
ri can be seen, but as the boat approaches o
arer, II is revealed in its true size of 800 a
It, In two divisions. 1t is the death t
nnge oi lively mountain stream, which Il
worn channel in the rock that looks as o
giant had scooped out wide groove t
tn shovel. eO"' a
NATURAL ICE WATER Q
The water in the pool formed by the fall I;
cool as ice, even in midsummer. Other .,
Is are numerous. After these the Hipb- o.
i'd mountain scenery again mononoIizes
attention, for we are now in the midst NJ
the Cascade range. That the Coinmbis y
'uld have ever been able to force a nas- w
70 through this lofty chain, is a marvel y,
the Washington side is a monst,on. ;s
'sltic rock, close by the river. com nisteiY -
1.To -