The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1890-09-13
THE SH0SH0NE FALLS.
IpAHo,s MARVELLOUS CATARACT AND
ITS SURROUNDINGS.

IDAHo's MARVELLOUS CATARACT AND
ITS SURROUNDINGS.
A Perilous MISUNDERSTANDING .
Precipice In the Darkness-The Sublime
Magnihcence of Natures Handiwork.
Wow Of the Falls.
Our party left the little town of Sho-
shone at half past 6 in the evening with
the intention Of arriving at the celebrated
shoshone falls at about half past 10 O'clock
the same night. There were two travelling
men and two young women, the elder q
Chicago schoolma'am and the younger her
sister. The road to the falls has been cut
through a plain Of s%agebrush and lava.
For twenty-six miles there is nothing to
relieve the monotony of white sand, brush
and lava but the drivers stories and the
jokes or conversational powers of ones
companions. We suffered very little be-
of the lack of versatility of the party
and became anxious only where the road
became obscured under the starless clouds
which had overcast the scene when the sun
disappeared.
For nearly w hours we proceeded in
the darkness, some fearing that we had
lost our way, in which event there would
be no alternative but a risky tramp through
the desert under the chill night air.
The driver, however, continued to pick
his way, and finally announced that we
had at length reached 'tthe rocks" In this
manner he designated the lava beds, which
extend four miles from the falls, and over
which in the dark it is impossible to drive
with safety faster. than a walk.
One weary hour was spent picking our
way through these adamantine labyrinths
when the driver sententiously and infor-
mally remarked, Here's where you get
outl"
We disembarked without questioning,
and the driver tied n of the hind wheels
to q side brace on the wagon.
'eThis is a steep hill an I never hauled a
living being down it in my life. I'll go
ahead with the team and you follow"
GOING DOWN I'LL IN DARKNESS.
We followed. It was as dark us a dun
geon. We could not see two feet in adj
vance. We soon discovered that the de-
scent was most abrupt, SO much 80, in
deed, that it required the united efforts Of
the party to keep us from breaking into a
run, leaving the road and going we knew
not where.
. v . "0 0NAVA IN " JIG I'LL
we were out of breath and the driver told
us we had travelled a thousand feet. We
again took the wagon and at that moment
for the first time the hoarse voice of the
falls greeted our ears. Almost at the same
instant there was q rift in the sable cover
ing above us and u white patch of cloud
became visible. Whence it received its
light we knew not. There was not q star
visible. Profled against this Grant cloud
were immense masses of rock, black as the
night itself and towering above see ,ningly
to q distance of thousands of feet. In this
same uncertain light we saw or we fan
cied we saw the windings of the Snake,
but it was only fancy, because we could
scarcely see the stream when the driver
announced that we had reached the ferry.
We boarded the latter, which is about
200 feet above the falls, horse, wagon,
women and all. We took turns working
at the windlass, as we did also in specu-
lating what would be our fate if the ferry's
cables should break. Once, while in mid
river, the current struck us with unusual
force, and all the male hands were re-
quired at the rope, while the women
clasped each other in a corner and re-
mained speechless until the bank was
reached. There is little pleasure in trav-
cling in the dark, and there is little to re-
assure the traveller when he encounters
dangers the magnitude of which must be
determined by conjecture. For this rea-
son when the ascent Of the opposite bank
was undertaken there was not a member
Of the party who did not feel that he or
she accomplished an heroic deed, which
would bear recounting after the return
home.
rvrNa SPRAY.
As we climbed the hill, again in the
densest darkness, everybody simultane-
ously remarked that 1t had begun to rain.
A heavy mist struck us, rendering wraps
necessary. This. the driver explained, was
the spray from the falls, which the wind
was scattering around with lavish gener-
osity. In this mist we reached the hotel,
in which not a light burned, and in which
every occupant must have fallen n the
sleep Of the just, which even the crash Of
the falling water beneath was unable to
disturb.
The hostelry stands on a height almost
over the south end of the falls and was en-
veloped in a cloud of spray which, finding
temporary Judgment on the root OF the
porch, dropped in rain to the floor below.
The descent was rendered possible only
by the use Of a half inch wire cable which
led down the steep sides and which was
fastened at intervals to the rocks along the
route.
In a couple of instances slippery ladders
were employed where the cable could not
have been used for a handrail. By means
Of these agencies the party, saturated with
rain, .~perspiring from tugging at the cable
and, to- greater or less degree, covered
with mud, reached the river. There men
and women passed over a number OF rough
rocks strongly suggestive Of gigantic mus.
raj shells, over which thes undulating and
angry waters roamed undirected. Between
these rocks were hundreds of varieties OF
driftwood, which the action of the waters
had worn from angular into we'll rounded
proportions.
ADDITIONAL WONDERS.
Somewhat to the north and west OF the
cave rock, describing an imperfect cres-
can't. is what is known a. the Bridal Veil,
the fall Of which is estimated at eighty
feet. This name is inappropriate, because
the width is not proportional to the height,
and because the lacelike transparency Pc
culiar to the bridal veil is scarcely Il ever
visible In the fall. This fall, however, V
imposing, and Of itself would be consider
cd . curiosity. But it is dwarfed into moth