Omaha daily bee., 1890-01-05
THE SHASTA FOOTHILLS.
Changes That Have Taken Place in
Fifteen Years.

Changes That Have Taken Place in
Fifteen Years.
The foothills are becoming civilized.
The old order is changed. Hundreds of
new settlers are clearing brush and
planting orchards; the real pioneers
have moved pack into the pine forests
and the railroads are pushing into their
Parm" the other day. He had heen
the only blacksmith of the Stillwatero on
week days and the only travelling Bap-
fist preacher on Sundays, says n corre-
spondent of the New York Evening
Post. He had owned II quarter-section
OF land on the creek and lived In q
cabin there. He sold his claim foc a
couple of hundred dollars and
moved further back" "Do YOU
know" he said to me, 'them
fellows | sold to has got it all
ploughed an fenced, an the bresh
cleared, an folks say they's making
money there" There was a tone of
mingled surprise and Indignation in the
old mans voice. His idea of land was
to own a big piece, have a few hogs and
cattle, plant a dooryard full of pinks,
four-o'clocks and red roses for Mis-
Parm," and slave in his log blacksmith
shop on the creek for the small sum
that they needed for groceries and
clothes.
1t was in the middle of November,
this year, that I revisited some of the
we'll known places in the Shasta foot
hills, and went on to the higher noun
tain region. The weather was delight
full. and it is certain that the attractions
o the Mount Shasta region for winter
tourists have not received sufficient at
tention. Between Redding and
tho fnmn ff IF Siocpp'o 10 Gt,ou,
berry valley at the base Of
Shasta; the rise in elevation is
5000 feet: Acme, the next station,
Is 3,9O2 feet above the sea, or about four
hundred feet higher than Sisson's. A
wonderful pile of solid granite, "Castle
Rocks southwest OF SlssOn's, rises
1000 feet above Strawberry valley, and
below it lies Castle lake. The real
Shasta region may be said to begin at
the mouth OF Pitt river and the famous
fishing stream of the McCloud, and to
continue to Edgewood, a distance of
about eighty miles. From SissOn's the
mountains and pines extend west to the
coast redwoods OF Humboldt and east to
the lava beds OF MOdOc. The pines fill the
mountain valleys, they clothe the long
ranges OF hills that rise higher and
higher in buttresses about the great
peaks, and they grow almost 10 the line
OF perpetual snow.
Strawberry Valley is the pivotal
point. The principal mountains about
1t rise from 1900 to IL 900 feet above the
floor of the valley, aud contain the
sources of six large rivers and innu-
merable tributary streams. Large
streams, ice cold and clear, burst out OF
the mountain sides, sometimes in water
falls OF fifty feet or more in height.
Here, especially in Shasta, are the
great water reservoirs of northern Cal
ifornia. If Mount Shasta could be
sawed off at the 4,000-foot level, or 500
feet above the valley, the oval plain
thus made would be eighty miles in cir
conference.
The year just closed was one of the
most prosperous IN the forty years. ex-
perience of that grand old corporation,
the Glens Falls fire insurance company.
Truly, conservative practice and hon
orable dealing pay.
Mrs. Louis Knowlton. masquerade
costumer, 40 N, 37th st. Finest line
of costumes ever in the city.
Farmers Home hotel, Webster st. be-
tween 18th and 10th. Boarding from
"a to Is per week. Everything nice.