Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1891-12-18


resources, and there is no country whic,.
presents greater inducements to q rail-
road company than Camas prairie offers
at the present time.
And not only the railroad COMPANY
which enters upon the occupation Of
these fertile fields, but the city that gets
our produce and furnishes us with sup
plies will be benefited. The interests
OF the country and the city are as much
identifed-the one with the other--as
the Siamese twins. One cannot subsist
without the other.
We have many thousands of acres Of
good. smooth prairie land uncultivated
for want of railroad facilities. We have
also countless tons of rich ores waiting
simply for cheaper transportation, and
the consequent introduction of machin.
cry to develop the largest and richest
belts of ores containing the precious
metals on this coast, together with the
large reciprocal traffic which grows out
OF the development of new mining dis.
tricts. A railroad to Camas prairie will
make of this part of the State of Idaho
the promised land of the great Pacific
northwest. 1t has been truthfully said
that railroad makes country and the
country makes the railroad. The one
feeds the other. The advantages to be
derived by Spokane from railroad ex-
tension to this section are 30 obvious A
to need no explanation.
The work of allotting the Indiana
their lands in severalty ON the Neg
Perces reservation is about completed.
This fine body of 785,0OO acres of the
choicest arabic land adjons Camas Prai-
rie on the north, and will soon be OPEN
ed to white settlement, either by dis
posing of the surplus lands which the
Indians do not use or by leasing their
allottments, as is already largely done ia
the vicinage of Genesee and Lewiston.
With the addition of these idle reserya-
ton lands to Camas prairie We haye a
body OF land so miles long and 80 miles
wide that cannot be excelled in thA
northwest for soil, climate, water. graz.
ing, timber and minerals. When We
compare our beautiful, rich and pro-
ductive country to other parts of the
northwest that have been supplied with
railroads. we cannot help but stop and
wonder what has kept the usually en-
terprising railroad capitalists from build
ing to Camas prairie, and on behalf OF
the people here we respectfully request
The Reoieto to urge the Spokane board
of trade and other official bodies to lend
their corporation in this matter of hav-
ing the Spokane d Palouse branch ex-
tended to Camas prairie.
We believe that immediate action
should be taken, because at the present
time capital is accumulating in large
quantities in the moneyeyed centers in
the east, and there is always a demand
for the securities of such an investment
AS this one would be. We invite the
most critical investigation of our re-
sources in the confidence that our coun-
try possesses real merit and has never
yet been the victim of vicious over
statements. B. F. DAVIS.
A. F. PARKER.
On behalf of the railroae committee of
Camas prairie, Idaho.
Spokane Review
In the United States there are few
large areas capable of great and varied
production which still lack railroad con-
nection with the outside world. Cam
as prairie in Idaho county, Idaho, is one
of these. The soil there is capable of
giving an enormous yield of grain, fruits
and hay; the ranges can produce the
finest stock, the forests are rich in tim
Der, and the surrounding mountains
contain all the minerals known to met
allurgy. The beauty. the fertility, the
mild climate and the broad extent of
this section long ago became known to
several hundred homeseekers, who went
in there and took claims with the ex-
pectation that the railroads would not
be long in following. But the railroads
have been slow to appreciate the possi-
biiities of this fertile region. The sec
ton has been isolated, and the mana
gers of the great transportation systems
have never yentured In there. Des.
pairing of reaching the ear of these
managers themselves, the people of
Camas prairie through the columns Of
The Reuteac, appeal this morning to the
chamber of commerce of Spokane. II
is hoped that this appeal will receive
prompt and energetic consideration.
The Spokane Il Palouse branch of the
Northern Pacific is the line to penetrate
that section. 1t is already within easy
distance, and could get there more
, quickly and more cheaply than any 9TH
er road. The trade of the prairie and
adjacent country now goes to Portland
and Omaha, and the Union Pacific has
little or no stimulus to cause il to push
| branch in there. But the Northern
Pacific, by an extension of the Spokane
& Palouse, could at once demonstrate
its friendship for Spokane and control
, the growing trade of a section that 10
extraordinarily rich in all the essential
elements of wealth.
At present that railroad is pursuing .
waiting policy. and has ceased all con.
struction work, but with the return of
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