Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1892-01-15


au dacity and daring of that expedition.
That it required bravery of high order
10 penetrate the then totally unknown
wilderness will be better appreciated
when we remember that at that day the
country sw armed with bosiies as far
eastward as the Ohio, and Tecumseh
ana his warriors held undisputed sway
over Indiana territory; and it was not
until six years later that the battle of
llppecanoe was fought, and that formid-
able Indian general suppressed
The exploits of the Nez Perce Chief
tain Joseph and his band, in the men,
orable war of 1877, has attached to the
Clearwater country certain degree of
historic interests.
Lewiston, the first capital in Idaho,
founded in 1861 by the gold seekers
bound for the Oro Fino diggings, is the
gateway to the Clearwater country.
Seated at the junction of the Snake and
Clearwater rivers, Lewiston controls the
trade of the vast interior basin, from
the Idaho and Washington line to the
summit OF the Bitter Root range. Al
ready her trade is considerable, in spite
OF the sparse population. A narrow re-
gon of grain farms on the soutb and
east OF the city is thickly settled up TO
the Nez Perce reservation line. Then
the settlements of Camas Prairie, south
OF the reservation seventy-fye miles
distant, depend for the most part on
Lewiston for their supplies. The min.
ing camps of Pierce City and Elk CITY
also trade almost exclusively with Lew
'ston. 1t is a pretty old town, deeply
shaded with venerable poplars and fruit
orchards. The population is about
1000, and it is the county seat of Nez
Perce county. A dozen stage lines GEN.
ter here.
Captain Lewis, the explorer, camped
upon the site of the present city of
Lewiston in 1905, and his memory is
perpetuated in the name of the town.
A stage road runs to Pierce City-a
route swarming early in the "sixties"
by hordes of gold seekers rushing to
the Orc Fino diggings in those days.
twenty miles from Lewiston the ascent
OF Craig's mountain is made, and after
travelling few hours through a high
level forest region the road emerpes nm
on vast treeless plateau, gently rolling
and everywhere covered with the tufted
bunch grass. The area of this treeless
tract is not far from 25O,OOO acres and
the soil uniformly fertile. This fertile
tract OF land will for the most part fall
into the hands of the white settler
when the reservation is opened, as the
Indians prefer to settle on the narrow
bottoms of the Clearwater river and its
tributaries, and there they have nearly
all chosen their lands in severalty. This
extensive plateau is perhaps the finest
Dody OF virgin agricultural land in
America, and. when the reservation is
opened to settlement, whether to bome-
stead entry or to the highest bidder, il
VIII all be appropriated in day.
The south fork of the Clearwater riv-
Or is crossed some fifty miles east from
Lewiston, and soon the eastern confines
oi the reservation is reached and the
traveller enters again region of cultiya-
Ted farms Some Eve hundred settlers
are gathered in this remote nook. at
tracted by the fertile lands and the mag
nlhcent range for cattle, Four post of.
hces are established here, Lo Lo. Frazer.
weippe and Pierce City. All products
of the temperate zone can be grown
mere with success. AS no market ia at
present accessible the settlers turn all
heir attention to the rearing of horses
and cattle, which can be driven out of
Inc country to market. They are only
waiting the nearer approach of RAILWAYS
70 take up diversified farming extensive.
~ and the output of this region in grain
and other products will be enormous
when once the markets are furnished.
Pierce City was until recent years the |
county seat of Shoshone county. but the |
~eur d'Alene mining region coming in
70 prominence in the northern part of
The county, it was found nesessary to
change the seat of government to a
point nearer the center of population.
In the first year of the civil war Cap.
'ain Pierce discovered gold in great
quantities in gulch putting into Orc
tino creek. Although there were no
telegraph lines or railways in the Pacific
Northwest in those days, the news of
he fnd spread far and wide with sur
orlsing rapidity. In 1868 no less than
1000 men were in the camp, which was
named Fierce City, in honor of the dis
'overer, and a big ephemeral city of
ents sprang up in night. as it were.
asst sums of money were taken out in
he early days. but the claims began to I
pinch out in few years. 1t was the
Did, old story of placer camps. The i'm
posing encampment melted away az
ieetly as it came, and the played. out
claims gradually fell into the hands of
he Chinese. This was an unmistaka-
Die evidence that the glory was depart
ID, and the "quick pulse of gain" abat-
ID. Chinese miners are never tolerated
n prosperous mining camp.
Diligent search has been made for the
mother ledge of all this gold. but in
1ain. No wash foat' has ever been
ound in the camp. The Pierce City
lust is wholly decomposed quartz, and