The record-union., 1894-12-08
AN IDAHO CATARACT.
A Vivid Description of the ShO-
shOne Falls.
Rather Than Grandeur Their Strik-
Ing Feature-Sights in a Canyon
Quarter of a Mile IL Depth-An
Eagles Eyrle-Gold Galore.

people to believe that the Shoshone Falls
In Idaho are grander than Niagara. That
is great mistake, says the Chicago Rec
ord, for it is not so. They are only about
one-third of the siZe-perhaps as large as
the American fall at Niagara-and carry
about one-third of the volume of water
but the two mighty wonders are so differ
ent that it is difficult to compare them.
You might as we'll compare the canyon of
the Colorado with the Yosemite Valley.
Niagara is more majestic and more i'm
pressive, illustrating better than any
thing | know the existence and the pres
ence ofirresistible power; and the hydrant
Of the great lakes flows toward the sea in
the broad sunlight. The Shoshone Falls
are more picturesque and fantastic The
dark cavern that shields them is weird
and mysterious. The atmosphere rs
sullen, and the everlasting roar of the
falling water is often broken by strange
sounds. whose source is a secret no one
has ever been able to explain. The lights
and shadows are always changing with
the morning sun with startling effects
that come and go suddenly and inces-
sanity.
The tails are about twenty-five miles
SO good that the quick-footed Idaho
horses make the journey in four hours,
and by starting early you can get back
the same evening. The plateau IS almost
as level as the sea. The landscape is a
monOtOny OF pale-blue sky, sage brush
and scorla, with range of purple mount
ANS IN the distance. No living thing Will
be seen the whole distance, unless it be q
jack rabbit. There isn't house or tree,
only guide board TO indicate the road
that leads Off TO the Blue Lakes when
you have made two thirds OF the dis
tance.
Away back near the genesis, when this
! queer world was forming, a river of ire
| 400 miles wide and 800 miles long flowed
over the breast OF this great plain that
stretches between the Rocky Mountains
in Wyoming and the coast ranges in Or
egon and California, and, cooling, left a
mass Of black lava lying upon the earth,
IN some places twenty and III others $50
! feet deep. They say it was suddenly sub
merged under great sea, of which the
Salt Lake Is the residue, and, contracting
by the chill, lett curious fractures here
and tnero that cape open unexpectedly
on the plain, and so far as human knowl-
edge goes are bottomless. If you drop q
rock into them it will go down clinking
from side to side as long as you can hear
lt, but 1t never seems 10 have reached the
bottom.
Before this flow was Stagnant, or since,
by some mysterious and mighty force, 4
canyon was forged through the lava, aud
III the midst OF the river OF tire'that was,
q deep green stream of water now flows
with such silence and sinuOsity that the
Indians call it the Snake River, although
it deserves better name. 1t rises in the
Teton Mountains OF Montana, and TAX
ing wide sweep of 1000 miles to the
sOuthward flows north and west again,
5sn fI.I A rs w irtn GfT 70
form the great Columbia. The river and
the falls were discovered by Meriwetner
LOWS, the private secretary of Thomas
Jefferson, who, in company with Captain
Clark, of the army, explored the Louisi-
ana purchase that was made from Ma
poleon in 1903. The river was called the
Lewis Fork of the Columbia, and appears
as such upon some of the old maps.
You can see nothing of The falls or the
canyon until you come Immediately upon
them. There Is no landmark by which
they can be located from the wagon trail
except one solitary cedar tree, which
clings to crevice in the lava and can
only be seen at a short distance. The
mesa or table land which stretches across
the country for hundreds of miles is
tavorlte winter range for cattle, as the
snowfall is light, the climate mild, and
the bunch grass is nourishing, and herds
are driven IN from all the mountains
around. 1t is said that there is a great
deal of gold in The soil. / saw an old
miner who said be got 100 colors Tor
every shovelful;" but there is no way OF
reaching the plain with water.
The Shoshone Canyon is about eighteen
miles long and almost regular ia lis depth
for the entire distance, the greatest aIti-
tude of its walls being l,220 and the
smallest 1,050 feet above the water. The
walls are dead black; first stratum of
granite. stained by subterranean fires,
then be- Of packed gravel, upon which
lies 700 or 500 feet Of lava IN regular level
layers. Some poetic person has likened
1t to the grave Of a volcano that has been
robbed of its dead.7'
Nature has curlously opened portal
from the face of the plain to the canyon.
just above the falls. and it is the only
route by which they can be reached. 4
wagon road was built by the miners who
discovered the pass about thirty years
ago. Then hundreds of men were hero
seeking gold. y narrow trail was blasted
out OF the side OF the cliff, ana leads to
the bottom of the canyon over ledues of
broken lava, when it enters an almost
circular ampitheater three-tourths of a
mile WIDE. Into this soil has drifted and
made natural platform from which peo-
pie can view the falls. The cliffs around
them show curious formations-rounded
domes Of rock and huge, 1rowning battle
ments that rise 900 feet like fortresses TO
protect the place.
Below, in the shadows that they cast.
the dignliled river flows solemnly along
until it is divided by dozen or more
vast volcanic rocks, which the water has
carved into fantastic shapes, some like
domes and pyramids, and some narrow
ana sharpened Like pillars. Then il sud-
denly plunges down between them
eighty-three feet, then makes a vertical
leap 30 feet into great basin, and finally
: QIl int n
gloom OF the canyon again until it passes
out of signt between two great black
promontories. The scene is gloom in
tenSIfed. The river is always in the
shadow, except for two or three hours
each day while the sun hangs directly
overhead. and shares its solitude with a
| low log stable and a small frame house
that is called by courtesy hotel. Three
miles above is another fall, where the
current is divided by a rock IN the center
and then drops $50 feet.
The color of the water is very peculiar.
Some people insist that it is green, others
that it is blue, and both are right, for as
the sun shifts the tints change. When it
| fails below the cliffs the river reflects the
sky and carries light like an opal, or a
girl with auburn hair. The sunsets are
usually beautiful and sometimes start
ling. The sky sometimes blazes with
fame-DurSts and yellow banners. AS
the light becomes subdued The clouds
take on the coIors of violet and crimson.
with shadings of pink and gold. The
cool amber tints creep over them, which
fade into gray and darkness as the stars
are lit. The effect of these lights upon
the surface OF the stream is marvellous.
and L wonder that some great artist has
not been mere to catch them, although if
they were transferred faithfully to canvas
the picture would seem unnatural and