Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1895-02-22
IS 4 LAND OF PROMISE.
Climate, Moisture and Sus-
ceptibility Qualification.

grasp the full signifioanc of the
Nez Perce reservation as a factor
in her own affairs. This much
she must begin to understand and
consider: One hundred miles
distant, south, there is country
which has reached q higher
plane of domestic development
and of material greatness than
has yet been attained in any of
the surrounding country. Its
social superiority is but the log
ical evolution by which mellow
ing time and genial temperature
produce a more finely con-
!structed human orgaization than
is usual among people exposed
to the viscissitudes of desultory
habitations and unkind climates.
And, in the same way sort of
generous conspiracy of the ele-
ments has created there a small
scope Of country of exceptional
excellence. The two conditions
accompany and explain each
other. 1t required unusual
natural conditions to attract and
attach the better order of people;
when each had proved and sat
isfied the other, the association
became an amalgamation, as it
were, and higher results than
ordinary in both moral and ma
terial respects have consequently
ensued.
But the same natural condi-
tions which attracted the whites
in the country which is enclosed
in the approximating embrace
of the Clearwater and Snake
rivers had previously appealed
to the discriminating vision of
the Nez Perce Indians, and they
had taken possession Of about 900
square miles OF the territory.
The people at the forks of the
river, therefore, had to take what
was left, and, it is needless to
say, that the children of nature
had not left the best But that
the remaining lands were of su-
perior worth is not matter Of
specialization.
The reserva tion is bisected
east and west by the Clearwater
river, which again forks and di-
videS it both north and south
Numberless afiuents plow
through it in every direction
Snake river flows along its ives.
tern border, about eight miles dis
tant. Along its southern line lies
the beautiful and prolific Camas
prairie country. Just beyond its
eastern border rise spurs of The
Bitter Root range. At its north
are the Potlatch and Palonst
prairie lands. There ought tt
be virtue in the land of the Ne;
Perces from its kindred if for
naught else. The small strip o
country between its western DOR
der and the Snake river is al
that has given Lewiston its fame
Orchards and vineyards extenC
from Lewiston along the Clear
wafer river plumb to the reserva
ton line, and it is this land tha
the owners have gone upon tn
stand aud testified returned then
, profit of over 800 per acre ev
cry year. This seems fabulous
but it is true. Cinnamon ren
!. land along there and pay SIS
per acre every year. And jus
over the imaginary line lies th
land of the Nez Perces.
1t were vain to pretend to az
e curately describe the specia
! characteristics of these lands
d In general terms, the topograph
e of the country is undulatinI
!: with rich rolling plains ana IN,
sas, and gentle wales ribbone
4 with silvery streams. There al
!. a good many thousand acres
e valuable timber lands, contain
i ing white, yellow and bull pin
n cedar, fir and tamarack. tt
tt white pine is yery valuable ar