Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1896-02-20
BEAUTIFUL ORCHARDS.

4
The Clearwater valley is narrow aud
divided by the tortuous river in its
| zigzag course into sections of orchard
land. The trees are purple and the
vines are brown in winter, gorgeous
and green with bloom aud leaf in
spring and rich with bounteous crop
| in summer and autumn. The certain
yields and ready markets for the
abundance Of superior fruit make this
valley the richest field for the hus>
bandman in the west. The dlstinc-
tiuns of climate which are distinctive
to this favored region give the gardener
and horticultural a great market
without competition. The great fruit
districts of the Potlatch, Palouse and
Spokane yield their harvests at later
dates than the warm valley of the
Clearwater.
The homes OF the people are pleasing
with outward show of refined tastes,
and the wall hills of the valley are
gray with ripencd grasses far up the
steep sides to rimrock of terraced
basalt that frowns down like fence
that might mark the limit of world.
To the right and to the left and up and
down the valley the walls obstruct the
view except where the wind that tenn
pers the winter comes in from the mild
southwest. On the north the noun
tains are higher. The snow.clouds are
parted before the blasts that drive
them, and the sunshine falls on the
valley, while the hills and the noun
tains are cold aud white.
The Clearwater basin, compared
with the small valley, is very great IN
area as well as in natural resources.
The pleasant city of Lewiston is the
commercial gateway to the little en-
pire extending eastwasd to the sum
nit of the Bitter Root mountains and
including the great gold belt Of the
western mountains.
ITS FUTURE GREATNESS.
The chief promise of future greatness
lies in the half hidden and undevel.
oped mineral wealth of this vast re-
gion. The forces that insure rapid de-
velopment under all circumstances are
already apparent here. The mines of
Florence, Elk City and Pierce City are
not longer subject to problematic esti.
mates. The closing results of the year
1895 established the theory that the
richest placer camps the world ever
knew would some day be the richest
quartz camps in the world.
An important division Of the Clear
water basin is the agricultural section
of the undeveloped reservation lands.
Twenty-Five hundred new farms are in
the course Of transformation from vir-
gin soil to bounteous fields. Three
hundred and twenty thousand level
acres of wild meadow that have grown
grass to DE reared by wind since the
world was new are now plated and
will soon be moved 10y the SaxOn's
plow. Here are more rich acres than
are owned by some rich states. This
vast new domain is rich in the elements
of fertility that will warrant future
prosperity for Il commonwealth.
The Clearwater is one of the grand
est rivers in the world and it Is just
being utilized and appropriated to the
demands of trade. New towns will
spring up in the lovely valley before
another year and its restless tide will
become thoroughfare. The valley is
as fair as the valley of the Hudson and
the canyon walls ara as grand as those
of the Colorado. On the tributaries of
the Clearwater are lumber woods of
great value.
THREE GREAT RESOURCES.
The cedar and the white pine of that
region is of rare quality and the supply
is seemingly inexhaustible. The min
eral wealth is greater than the timber
values, but the agricultural wealth is
the greatest of all. 1t is not easy to
estimate the possibilities of a great ag-
ricultural district with soil in the
highest degree productive.
The rich land upon the recently
ceded Nez Perez reservation alone is
sufficient to make the richest county
in the state of Idaho. Adjoining this
are the broad stretches OF land upon
Camas prairie. There are 1000 100.
acre grain farms i'm the Clearwater
basin lying undeveIoped. There are
also 1900 fruit farms with "a capacity
Tor producing future crops annually
worth $1,000 each.
The live stock interests of the Clear
water basin are very valuable. The
native pastures are of the most perma-
nent kind, and the grasses are very
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