The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-18
i NONE KNOWS HOW DEEP.

.a = NONE KNOWS HOW DEEP.
In the way of general facts in re-
gard to Lake Chelan we may say it Is
seventy miles long, from one to three
miles wide, and nobody knows how
deep. A 1,400-foot line failed to reach
bottom in several places. AS glance
at the map will prove to any one &C
Customed to glacial formations, the
lake is of glacial origin. Imagine that
time when the northern hemisphere
was enswathed in ice, when the phen-
omena of the present Greenland were
performed on a gigantic scale all over
the northern part of our country, es-
pecially in the vast margin of uplift
with which 1T fronts the Pacific ocean.
In that era Of attrition and distribu-
ton of the earth's crust some stupen-
dous glacial plow-share descended
from the very heart of the Cascade
mountains Of Washington and scooped
out a furrow seventy miles long and
5000 feet deep. In that furrow Lake
Chelan now rests.
After the frightening summers and
warmer suns Of the post-glacial age
had burst the letters of ice, and had
started the vegetation throughout the
torn and eroded cradle of the glaciers,
springs began to gather up the melted
SHOWS, brooks grew from springs, and
creeks, and all that great >basin.
trenched out by the glaciers, poured
It's treasures of moisture into the vast
reservoir, until it overlooked the edge
and added it's contribution to the Co
lumbia. With this portion Of the his
tory Of the lake the visitor can much
more perfectly understand Its present
aspect.
we will suppose that we have
ITa1I no ar NJ
boat Ellensburg from Wenatchee
Pausing only long enough to admire
the vast water power which the Chelan
river affords in its short course Of five
miles, and to think a moment OF the
latent possibilities of manufacturing
when all these resources shall have
been brought to bear, we hasten on to
the goal, whose beauty, even at dis
lance, seems to reach out to meet us.
Even to see the cascades OF the Chelan
river. foamy-white and wondrously
ccntrasted with the intense indigo
blue of the pools between, is worth
long journey.
THE FIRST VIEW.
But greater scenes are beyond. The
short, but uphill ride by the bank Of
the foaming. sriver suddenly ends upon
a smooth slope, and there before US,
rnountain-walled, smooth as glass and
blue as the sky, lies the lake. It's first
view is not disappointing, though one
little comprehends the magnitudes Of
crag and water. There are two little
towns at the mouth of the lake, Chelan
and Lakeside. Little enough and lone
some enough and transient enough
they look, too, by the side Of the maj
esty and serene enduringness of
their surroundings of blue water, dark
cliff, and snowy mountain. Lakeside
is the headquarters of two small
steamboats, which ply upon the lake,
and most hearty and ob1iging does the
tourist find these steamboat people TO
be- Indeed, the same remark may be
extended to all the inhabitants of the
lake with whom we came in contact.
An intelligent, enterprising, hospitabIe
people, almost all native Americans.
they are well worthy to be the advance
guard of civilization in this beautiful
new land.
= The fayorite method to "do'' the lake
Is to go half way or SO by steamboat
and then stake to- rowboats, which
can be brought from Lakeside on the
steamboat. There is no difficulty, how
ever, in going the entire length Of the
lake In small boats, and to those ac-
ucustomed to rowing 1t is much the
most enjoyable way. A favorfte ques-
tion of the people of Lakeside to ask
strangers just as they are starting out
to row is the distance to the first turn
1in the lake, and to the greatest bluff
Immediately beyond. Most guess mile
or two. Very daring or experienced
ones guess five or six. With beaming
countenanceot the interlocutor assures
you that 1T issten miles to the turn, :"
and fifteen ltoJthe bluff. After having
rowed 1t inIae4ul5 sun the "tenderfoot"
10 fully ready to indorse the estimate.