The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-03
CLOUDLAND IN THE
QUEENS DOMINION
The Great Divide as II Is Seen in British
Columbia.
SCENES OF GRANDEUR UNsPHAKABLE
Crossing the summit Of the Range OF
Great Mountains which Parts the
Waters ofthe North American Com
tinent. What the Traveller Sees Just
Before Entering Rocky Mountain
Park.

Park.
Special Correspondence of The Tribune.
Banff Hot Springs in the Rocky
Mountains, Aug. 31.-"Tomorrow Will
be the elimination of the beautiful and
grand in the mountain scenery founu
on the Canadian Pacific as you cross
the Great Divide and enter Rocky
Mountain Park at Banff, fifty miles
distant" says our famous English
traveller. who had been not only a
great educator and guide, but an In
spring companion thus far on our
Canadian journey. From Field to the
Summit is nine miles, through the
Canon of the Kicking Horse River, one
of the widest and grandest In all this
mighty range. The scenery Is not only
sublime but terrible. In the nine miles
the road rises 1O5O feet and in some
places the grade is 225 feet to the mile.
Here three locomotives are required.
On the broad front of Mount stephen.
some $500 feet above, vertically, we
trace the Zig-Zag lines of tramway
coming down from the Monarch Silver
mine, somewhere among the clouds.
This mine is owned by English capital
lists and after being successfully
worked for seven years, was lately
closed on account of the depreciation
of silver as an article of merchandise.
The ore mined here yielded S45 per ton.
AS we proceed to the summit, the dark
angular peak of Mount Field is seen
on the LETT rising S,555 feet while the
spires of Cathedral Mountain occa-
sionally appear over the tree-tops,
10,2S5 feet high.
Here for mile is n series of water
falls and immense trees on the right.
while to the left, northward. is a great
mountain valley, with great white gla-
cier bound peaks, and between them
are mirror-llke sheets of water, which
reflect each peak and precipice with
startling clearness even down to the
river valley below.
TWO GIANT MOUNTAINS.
We pass from Kicking Horse Canon
between the two giant mountains,
Stephen and Field. The former is
named in honor of one of the projectors
of the Canadian Pacific and its first
president, while the latter bears the
name of his friend and one of the most
fllustrious of American citizens. Cyrus
w. Field, the protector of the Atlantic
cable, that has probably done more
than any other one agency to unite
the Old and New Worlds. England and
America. in both business and social
intercourse,
AS we passed between these two AL
pine heights. standing facing each
other, worthily named i'm honor of these
INDUSTRIOUS men. as perpetual memorials
OF their great work in promoting the
interests Of mankind. the words of the
famous traveller and living illustrious
brother, Rev. DIR. II. NJ. Field. of the
Evangelist, who travelled over this
great railway in 1893, came aptly to
mind. He says: "As | sat in the
twilight looking up to that snow clad
peak (Mt. FieldD on which the sunset
fingered. comfort came to my sad heart,
in the thought that though my brother
had passed out of my sight, in that new
empire which is rising on the Pacific
coast, one of the most commanding
submits in all it's great ranges would
preserve to future generations that be-
loved name"
The mind of the traveller at this point
Is taken up with wonder at the enormi-
ty of the great work, the colossal en-
terprise, perseverance, and pluck of the
company which brought these rocky
passes and towering mountains into
subsection to it's will.
THE GREAT DIVIDE.
We cross the deep gorge of the Wa y
ia and soon reached Wapta Lake y
Hector, at an elevation of $3.50 feet, A
in two miles Stephen station, the ST 4
init of the Rocky mountains-the "b-tk
bone of the Continent" or the "Gl eat
Divide 1t is the summit only in an
engineering sense, for while the road
is here mile above either the Atlantic
or Pacific. the mountains still rear their
white heads over another mile above
and stretch away to the north, west
and to the southwark. like a great back
bone. as indeed they are, the back bone
of the continent. We can hardly real
ize that these are the same Rockies"
we crossed in Colorado in 1892, and
through whose portals we entered the
far-famed Yellowstone Park at Living
stone in 1895, and whose spurs we
crossed at BoZeman and again at Hell
ena in the United States. Yet, now,
on this glorious summit, on Canadian
soil, they appear to us again in inde-
scribable grandeur. This elevation
forms the watershed for the rivers that
on the western side flow by the Colum-
bia into the Pacific Ocean and on the
other by the Saskatchewan into HLd-
sons Bay.
Stepping upon the track in front Of
the great rustic sign-post or arch, upon
which appear the words (5,296 feeD
The Great Divide we behold the great
glacier which supplies the sparkling
ice stream which here separates into
two parts and with swift currents,
within few hundred feet of each 9TH
err, flows each way to it's destination
Imagine the situation. One can almost
stand with one foot in British Columbia
and the other in the Northwest terri
tory, and see the waters start on their
course Of wandering to either ocean.
THREE INTERESTING LAKES.
The summit of the pass is an almost
level space about four miles long, with
three lakes. the largest Of which is
the source Of the Kicking Horse river,
along which the railway has just as
cended. 1t is here a rapid and impet-
uous stream which starts with a width
Of fifty feet, flowing down into the Co
lumbia.
The second one is Link Lake." which
seemingly has no inlet or outlet, but
whose waters. fed by the great glaciers,
are carried to the Atlantic or Pacific.
The third is called Summit Lake" the
source Of Summit Creek, whose waters
flow eastward down the eastern slope
Of the Rockies, which we are to follow.
At the summit we pass from the
Province OF British Columbia into AL
berta, anotherProvince of the Domin-
ion, 2.3S7 miles from Montreal. Thus
far we have Travelled 519 miles since we
left the Western sea and crossed three
ranges Of mountains, comprising the
longest, continuous, unbroken line Of
the SIdHueSt SCeHcIy lOuHu On tne
American Continent. Nearly all this
chaos of mountains and canons Is as
wild as it was when first the eyes of the
white man were startled by their over
powering grandeur in 1883, and among
these marvels are the favorite haunts
Of every "man-fearingo or rman-skeering''
brute known to the whole country.
Think of It! the stately elk; the fierce
black, cinnamon and grizzly bear; the
sneaky panther; the big-hOrned sheep;
the snowy goat. and also the cariboo.
the deer. the WOLF the lynx. etc., all are
found here in great numbers for our