The times., 1897-04-18
4 TRIP TO THE NORTHWEST
Scenes on international Bound
ary Line in British Columbia.
MAJESTIC COLUMBIA RIVER
The Great Mining Camp at Rossland,
Is. c., and the Way and Manner to
Reach It-Characteristic Features
of life on the Border-The Two
NationaIities.

While in the thriving city of Spokane,
Wash, last June, / had an opportunity
of visiting the great mining camp Of Ross
land, q. c., 125 miles north
The tram left Spokane at 7 O'Clock In
the morning. Loon Lake, q beautiful
sheet Of water, was passed about O'Clock.
The road wound through Il valley separat-
ing the Huckleberry Mountains from those
on the east, which have no name crossed
low divide and descended inlu the valley
OF the Cslxiile River The rugged noun
tains in which this stream has it's soureeare
in plain view and full of grandeur. The
road follows the Colyille River To the
falls OH THAI stream, where there is little
town peopIed mostly by half-breed Indians,
shortened n common par1ance TO breeds"
Here the road leaves the river TO the left,
taking q short cut TO Columbia. The IA
NOUS Kettle Falls on TINS river, q few
miles away, ar moi seen.
The first view Of the Columbia Is an i'm
pressive one, at least at nigh stage Of
wafer Ii is q mighty torrent hemmed III
| by high mountains Its waters at this
| point are 100 or / .2o0f eet above the sea,
and the nearer mountains riSe that much
higher and ew miles away the peaks are
| 5000 and 5000 feet high. This is not
| high fol mountains cut West but they are
! more rugged and br,ken and seem TO be
as high as the niuin chain Of the Rocky
! Mountains in many piac ces. There are
| benches along the mountains nearest the
| river. which indicate that has run It dif-
! ferent elevations since 1t first cut It's way
| through these mountains, the highest benz IN
| being 700 or 500 feet above the present
| level of the river.
The railroad reaches the Columbia at
| the little town of Marcus, d village OF $50
or 200 people. Civilization and bar baristn
| seem to be contending for the mastery at
| this place. Itisthe point where prospectors,
! who are exploring the mountains west OF
| the Columbia, in the recently opened Col
| vile Indian rescr vation, cross that river.
! The people are quite cosmopolitan, for In
| dians, breeds" Chinese, negroes and
: whites of low and high degree may he seen
| about the station. Murders are quite COM
| mon The night before our party returned
! tie breeds and whites came near hav-
| ing a riot, and some OF the latter, who
! had evidently amused themselves at such
! pastirIfes in towns further East, had ridden
! iuto SALOONS and shot out the lights and
! made the more tirnor GUS they encountered
! dance to the music of revolver shots dis
| charged toward the vicinity OF their feet.
| Over the1ine such fellows are mute as mice
and quite respectable people when sober,
| for IL they attempted such Things in Bri i5ish
| Columbia they would l0thepfovtnce service
| in prison at least five years. Over there
! men may engagein fisticuffs without much
! danger of arrest and punishment, but II
| gtns or pistols are carried without perrls-
| sion or a deadly weapon used, punishment
! is swift and sure, and the tender est mercy
| is two years OF hard work in prison.
Half the distance between Marcus and
! the international boundary line some forty
miles or more, the bed Of the railroads. CON
| struCted in the sandy banks of the Column
tia. the bank extending above and below
the road The sand is from a few feet TO
| a hundred or more feeti in thickness, andis
very fine and often has bowlderS of con
| siderable size tmbedded init. As the train
ran along, the water which was very high
and rising, seemed perilously near. and the
J foundation al no time was assuring TO a
nervous person The Seven Devils Noun
tain, which bathes the toes Of each OF its
deyilsfn the waters OF the Columbia, is met
| just above Marcus. tits SO called because
il has seven ridges, separated by SIX colllees,
| running from the mountain TO the river.
! At the points of these seven ridges the banks
| OF sand rise to n height of probably fifty
! feet above The road, and the loose sanuls
| always trickling down. A dozen riils
! hn a
/ and when bGwlders are undermined they
| frequently Side down upon the track,
which would be covered in a short timei if
| men were not kept constantly employed
| shoveling it away. for the Seven Devils are
| diligently at work day and night.
The scenery aiong the Columbia is grand
indeed. The stream is third of mile
| wide and the contour OF the mountains is
continually changing, exhibiting ever vary
ing scenes OF beauty and grandeur The
| road passes near the Little Dailes, SIX
| miles below Northport, where the mighty
river, compressed into a width seemingly
not exceeding 800 feet, breaks through
! a mountain of limestone and tumbies down
a decliue Of some 80 feet In 100 yards dis
| tance, the rapids being choked with immense
| blocks OF stone, some OF which are almost
| mountains themselves.
| At Northport passengers for Rosslind
couldtake stage direct, ,seventeenmiles, or
| take the boat to Trail from whence they
could reach Rossland by rail. Now they
can 60 straight through by rail- al the
! way, AS Our party wished TO see more OF
the river, we took the steamer Lyttdn,
| q stern wheel vessel with engines large
| enough to propel q Mississippi steamer
/ twice its size. Passengers VINO mad not
4 before seen the Columbia could now appre-
1 clate the rapidtyI ofits current ana the
1 mighty sweep it's waters. Atno time uid
| the boat make more than six miles an hour,
4 and it took over four hours to reach 1rall,
4 some tw enty miles, just above Northportwe
encountered the first rapids. AT that stage
OF water the boat was in no danger frtTn
rocks, but the force OF the current was In
4 creased. AK
1 This rapid was easily overcome, but the
Sheep Creek rapids, three miles UP, We're
very difficult. In 1875 j had passed W
the falls of the Otto at Louisville when
the water was only five feet deep on the
falls. / had always remembered that
event with more Ror5less terror. but the
falls of the Ohio were as nothing to tie
rapids at Sheep Creek. Several times
the boat was carried backward short
distance, though her Immense wheel was
/ making more than fifty revolutions min
ute, and at one place, in ten minutes
time, the boat did not move its length
the waves surging and roaring ahent II
like so many demons determined on its de
striction.
The Sheep Creek rapids happily passed,
1 -isrl iC-