The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1897-09-03
Inland Idaho.

lnO pen w SOi az DOlRAilY anu 10 NV
an overdrawn picture:
The heart of Idaho is practically an
and yet it is land that is filed with
the most precious natural gifts that
have been bestowed upon any people
under any sun. Ordinarily we are
content to know that vast mountain
submits stretch out beyond and above
us and that we occasionally hear some
pretty stories of rich mineral deposits
being discovered in their recesses; fur
Their than this we know little and care
less. If couple of harmless but mis-
guided youths we're to rig out their
packs for holiday in the interior
mountains you would merely ask on
their return to be shown the specimens
they brought back, and then resign
yourself to the ordeal of listening to
all sorts Of wild and impossible bear
stories; perhaps you might even in
quire how the fish bite in there, but the
interest is entirely perfunctory and the
attention given is either in the nature
Of penance or of a deposit to be drawn
against with heavy accretions when
your time comes. Mountains are an
every day story in Idaho and whatever
could be said about them would be met
with the oontemptuous Indifference of
the Paris garcon who refused to be in
berested "Connu."
Yet when can tie glory Of our noun
tains fsdei They are the first to greet
he vision In the morning when rosy
clouds are tiptoeing across the sum
mits, and the last to salute the eye at
eve when they stand, sunset flushed,
In the glory OF the dying day. The
practical mind finds even greater inter
est in their splendors in the knowledge
of the priceless good they hold to man
kind, their springs and streams, their
snowbanks that liberate the waters for
the relief of the thirsting lowlands,
their heavy timbers that constitute one
Of the greatest Of natural resources,
their preserves that nourish the great
est stocks of valuable game now re
maining in this country and their il
limitable deposits of precious metals
that have already contributed so large
a share of the worlds money and that
Is growing in proportion with every
years developments. Truly the pen Of
q worthy writer could tell some Won
derful and beautiful things of Idaho's
mountains.
The Salmon river country is perhaps
more broken and precipitous than any
other section of Idaho. The river has
carved its channel three and four thou
sand feet deep through the heart of the
Bitter Roots and its furrow has crossed
innumerable gold lodges, SO that if its
bed could be seen with the eye it would
probably resemble a sectional view of
the human chest whose ribs were bright |
with gold. These are the veins that |
have fed for ages the placer deposits of
Salmon river from which man has been |
resping perennial harvest for thirty |
five years. The descent into the river |
canyon is always long, wearisome ride |
but the end always has its ample COM
pensstion. The grades are made down |
some creek canyon, and as this widens
out towards the base it provides Il mar
row vale Of unexampled beauty and fer
tility These creek bottoms have been |
settled since the country was first |
known and have been brought to the
highest pitch of of cultivation and pro-
duction. Along Whitebird this valley |
Is so prolific that the dusty road is
lined with berry hedges and grape vines
that cling to the rocky walls and climb
As we passed. the warm
July sun was kissing the fruit into
blue and purple, .nd there it hung rich
and ripe within easy reach o. the pass
er by Each of these little valleys has
from ten to twenty homes whose occu-
pants have builded and beautiiied their
holdings with all that nature and arti-
fee could supply. Their orchards pro
duce the most lucious and delicate
fruits, their gardens the most bounteous
crops of early and late vegetables,
their grounds the sweetest flowers and
tendrils and shrubs. On the adjacent
sides, the rich grasses fatten
heir large herds of cattle and horses,
and acrosG the river, farther up, where
The snowbanks never malt, their lands
If sheep find summer range and pas
,urage. These deep-cut valleys become ,
,ery warm in summer but in winter
hey ara so sheltered and hedged about ,
IS to be almost temperate.