The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1898-03-31

as Horse Shoe Bend where the river
doubles itself within 1000 feet. The
peninsula thus formed is principally rock
and burnt-up iron formation and stands
about 300 feet above the levelof the water.
Approaching this turn Que gets the i'm
preston that they are running into rock
bound basin several hundred feet in depth
and that the river certainly seeks some
subterranean passage and is lost 10 sight
On entering, however. and looking back
ward and to the left we find that the old
river has only changed her course and is
still surging on toward Mother Ocean.
frer rounding Horse Shoe bend we
pass Eagle Island. rocky patch of
ground studded with sLunted fir and COW
ering about sixty acres Next in point OF
interest comes iSallards, or Seven Devils
Landing. where we found that the ferry
boat formerly operated here had been
washed away some time ago. At this
point the government survey ends, and he
who would navigate Snake river further
must depend entirely upon his knowledge
of swift waters.
1--WE landed three miles below what is |
now termed the old ferry, at the ranch of
Mr.. j. O. Rogers and after some talk
with the people here. took aboad Mr.. |
William Camp--'Calamity Bill" the
buys called him-who knew every foot
of the river 'twixt here and Copper Greek
falls"
"William assured us that we would
find no bad water for IL miles. and when
we neared what ia known AS Black Point
and bad water showed ahead and the river
began to narrow. said it 'sdidu't mount
| to nuthln'' Trusting some what to l}ills
knowledge of the river. the captain found
himself inside of three minutes IN the
roughest water we had encountered thus
far on the trip, and Bllls days as pilot,
were ended When we aporoached the
lnarrowest and toughest portion of the
runid he began 10 pet while. and as we
passed pnce where the shelving rocks
almost touched the boat he made n break
to 90 below and wanted to get ashore,
but after seeing that we passed it safely
he gave Captain GRAY compliment by
bowling out: ssBy gosh. that old cuss up
there buzzin' that wheels a i'm dandy''
He also volInteered the information that
this here river looks a darn sight wuss
down here than FUN the TOP of the
divide y He offered no further iHforma-
tion regardino the river however. nor
was he asked for any.
1.-The water at Black Point takes a drop
! of about six feet in one hundred. and
after passing this point we were in the
much talked of ,Box canyon.''
II have wished many times on this trip
that we had a kodak aboard. but never
. way through the first 20 miles of this
CANYON. The scenery simply beRears
description. AS the river nears the
t mouth the banks begin TO narrow. until
! 1.-THE water is compressed between walls
of solid rock not over a hundred wards
: apart. which rise pcrpendcularly from
: the water to a height of from so 10 500
e feet. and then sloping backw wards and up
: wards until their snow-clad SUBMITS
$ seem almost to pierce the sky AT times
J. the space between the solid rocks and the
: snow line is covered with evergreen tree,
: land patches of beautiful grass and here
4 Old Nature seems TO have indulged he
g fancy to the fullest extent. At one poin
we notice trees. rocks and bits of gras
u thrown together in one conglomerat.
:. mass. and again. rounding a point we see
IS towering about us. what appears to be
le castle ruin. while reaching downward to
n ward us. is terrace after terrace, covere,
N with beautiful grasses and mosses Rov
y after row of apparently well trimme,
ir trees and beautifully curved roadway
a1Iaid with solid granite. all true to gee
a metric lines as the skill of any civil en-
ie pineer could possibly make them. Again
III across the face of the gigantic precipice
er we notice perfect stone fence and di
es we not know il was impossible for man {
scale these mountains we would fain be
I'd Iieve that the fence was fresh from tn
ry hands of the stone mason. At each tur
ne of the river a new panorama presente
II, itself. .apparently trying to outdo its neigl
en- Dor on which we had been gazing wit
dc such rapt admiration
or ..The river and its surroundings, Will
lie being mapnifcently grand from an a.
en- tistic standpoint. takes on a more som be
he aspect when taken from our present poir
of observation. We have passed throug
he 20 miles or water which the Oldest rive
x men aboard say they never saw equalet
he the river from its entrance into the cal
re- Won being a succession of rapids and shar
TN bends, iutting rocks and protrudin
n boulders. where, for miles as stretcl
Use even a small boat could not effect a Ian,
We ing, and where the current is SO rapl
az that steamer backing hard stl
10 makes good headway. We landed
"s Steam boat Bar, or Miller's Landing, III
80 afternoon at p m the only landir
~ place for 20 miles, and where the "Sh