Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1899-09-01
lDAHo's NEW RAILROADS
Connecting and Exploiting
Links Being Put In.


1t is matter of general regre,
in this country that the Dali,
Tribune does not reach us here un.
til it is two days old and it is three
and four days old before it reaches
Camas prairie and the Buffalo
Hump region. We must rely fol
our metropolitan dailies upon Spo
kane and Portland, but when the
system of railroads now under con.
struction is completed the Tribune
will become the metropolitan paper
for the vast region extending from
Lewiston through the Nez Perez
reservation, Camas prairie, the Buf.
falo Hump, Thunder Mountain
and Seven Devils mining districts.
''It will no doubt be a matter Of
interest to those who are not al.
rsady acquainted with it to under.
stand the method of travel between
north and south Idaho. And let
me say here that the gap which
separates this State is wider than
that which separates any two
states in all our union. An almost
impossible mountain divides the
State north and south. For about
three months in the summer time
teams can be driven north and
south over the mountains. The
other nine months is by railroad
around through two other States
and then by steamboat sixty miles
up Snake river. Our State has
expended nearly 5000, 900 trying TO
connect the north and south by
wagon roads, and still we have no
roads. Had the same amount
been spent in aid of some railroad,
we would long since have united
the north and south by an iron
rail. At present the only method
of travel by railroad is from Hunt
ington up through the State of Ore
gon to Pendleton, thence north
through the State of Washington to
Riparia, thence by boat up Snake
river to Lewiston in Idaho. Or
you can keep on going to Colfax
and from here branch runs out to
Moscow and then you can go from
Moscow by railroad to Lewiston.
Another branch at Tekoa, still far
ther north, runs into the Cnur
d'Alene mining district This is
the present and only method of
travel between north and south
Idaho, unless you should go from
Pocatello to Helena, thence west to
Spokane, and thence south to Te-
koa, Colfax or Riparia.
X X X
l propose now to explain the
railroad situation in the north and
south and you will then see that
the union of these sections by rail
is not far distant. In the first
place, the o. r, & N. company is
actually building the gap between
Riparia and Lewiston, and this
link will in all probability be fin
ished by the first day of November.
And when finished this distance
will be covered in two hours, where
it now takes ten hours by boat.
The next important step is the ex-
tension Of the Northern Pacific
east from Lewiston and thence
south along the Clearwater to
Grangeville. This is not a mere
contemplation, but the road is ac-
tually under construction, and its
roadbed is graded as far south as
kamiah, within twenty-five miles
of Grangeville. Then comes the
extension of the o. X. & N. road
from Lewiston to Grangeville.
This road is intended to run par
allel with the Northern Pacific
along the Clearwater to contact,
thence it strikes directly south
through the Nez Perez reservation
and on through the heart of Camas
prairie direct to Grangeville. This
road is surveyed and the right of
way is secured Here l should
explain that there is a conflict be-
tween the 0. r. & N. and the Nor
them Pacific officials, the exact ma
ture of which we do not under
stand, and we doubt whether they
do themselves. In any event,
whether these roads are friendly or
hostile, it is certain that one, if
not both of them, will be running
into Grangeville within a year.
This explains the railroad situa-
ton in the north.
| have now brought these nor
thern railroads to Grangeville,
which is at the head of the great
Camas prairie farming country,
and at the foot of the almost i'm
passable mountain that separates
north and south Idaho. Here We
are at a sea level of $500 feet, and
we now ascend this mountain that
reaches almost continuously to Ida
no City. Its sea level is given at
Florence at 600 feet and at Buffalo
Hump at $3.50. There is, appar-
emily, but one opening through
these seemingly impenetrable for
ests of fir and pine and tamarack,
and even that involves the bridging
OF wide rivers and deep canyons.