The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-13
THROUGH THE ROCKIES.
Interesting Trip Of Mrs.
George 7. Backus to
the Northwest.

Mrs George 7. Backus Of this city
tour through the Canadian Rockies, the
great northwest and Yellowstone
National park.
She has brought a splendid collection
of photographs illustrative of her trip,
and they prove the truth of the state
ment that one does not have to go be-
yond the boundaries of this country to
encounter scenery unsurpassed in all
the world.
The party was select one of 20, and
| in charge of Roland d. Grant, d. D.,
of Concord, n. H, who is widely known
| in the sections visited, this being his
| 18th tPans-mountain tour of the north
west.
| The party occupied private car, and
SO perfect were the arrangements that
| each excursionist was absolutely with
/ out responsibility or care, and on ae-
count of the many extra courtesies ex-
/ tended by the Canadian Pacific, they
| saw more and enjoyed more than falls
to the lot of the average traveller. Their
lear was side-tracked and even other
trains delayed to suit their convenience.
| Not only this, but they were priyi-
legged to ride on the engine and even on
the pilot of the locomotive, while going
through Rogers pass.
One of the interesting sights was the
great glacier, an immense stream of
ice thirty miles long and five hundred
| feet deep.
Mrs. Baokus speaks of the Canadian
Rockies as grand beyond all deserip-
ton, where the snoW-capped noun
tains are pierced by canons, through
which rush foaming rivers, and where
| high waterfalls and cascades plunge
over the precipice. Through all the
steel band of the railroad winds its
way, 1t is worthy of note that they
had the unique experience of passing
through the roaring snow sheds, after
a great avalanche. Their first stop of
| Importance was at Banff, then on to
| Laggan, where they visited lakes
Louise, Mirror and Agnes, As they
climbed the mountains on pony back,
the laundering of avalanches among
the crags 10000 feet in height, could be
distinctly heard, the noise resembling
rolling thunder. The train progressed
amid scenes of beauty impossible to de-
scribe, and passed over the great di-
vide" Passing the western slope of
the Rockies, they followed the course
Of the Columbia river to the famous
selkirk Mountains, then following the
| Beaver river and canon.
| Seattle and Tacoma. Washington,
( Victoria and Vancouver, British CO.
i lumbia and Portland, Oregon, beneath
the snow capped peak of Mt. Herod,
We're all visited.
! An interesting experience was af-
| forded by visit to the scene of the
great numbering operations of Oregon
where, at Dallas, there is a chute II
miles long, through which the great
logs go with lightning-like rapidity,
down the steep mountain side. An in
teresting fact about Dallas, and one
not generally known, Is that it is the
| greatest original wool market in the
world; where wool Is both grown and
| marketed, and here at the time of Mrs.
Backus' visit over 100000 pounds Of
! wool were stored. Here, also, they Wis
tied the famous peach, plum and cher
| ~ orchards and ate Of cherries Of
which several would weigh a pound
Since her return Mrs. Backus has been
the recipient Of crate Of this luscious
| fruit.
A most interesting stage of the Jour-
ney was the trip UP the Columbia riy-
err, where they encountered much that
was primitive, For example, the
steamer stops at any point along the
banks to take on a passenger or two.
They ascended the Columbia for about
40 miles, during which they visited an
Indian village and saw them catch fish,