Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1899-05-19


TO central Idaho at Gibbonsville.
Here the opposite spoke to the
great mineral wheel comes in and
penetrates the Rocky Mountains
on IN to Montana, where it makes
Its debut at Butte.
The northern belt or zone was
lll'st discovered in northern Cali
lorna; gave life to such camps as
Weaverville, SCOTS and Yreka:
thence on through into Oregon
VIA Canyon City, Granite, Old
AUBURN, Baker City and Sparta.
IL crosses with grand flourish in
TO Idaho at Seven Devils: thence
ON into Warren, Florence, Buffalo
Hump, Dixie and Elk City, where
II loses itself to appear in its oppo-
site spoke in the Missoula country
IN Montana. The belts penetrat-
ing Utah can be easily traced
through Cassia county, Idaho,
northward to the interior of Idaho.
The great northwestern belt be.
gins in British Columbia, runs
down through Washington, from
Trail creek country, beginning at
Rossland, thence on through the
great Republic camp and on into
Idaho, and here it gives to the
world the great Cpm dAlene
country, with such mines as the
Bunker Hill, Sullivan and Gem.
AS these great mineral zones draw
nearer to the hub the intervening
country becomes more and more
mineralized, until when Idaho is
reached bands of mineral reach out
from one zone TO another, playing
"hide and SEEK in the rock ribbed
mountains that stand like grim
sentinels guarding the treasure
within. The whole country be-
comes network of veins. There
is not hill or mountain from east
to west, north or south, in the
whole state, but what is mineral
bearing. There is no other country
in the United States that is so
little prospected. unknown and I'M
explored as Idaho. From Boise
City northward is one unbroken
line OF forest, valley, stream and
lake, and mountain upon mountain,
some craggy, grim and terrible,
walled and turreted, raising sheer
walls Of granite, white and glisten-
ing in the sun, thousands of feet
in the air; here and there great
domes, minarct and tower-grand,
majestic, awful. You feel, as YOU
gaze the first time upon Gods grand
cathedral, as if you stood in His
very presence. And as you catch
the smile of tie beautiful valley,
with its limpid lake and beautiful
river nesting in security at it's feet,
you can appreciate Joaquin Miller,
the Poet of the Sierras," who
claims to have given these noun
tains the name "Idaho," meaning
'Gem of the Mountains" or
"Morning Light" where he says:
" 'ris not the place OF mirthfulness,
But meditation deep, and prayer;
And kneelng on the sailed sod
Where man must own his littleness,
Aud know the mightiness of God,
Idaho is the ideal country for
the prospector. Wherever he may
so, water, timber, grass every
where. Every stream alive with
salmon and trout of every species,
while bear, deer, elk, moose and
sheep are plentiful.
There is not a mineral known to
the mineralogist, nor gem to the
lapidary, that is not found within
her borders.
Does he want new fields to ex-
plore? There are belts of country
a hundred miles square that have
never known the step of a white
man. The whole western slope of
the Bitter Root range, the head
waters of the Clearwater, is an
unexplored field; and yet it is
known to be rich in gold and other
precious metals.
The secrets of these riches will
one of these days belong to some
hardy prospector.