Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-01-28
MOUNTAIN MAGNIFlCENCE
1t Is Found specially in Montana and
Idaho-some Fine Agricultural
vistas-lrrigation Essential-Fruit
Thrive-Choice Sections as Yet
But Little Known.
Special Correspondence.


have been vast stretches of the most
monotonous prairie; long shallow val
legs, not of the shadow of death, but
of death itself; illimitable treeless
wastes with no sign of life save clus-
ters of the deadest looking sagebrush
here and there and occasional groups
of seemingly forsaken wild horses and
cattle drawing meagre sustenance
from the bunch-grass underneath the
snow. This is the winter prospect on
the everlasting prairies east of the
Rockies, and it is one calculated to
impress the tourist with the tremen-
dous size of things in general, and at
the same time make him tired.
But when the train pulls toward the
summit of the mountains and goes
over into the great Flathead valley of
northwestern Montana, where the lit
tie city of Kalispell, the Zurich of
America, nestles between the snow
capped hills piled up against the sky,
there is change from the monotony
Of many hours past to one of ever
varying and ever-increasing interest.
This part Of Montana, with the KoO-
tenai and Pend O'Reille country of
northern Idaho, is destined to become
one of the distinctive park regions of
North America, for within it's limits IS
crowded more of the beautiful and
wonderful in natural scenery than
many another justly celebrated Sec
ton of our country presents.
The variety of the scenery here is
one with its grandeur. New and ever
changeful scenes of strange magnifi-
cence burst into view and in a mo-
ment are gone, giving the spectator
full but only momentary glimpses or
wonders passing description. Then it
is that he realizes that the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, and vainly
wishes the train might stop for a mo-
ment, for some glorious vision of
mountain battlement or gorge or wat
erfall is suddenly presented and as
suddenly withdrawn. Before the i'm
preston is photographed upon the
brain the vision is gone, supplanted by
another as grand or grander, and only
its stunning, beWildering effect is left
with the beholder This wonderful
panorama continues from = point
some twenty miles east of KaIispell
westward to the the Washington line,
and it is one never to be forgotten.
The variety of these successive Wis
ions must be seen to be understood,
and seen many times at that, for they
come and go SO quickly that only
some of the more prominent ones can
be remembered. Several trips through
this section would be necessary
before one could carry away suff1-
cient conception of what nature has
done for this weird land of mountains,
rivers, lakes and waterfalls.
Southwark few miles from Kalis-
pell lies Flathead lake, named for a
tribe of native Indians, an exceedingly
beautiful sheet of water with a
rugged, pine-hung range Of the
Rockies to the eastward and with a
magnificent stretch of prairie and
timber land lying to the south and
west. Here, in the great Flathoad
valley, is to be found one of the
finest agricultural districts in all Mon
tana, and it is being rapidly trans
formed by the enterprise of the east
and will some day blossom as it
should. The soil of this valley is all
that could be desired, and farms and
gardens are springing into existence
everywhere. The rainfall here of
course is insufficient for the needs
CT crops, but the bountiful water sup
ply of the rivers and lakes which re-
quire only the management of the irri-
gator assures this region a most pros
porous future. Already ditching is
being done in large and small way
by companies and individuals, and
fine crops of grains and fruits Of all
kinds are being harvested. Nearly
all fruits of the temperate zone thrive
and yield remarkably here, and the
many mining camps round about fur
nish market that never fails. Con-
siderable quantities of land in this
valley yet remain untouched. There
is still government land to be had,
and private land, though steadily ris-
ing in value, can be purchased reas-
onaby as compared with land values
in the east.
Northwestward, few miles from
Kalispell, is the Lake Mcdonald
country, region Of surprising
beauty, not celebrated as yet merely
because it is not so generally known
as many less favored sections of
Colorado and California. Lake Nc
Donald is most bewitching mountain
mirror sixteen miles in length, three
thousand feet above the level of the
sea, its waters clear as crystal and as
pure as the Creators chemistry could
make it. The lake has an average
width of four miles. and it's outline is
quite regular for a mountain lake. Its
depth is unknown, though it is said
that a rope has been let down
eighteen hundred feet without touch