The National tribune., 1902-06-26
THUNDER MOUNTAIN.
A Rush OF Prospectors Into
idaho's Great Geld Fields.
EY COL. c. 7. DRAKE, wETsER, IDAHO.

For the past few weeks the weather
throughout northern Idaho has gradually
| grown warmer and the snow. which has
been very deep. has melted and rcccded
until only ut the highest attitudes is there
any left.
Scattered al along the trail from Weis-
or 20 Thunder Mountain during the last
| few months pT1spectors have been wait
! ing until the snow was gone and grass
would afford sufficient feed for their ami
mails. Around Thunder Mountain proper
grass grows lBNlTiantly ard feed is plcn-
! tiful, but on account OF the high SUBMITS
net with on TIE nail II was impossible to-
get horses clear through. and rs a result
hundreds Of men and animals have been
campcd at the foot of Elk Summit. the
last and only impossible barrier between
| the argonauts and their long sought goal
Elk Summit is - miles from Thunder
| Mountain. and over this. On thc crust Of
the frozen SNOW. has passed all the traffic
to the great gold camp.
Returning proSpcetprs fron Thunder
Mountain coming afoot over Elk SGm-
nit on their Way to civilization for sup
plies. filled with enthusiasm: and glowing
reports Of the recent discoveries. instilled
such impatience into the waiting throng
reduced to practical inactivity ut the very
gate Of their Mecca that heroic measures
were adopted.
Realizing that the eight feet of packed
and frozen snow over which so much trav
el had passed during the Winter would be
slow 70 relax under the uncertain influence
of the sum- an organization was effected
an order issued and every abc-hodied man
in the camp compelled to assist in tunnel
ing out Il road through the snow over the
summit. and the hundreds of men. from
every field of human activity. under the
stimuli of their eager authorizations. work
cd without interruption until the task was
completed and Elk Summit WIS open.
Such procession, an eyewitness says,
was never before assembled; around and
about stretched miles of giis:ening snow
and broken mountain peaks. while through
the narrow pass surgcd a thousand horses.
guided by men from every State between
frozen Alaska and the sunny shores of
Cuba Iibre.
Once over the summit the rest is easy:
but even with this multitude and those
who are daily going in but comparatively
small impression is made on the vast ter
ritory of the gold fields There is no dan
ger of the district being overcrOwded; the
rich discoveries which are made at so
many places all through the region prove
its immense area. Buildings are going up
in different places. stores, lodging houses,
saloons, hotels, and all manner of enter
priscs are under way that the energies of
business men and spectators can suggest
Council is the nearest railroad station.
l3l miles from the camp. with good
waGon-road 80 miles of this distance. but
it is well to remember that even at the
best the trip is Il serious one. with deep
snow, swollen streams and pcriouS preci-
pieces from Scccsh Summit to Suicide
Peak.
Along the route the scenery is Of sur
passing fairness. and to the dusty and
tired traveller Pa:ctte Lake reveals a pic
turc of such enhancing lovelincss that its
mute pcrSuaSions almost compelS one to
fOre9o the anticipationS of possible Opu-
lcnce in Thunder Mountain for the quiet
enjoyment of nature here where it is seen
al its best. 4 mile above the sea. its cryS-
| talline waters Il thousand feet deep, and
mirrOred on its bosom the surrounding
mountains with their snow-capped peaks
and wooded beauty of TIE hills, here this
daughter of the mountains and the storms
| las held its sway for ages in undiSturbcd
| silence, save from the splashing a. the sill
vered trout reveling i'll waIiton freedom. or
the turbulent mountain torrent leapihg
| f:om rock to rock as if eager to lose itself
! Ill the stiffness below; and over all the
mournful requiem of the pines now swell
ing, then receding, until the behoidcr feels
| himself almost IN intruder in the solemn
sanctlty of = shrine.
| But the rush to Thunder Mountain is
on. and the appetite of the gold hunter
will not he appelsed by scenery however
beautiful and if the half that's told of its
wonderful richness is true. the coming
Summer will witness the opening of the
greatest gold camp i'll the country and
enable Idaho to hold higher place in the
States of the great Northwest than ever
held before.