Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1904-01-07
o1R GREAT STATE.
rmp;re of Wealth and OPP
portunitieS.

yota Tribune mas Tue ioiioWibS
Ian description OF the ''Gem Of
gioTMnnntains," from the pen of
H 1"e E Eddy. 1t gives one
o ;dea of the vastness and
." '"ooders of the state which we are
~ MONO to call our home;
PIXIE The state OF Idaho has total
.,ea almost as great as New Eng.
land. with population thirty
.;mas less. 1t lacks not III re-
"nrces but in development 1t is
.be land Of tomorrow. Though
~. s richness OF its gold fields was
S s discovered half a century ago,
the comparatively unprospected
~ort;on of Idaho still exceeds one
bird of the total area
uThe vastness of Idaho" says
veil known writer, sis not even
comprehended by many OF its cit
IONS ;ssns. y Bancroft in his histories
sneaks of it as ''grand. wonderful,
roma ntic, mysterious--a country
where men hooked for unusual
things and found them. While
sstaemed as the peculiar home of
the mineralogist and miner, nature
had not forgotten to- prepare por-
tons of it for the occupation of
man by giving wondrously warm
and fertile soil.
Idaho is accorded to have a.
100000 acres available for asri-
cultural and grazing purposes, 10,
OOO. 900 acres of timber, 200, 900
scres occupied by lakes, and the
remainder of it's 55, O00,O0O acres,
or 5000 square miles, consists of
deserts and mountains. In these
total figures are included 10000
600 acres of mineral land.
The first settlements in Idaho
we're begun in the north by French
Canadian trappers and Jesuit mis-
sionaries; in the south by a Nor
man colony at Fort Lemhi in 1854.
The territory was organized in
1868, and admitted to the Union of
States July 4, 1890.
Since the discovery of gold at
Orofino creek in 1860, Idaho is
estimated to have yielded $3.50, :
100000 in precious metals, an
amount equal to the wealth OF
Rockefeller. According to recent
" furnished ells-Fargo statistics,
$500, 900, 900 Of this immense sum
was contributed by the placer
camps OF early days, including
Orofno, Elk City, Florence, Lew
iston, Lapwai, Warren, Pierce City
and Boise Basin. But the greater
portion of the vast field containing
these famous CAMPS is comparative
ly unprespected. 1t includes the
thousands of mountain streams
composing the Clearwater, Salmon
and St. Joseph rivers, with wide
sylvan recesses, snow clad ranges
aud canyons which "seem to cut
the earth in two.o Further de-
fined, it extends from the forest
clad Occur d. Alenes in the north
to the sands of the gaeat Snake
river desert in the south, direct
distance of over 200 miles. On The
east it is walled by the B tier Roo
and Rocky Mountain ranges, from
which it extends west 100 miles.
A theme SO comprehensive ad
mits but passing outline in this
article. But little information /;
available, and no mans experience,
can have comprised the mysteries
OF this mighty wilderness of mount
aims. We have gazed at it in tn,
north, from the crags of the Coeu
a Alenes; in the west, from tn,
dome OF the Seven Devils, and il
the south from the snow-clad sum
mits of the Salmon river range
10000 feet above the sea. But i
has doomed lone and vast, will
toWery peaks and shadowy can.
yons, blending into blue distanc,
and overhnng by the murky air o
mystery.
Though often the industrioul
pr,spector has successfully essayec
TINS field, it would still afford SAT.
hiding for 10000 men within it
confines. Portions of it, truly
nave been quite thoroughly pros
P cted during the last haf-ceniury
yielding millions as aforesaid, BIZ
o'her myraids Of its giganti,
mountains, crags and canyons hay,
never felt the tread of a whit,
mans footsteps, hence it can b.
ed field.
Inc men OF the early days il
, nuaho were placer miners, carryin.
, m..ie Tor quartz. They were grad
C Cased' mainly, from the fields O
Uall,ornla, where the crudes
Ie.nods had obtained untol,
o aol.unes IN placer gold As tn
s S Of successive camps beca N
exhausted ea these pioneers rapid,
S Sasseu On to other fields. Grea
Instances were travelled with pacI
rua,nals from supply points, tina
"va'd seem impracticable evel
WIN modern facilities Will
%svlng the Inconvenience of AZ
uo1d n1wn country, these hard