The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-06-08
Gbe Wlork Of Water and Fire.

AS we advance northward into Idaho,
the lava sheets become wider and more
general, till at last they cover the
whole region, and form a vast, repul-
sive desert of black, molten rock bare
ly covered with sagebush. In the
distance few sharp-cut, volcanic look
ing mountains break the dreary mo-
notony. The traveller may we'll be
glad when night throws vel! over the
dreary scene, but even when he awakes
the next morning, in the pleasant mead
ows and valleys OF Oregon, the same
rock confrOnts him by the roadside,
and continues, with few exceptions, to
the end of the journey through the
Great Northwest
Richard Harding Davis, the New
York journalist, once said-in speak
ing of Texas-that if he owned both
places, he would rent Texas and live
in hell. No doubt he meant Idaho in
referring to his residential preference,
only giving it a more appropriate
name. However dreary the scene be-
comes, the scenery produced by cliffs
of these singular rocks, where the
Snake River or the Columbia cuts a
canyon down through them for several
hundred feet, is often very striking,
and throws the celebrated Palisades of
the Hudson in the shade. AS we ap-
proach the descent to the Columbia
River near Wenatchee, the cliffs on
each side of the canyon are very con-
spicuous, and as the green waters of
the river wind among the black lava
boulders and across the dreary coun-
try, we might imagine ourselves in the
weird, SO desolate is the scene.
| Monotonous and uninvlting as is
the appearance of this singular, mott
en-, black rock, it has its redeeming
qualities. 1t readily decomposes on
the surface into rich black soil, the
decomposition being facilitated by
many natural causes too intricate and
numerous to mention. To this surface
decomposition we can probably attrib
ute the fertility of this country, with
its billowy grain fields in Oregon
and Washington. The rock also
makes good road material and fail
building stone. Spokane, the frontier
city of the Northwest, is built upor
terraces of this lava, and many of the
houses are constructed of it. Curiously
enough, tho precious metals are usual
ly connected with volcanic eruptions
these vast flows are remarkably desti
tute of metals of any kind.
The cause of these great lava flow
was doubtless due to some upwart
movement of the great Rocky Noun
tain system. The eruptive disturban
ces we're evidently not confined to tn
Northwest, for all through the cente
4 of Colorado there are dikes and Law
I flows that culminate in a huge Law
: plateau in the San Juan Mountains
covering many hundreds of squar
: miles in Southern Colorado.
The next event that happened to th
great lava flow was that its surfac
Q was covered with a vast lake or fresh
u water sea, as if to quench effectuall
q its latent heat. This sea covered Ger
Q trail Washington and Idaho. In time
no one can tell how long-this grea
body of water drained off, leaving il
/ beds of sand covering the lava.
(. The next event that occurred was
s general disturbance of the region,
o which the lava sheets with their ove
% lying lake-beds were uplifted in gres
% blocks, and what is now known as til
70 Cascade Range was formed. Subs
u quently many of the resulting cliff
's have been modified by landslides on
i large scale, due to the heavy lava bee
n resting on layers of less hard and con
e pact material. In these landslides or
q can yet find the petriied trunks {
i prehistoric and other semi-tropical ve
q citation.
rs Long after the great lake was draine
se and its bed upraised into mountain
a and after deep canyons had been CT
y, into it by rivers and streams, thil
IS event happened. The climate, whit
n, had hitherto been mild or semi-troI
le cal, gradually changed as the ice she
of the glacial period set In from Il