Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1905-11-30
THANKSGIVING.

euey Can CcicUidtc thC ann a
Thanksgiving festival with GOO
grace and thankful hearts for th
benefits, blessings and mercie
which have been vouchsafed then
during the year. Abundant har
vests and good prices for all thu
products of fields, farms and rang
have prevailed, and the bank vaults
OF the several communities are full
to overlooking with the deposits o
a prosperous and happy commun
ity. 1t has been long. hard ant
uphill pull to get the wheel of pro-
gress started in the light direction
in community SO long isolated
from transportation as this, but a,
length there is broad daylight
ahead, and the long-talked-of and
earnestly-prayed-for railroad tc
Camas Prairie will be an accom-.
plished fact and an old story by
Thanksgiving Day, 1906.
The advent of rapid transit
means a vast and undreamed-oi
increase of population and produc-
tiveness in this section. Our nat
ural wealth and resources have
lain dormant for want of access to
the markets of the world. Our
population has remained practic-
ally stagnant for want of the means
of getting in and out of the country
quickly. The stage ride to and
from the railroad has been night
mare which has kept out thousands
Of people who desired to make
homes here, and similarly, it has
kept out millions of capital which
it was desired to invest in the great
natural wealth of this section.
Hereafter these difiiulties will all
be overcome by the advent of the
iron horse. We shall be placed
within easy reach of the centers of
population and commerce and
wealth, and enough is now known
Of Camas Prairie and the whole OF
the great Clearwater basin to as
sure large influx of population
and capital to develope our dorm
ant resources as soon as the cars
begin to run.
And the changes which are even
now taking place in Grangeville
and Camas Prairie have their
counterparts in almost every coun-
ty of the great and growing state
of Idaho. New railroad mileage
is being constructed in parts of the
state which have in the past been
as isolated as our own productive
section, and the entire state is
feeling the stimulus of the increas-
ed advantages which rapid transit
always brings in its wake in every
fertile country.
In the decade from 1890 to 1900
the population increased at a per-
centage greater than that of any
other state of the Union, and the
decade from 1900 to 1910 will show
even more startling changes, and
it is no idle dream to predict that
by the census of 1910 the state will
be entitled to an additional con-
gresham to represent us in the
lower house of the national con-
gress. The natural fertility of the
soil, supplemented as it will be by
the introduction of great irrigation
systems in the southern and south
eastern counties, and the growth
OF the many new and important
mining camps which are now in
process of development, will be
bound to add enormously to our
population and commercial import
ance.
Looking at the near future it is
safe to say that the great fortunes
of the next few years will be made
by the investment of capital in the
many natural resources of minerals,
development of the soil and manu-
featuring enterprises within the
boundaries of our young, rich and
rapidly growing state. In short,
the entire state of Idaho promises
to eclipse the most sanguine ex-
pectations of lis oldest and best
posted inhabitants, and of the vast
territory within its borders, the
outlook for none is brighter or
more full of radiant promise than
the fertile Camas Prairie and the
adjacent country.