Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1906-06-29

! stream reaches it from the nor, h. |
lany streams rise in the Salmon |
river mountains of central Idaho. |
I'll tending toward the Snake river
.anyon, but all, sooner or later are
swallowed up in chasms, or are
'vaporated by the intense heat and
tryness of the desert. The ''Big
Lost" and the Little Lost" rivers,
both of some magnitude, which rise
IN the mountains and flow in
southerly direction into the great
desert, vanish there. But after
travelling many miles beneath the
lava beds of the desert, the pent up
waters break from their bondage in
TO series of remarkable cataract
springs farther down the river. For
20 miles they gush at intervals from
the canyon wall IN ever-fowing
| streams.
/
il near the town of Hagerman and
is known as Thousand Springs.
For half mile and from an eleva-
ton of from Is to 200 feet whole
rivers gush forth from the roots Of
the sagebrush, sometimes IN broad
white sheets of waving mist, su-
perb in color, like small N,agaras,
but more often in series of tlnv
falls and glittering cascades, which
leap from rock to rock, and finally
dissolve in spray as they crash upon
the rocks beneath.
The seepage from these lost rivers
has wrought other astonishing re-
suits in the canyons OF the desert.
J In several places great side alco, es
extend northward from the main
canyon. These in no way owe their
existence to the action of the Snake
or other streams. The most noted
is the sLost" or Blue Lake ca,iy on.
1t is an immense semic,rrular
! chasm, some two miles long, with
perpendicular walls more than 500
! feet high. No streams enter from
e any direction, but at its head and
mouth are mammoth springs, dis
t charging many cubic feet of water
: per second, which have formed two
dark blue lakes. The water from
, these springfield lakes, by erosion,
and by concentration of energy, has
eaten its way through solid basal
e rock, forming deepcut canyon.
II No other river has as many mag
t niticent cascades and water falls al
r the Snake. The greatest is Sho
e shone falls. Its volume is less thar
i that Of Niagara, but the fall Is 81
e feet greater and during the spring
: flood it is as great wonder Is Nj
agara. At Idaho Falls, the waite
r throws itself abruptly over . grea
n ridge of basalt rock into marrow
y trench below. The American falls
h farther down the river, is even MOI
r imposing, for the volume of waite
If is much greater. The Snake broad
d ems before reaching the falls, an
E. then takes mighty plunge Of NOR
ss than SO feet. AT Salmon falls nea
10 the mouth of Big Wood river, tn
a. stream dashes, In one cascade, owe
y declivity 80 feet high. There ar
8, many other beautiful falls, all q
n which would be more or less famou
Of were they not overshadowed by Ii
W grandeur of the three cataracts
I'D the south central part of the stat'
ID namely, Shoshone, Anger and Twi
at falls, all within short distance {
b. each other.
gs At its junction with the Clea
d. water, the Snake turns sharply ives
he ward. The h lis again ass nme I'll
pb form of rugged perpendicular wall
he the river narrows INTO turbulel
en- and broken Sc green stream. n
y. where IN the S, axe river canyon
,st there better example of the colnr
'er mar basal. formation than here.
many instances the lava, on coolin
fic has rnf a mad a narnand 4 icn1ar nosifi 4