The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-12-04
FROM PALousE COUNTRY
Former Mitchell Resident Writes of
the New Country Being Develop
ed in the Far West.
Maiden, Wash, Nov. "a. 1908.

4 "a In the EATf NcSJ.
Maiden, Wash, Nov. "a. 1908.
Editor Republican are OBJ
serving at first hand some very in
teresting construction on the new
Milwaukee coast extension, and as
the town is usually full OF railroad
men we hear 8, good deal more OF
what issgoing on between the Rockies
and the Cascades on the new line.
Through the Bitter Root range on
the boundary between Idaho and
Montana they + boring a tunnel
nearly two miles long in solid rock,
making from s to 80 feet a day.
West from there through the foot
hills the line runs through a wild,
almost untouched forest, and the
construction work is heavy. At st.
Joe on the st. Joe river, head of
the Couer d'Alene lake navigation
lines, the Milwaukee people have a
$4,000 saw mill plant, engaged
mostly in getting out timbers for
the tunnel and other construction
work, and later there is to be .
large 0 pulp mill there. The
native pine is first quality for lum-
Der, and there is plenty of spruce for
pulp. West a little farther the road
runs into the Palouset country in
Guiding part of Idaho and the east
central part of Washington where
the great wheat farms spread over
the steep sides Of the hills and over
the tops, now getting green to stay
green until June, The valleys are
more or less stony and sterile and
frosty, while the hills are composed
Of volcanic ash soil, like that of
China and Italy which has been Guilt
waited thousands OF years and is still
producing richly. 1t absorbs and
holds moisture to a remarkable de-
gree. and during the past season
wheat planted after the last rains of
the unusually short rainy season
sprouted and matured and yielded as
high as thirty bushels per acre, no
rain having fallen on it during it's
growth.
Maiden is surrounded with a large
district of that sort tributary to this
point. As soon as the railroad is in
operation, land will be worth from
$40 to $50 per acre for wheat raising
and very little else is undertaken or
the farms as that has been so profit
able and does not exhaust the soil as
in the central states. In this Pa
louise country about the only UNI
pleasant feature is the dust during
the late summer and early fall. No
rain falls during July, August and
September, and there being no wind
strong enough to sweep the roads
they get very deep during wheat
hauling season, and one does not.
travel by team II It can be avoided,
for the dust rolls up exactly like
smoke. We have no hard winds,
no cyclones, no hot winds, no hail,
hardly any lightning, no snakes, no
mosquitoes or other insect pests, and
Y in the dryeMs part of the dry
season the winds from the southwest
7 bring moisture from the sea and
make the air delightfully."- soft and
fresh.
All trees do we'll, but there are
very few native trees right here. We
have many different varieties Of ap-
pies. pears, peaches plums, prunes,
apricots, and all the small fruits and
the Strawberries are especially fine.
Contrary to the usual impression back
east the Washington fruit is exceed
ingly juicy. l measured plums on
labor day, lots Of them over seven
inches In circumference, more high
Sly colored and favored and more
juicy than anything I v e saw
growing or in market in central
states. That kind Of stuff could not
be shipped over a hundred miles
however. and what is shipped east
long distances. is picked for its keep
ing qualities first, and 1t is the same
with all other kinds of fruit.
The Milwaukee has established
here division headquarters for freight
service. and the first passenger di-
vision east Of Seattle. Two steam
.Sshoyels and seven gravel trains are
engaged In cutting the yards for 15
miles OF side track and other works
out OF q stony hillside.
West OF here nine miles is Rock
Lake. q mile wide and nine miles
long, with no bottom that has yet
beens sounded, with sides of solid
rock rising above the water almost
perpendicular for over 500 feet.
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