The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-03-01

IN ORTIZ BEND, WASH, liz typ
WI ical twentieth century frontier
settlement, consisting largely, at
the time I saw it, of saloons, gambling
resorts, a postoffice and few stores. The
inhabitants in the main are termed "short
stake" business men. That is. they are
there simply for the cash-taking any
reasonable chance to- get it. They are
ready to move when the sheriff comes,
which occurs often enough to impress
on the newcomer the fact that there are
laws for the Bend as well as for any
other American city. The people of this
settlement are of the usually hearty, gen.
erous frontier type. They are occupied
as hunters, trappers, prospectors, stage
drivers and innkeepers. Though rough,
they are identical with those early pio-
neers who passed to the Americans of our
day those traits of restless energy and
daring which they possess. 1t is true
that the American Indian still fingers
in these uninhabited regions, but he is
being pressed on all sides by the great
mass of white men. The best opportunity
for noting the manner of living common
to the frontier is by flowing in with some
nomadic emigrant or in accompanying
the advance engineering corps of some
railroad.
At North Bend the first delicate traces
of this picture became a reality to me. In
the employment of a railroad that was
building in the vicinity, 1 had my oppor-
tunity. This town is the only outlet of
the snowqualmie pass on the west side of
= hor L
covered with the remains of half burned
forests one of the characteristic fea-
lures of the landscape. The morning
after our arrival the engineering corps re-
ceived orders to go to the summit-mean-
ing, in this instance, the top of Snow
qualmie pass in the heart of the Cascade
range. A half hour after our departure
we began winding slowly up the rough
mountainous road, through masses of tan
gled shrubbery and tall trees, varying
from 100 to 275 feet in height. The many
different varieties of foliage and moses
were magnificent. During the day we
passed many mountain brooks in which
trout were numerous. Several of the rail-
roads other camps were located along
the trail and We stopped to rest our
horses and to get bite to eat
These camps were inhabited by the fear
less, good-hearted, yet crude and rough
element that is bound to predominant in
any frontier region of the present day.
They work on the grade and receive about
% per day, besides their board. They are
sheltered in mere shacks, made of hewed
logs and cedar shakes. They are always
on the move-never remaining long at any
one place. A great many of them are not
married and can move easily Those who
are mated provide themselves with a
small wagon-light but strong enough to
carry the family and it's provisions, bed
ding and utensils. The wagon is COW
cred with sheet of canvas, smeared with
tar inside to make it waterproof. In this
manner they will wander around in this
wilderness until they become satisfied,
when they will either take up home
stead or else buy. rent or squat on a
clearing. Every foot of this land is COW
cred with immense trees, which the new
settler Immediately sets about telling. It
is in this way that this bold, high-spirited
man creates settlement-plaoing in po-
sltion the foundation stones of a pros
porous community.
At shutdown we reached another one of
these camps and prepared for the night.
After a good supper had been served we
were taken to an old log cabin, where we
were told we could spend the night Two
days later we reached the summit, and
made preparations for a two months of
camp life in a region where we were four
days travel from any sort of commune
cation with the outside world.
One can truly say that nature has done
her best for the summit of Snowquamie
pass. With its bracing climate, moderate
altitude and sheltering mountains, l do
not believe that its environment can be
equaled anywhere. Located as we were
on the very summit of the pass, we were
surrounded by various mountain ranges
On our right doomed up the barren
ridges of Tunnel mountain; on the left
Granite mountain defiantly faced u.s.
while numerous other sentinel-like peaks
doomed up in the far distance-among
the most characteristic being Denny and
Silver peaks. Back of our camp flowed
the swift Snowqualmie river, which winds
its way through the forest at the foot of
the pass. The Snowqualmie is a mass of
foaming water, rushing noisily over its
rock bed and merrily shrieking as it
shoots over its many falls. The river
flows SO swiftly that it is dangerous for
any one to attempt to wade It, Horses
find it extremely difficult to ford. Trout
are numerous in this stream and are cas-
lily caught No effort whatever has to be
made and a fine mess can be quickly
hooked.
Like all the rest of the pass, this Sec
ton is heavily wooded with hemlock,
cedar and fir. Surrounded as we were by
tall trees and mountains, it was impossi-
BILE for US to foretell the weather Of each
day until late hour Near 10 o'clock
the sun would generally be scraping the
crest OF the mountains, If the weather was
to be fair. Very little blue sky could
be seen from our camp. Every morn
Ing we would find the clouds hanging
low-caressing and beating the nearby