Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-02-09
Lincoln County and shoshone.

This article is published as a re
sponse to numerous inquiries for In
formation regarding this section o.
Idaho which are received at the Jour
nal Office weekly.
The Journal believes the oppor.
tunities offered new settlers by Lin
coin county are second to none In the
state and this article is designed to
furnish such persons with reliable
and conservative information regard
ing these opportunities.
ShoshOne and Lincoln County Idaho.
Location.
Lincoln county is located about
the center of the Snake river valley,
in southern Idaho. Southern Idaho
is great rectangle about the size
and shape of the state of Kansas.
1t is great plateau trimmed by high
mountain ranges. The Snake river
enters this rectangle at it's northeast
corner, flows in great crescent to
the south and west, leaving the rec
tangle at it's northwest corner. Along
the central and most southerly course
of the river it forms the southern
boundary of Lincoln county for a
distance of about fifty miles.
Surface and Soil.
The Snake river valley is a vast
lava field which has been built up by
successive overfiows of lava Each
overflow had time to cool and form a
soil on its surface before the next
overflow which, by its heat and pres
sure compressed and burned the thin
soil into a substance somewhat re-
sembling a soft burned brick. A
cross section of the formation re-
sembles an enormous jelly cake with
alternate layers of lava and burned
soil.
Since the last overflow, some sew
eral ages ago, the forces of nature
have disintegrated the lava, mixed it
with the volcanic ashes, stirred it
around with wind and water until
they have mixed up a soil covering
the surface of the valley which is ex-
ceedingly rich in all of the elements
of plant life, except nitrogen. When
put under cultivation we supply the
nitrogen by growing alfalfa
and then have a soil unexcelled for
fertility any place, any where. The
surface has in places been thrown up
into broken heaps of stone with great !
areas of undulating plain resembling
the plains of western Kan |
sas, but covered with a dense growth |
Of sage brush and bunch grass. At |
places the convulsions of nature have |
eft great ragged irregular gashes, or
canyons across the face of the plain
where usually the beds of streams |
ire now found Through one of |
hese canyons the Snake river flows
llong the southern boundary of Lin
,oln county. This canyon is about
/ hundred miles long with an aver
i6 QCpth VI pei hdBc q thOuoAh0 ACSt
md varying from hundred yards
o six miles in width. In its passage
through this great gorge the Snake
liver in a series of magnificent wa
er falls and rapids has fall of
welve hundred feet. The two most
ioted water falls being the Twin
'alls, with a verticle drop of 10
eet and the Great Shoshone falls
nth a verticle drop of 210 feet
Climate.
The climate of any particular place
epends upon a great variety of con-
itions chief among which are near
ess to mountains or sea or some
irge body of water, and its latitude
nd altitude. Lincoln county is in
bout the same latitude as northern {
owa. It's climate is not affected by
Ither the sea or any other large
ody of water, but it is affected by Y
s being on the southern slope of $
aw Tooth mountains. 1t rises grad G
ally and almost imperceptibly from c
lie Snake river north towards the I