The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-08-13
LOCAL WRITER
IS GAINING FAME
Mrs. Blanche Soth Pub
fishes Article in New
X. West Magazine

west Md2aAne
A very fine article on the sub
ject Of western sagebrush writer
by (Mrs.) Blanche Soth of Black
foot appears in the July number o.
the New West magazine, which reads
as follows:
SCont o Sage L..
Did it ever occur to you how
much smells have to do with oul
opinions of scenery? Ever come
plodding along some desert trail
and round barren ridge into can.
yon where a spring burst forth and
smell damp earth and growing green
cry? Ever climb past that last tor.
turing, tantalizing thousand fee,
above the timberline, prop yourself
against freckled boulder and in
hale the fragrance of millions oi
.for-get-me-nots that the wind bore
up to you across the melting snow
Ever been negotiating the lonesom-
est looking section of the lonesomest
wilderness and suddenly wrinkle up
your nose to the aroma Of coffee
Ever come out upon q little pla-
teau tn the deer country In October
and draw a deep breath out of the
thousand odors that rise from out
the sun-warmed sage and mint and
spruce and rabbit-brush? Ever trail
a thunder shower through the NOUN
tafns and smell the balsam of the
pfnes?> Ever been back east and on
your way home stick your head out
Of the car window long about the
hundredth parallel and begin to
sniff for sagebrush? And when. you
finally caught that wild, strong tang
from the west didn't you know right
then that God made the sage and
gave it its characteristic odor just
to keep us westerners from straying
off into strange pastures? So ~
1t doesn't matter mite to us that
what we call sage isn't sage at all as
the botanist knows it. It's legal
name is Artemesia, which means
dedicated to Artemis,' the Greek
Diana, goddess of the hunt. Don't
you suppose Diana forsook Olympus
the minute she got a glimpse and a
breath Of the sage country? Our
wild sages are sisters of the worm
wood and mugwort of our grand
mothers gardens and some species
are even known in some localities al
wild wormwood," pasture worm
wood" alpine wormwood," and the
like.
The men who made the botanies
say that there are more than seven
ty different kinds Of it in the Rocky
mountain region, but only a few of
them ever got themselves noticed
much by the travelling public. The
largest and most conspicuous is
Black Sage or Sage Brush, the state
flower of Nevada. The next best
known is Rocky Mountain Sage,
which every pioneer will assure you
is good, when, made into tea, for
whatever ills may beset you. Then
there's green sage, blue sage, woody
sage, Canada sage, sweet sage and
spiny sage or "bud-brush" as the
sheepmen call it, and white sage
which is neither sage nor Artemi-
sia but a member Of the goose-foot
family and related to the pigweeds
and the Russian thistle.
All the sages impart their silver
sheen to the sweeping purple land
scapes and their perfume to the
boundless open air. And when we
westerners are so tired we can hard
ly breathe and we'll nigh discouraged
with the high cost of whatever we
are trying to be a success at doing
we steal off alone to the back porch
and sniff the sage and then-miracle
of rejuvenation! Every lazy little
lung cell begins to work again, sag
ging shoulder muscles tense them
selves and yank that tired kink right
out of your spines, we lift our heads
and square our shoulders and re-
new our courage.
Thanks be for unwalled space, and
fertile sands, for weathered sleeps
and scent o sage.