The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-04-06

ted states except Alaska. Two other
tracts of ground in the west have no
railroads. but these regions have wag-
on roads. Central Idaho has little
but trails, and poor trails at that. The
district is interesting in several re-
spects 1t is a rough country; it has
wonderful undeveloped water powers;
it has considerable undevelOped min
eral resources. and the geology is
worth investigation and study because
of the fact that it contains the great
Idaho batholith of granite.
BY far the most impressive topO-
graphical feature of central Idaho is
the great canyon of the Salmon. For
260 miles between walls which rise
1000 to 5000 feet above the water, this
majestic river rolls toward the sea.
At places there are PERCEPTIONS cliffs,
but for the most part the slopes are
clad with coniferous trees that lend
softness to the landscape which is
often lacking in most of our west
ern scenery. The more one sees OF
this great chasm, the more impressive
it becomes. Viewed for the first time
on a clear day, it may be disappoint-
ing, but as one sees it clad in the
snow of winter and in the verdure of
summer, in light and in shade in
moonlight and in daylight in fog and
in smoke, it becomes more and more
awe inspiring. / think it is most i'm
pressive when small fog clouds lend
a perspective to the scene and force
home the immensely of the great abyss.
These clouds, drifting up to the side
canyons bring out qualifications of the
panorama which otherwise are OBJ
scured by the haze of the distance.
The Salmon has a swift but fairly |
deep current. 1t is now used for boat
ing down stream. No one has yet sue
assembled the river in power
boat, but it is possible that it may be
practicable with modern boats
Salmon City, near the eastern Dor
der of the state, is a pleasing little
town on a railway which branches off
the Oregon Short Line at Armstead.
down the river to Lewiston,
near the western border of the state,
the distance is SO5 miles Between
Salmon City and Lewiston there is a
nothing else.
A man named Guleke builds barges
at Salmon and floats down the river
to Lewiston, where he sells his barge
for old lumber and goes back by train
to Salmon City. He takes supplies to
the trappers and prospectors and |
brings pelts and dust" out 1t is a
wonderful boat ride.
Fish and Game Plentiful.
The country abounds in fish and
game. In the bigger streams the fish |
grow to great size. They are locally
known as salmon trout, bull trout and
dolly vardens. There is also the Sal
mon river pike, which is even a gamer
fish than a trout. In the smaller
streams one finds the ordinary trout
n great numbers.
As for game, deer and grouse are the
most plentiful. There are also bear,
mountain lions, lynx, wildcats, coons,
utter, martin, fishers, elk, mountain
sheep and mountain goats. coyotes and
Country Difficult of Access.
The present topography of the coun-
ny containing the Idaho batholith is
hat of a deeply dissected plateau. The
higher SUBMITS range from 1000 feet
Mount MarshalD to 5000 feet (Buffa-
o Hump above sea level. Buffalo
lump is, however, like a sharks fin
ticking out of a plateau which is
bout 5000 feet high. AS one stands
n any of the high SUBMITS and gazes
broad, the country appears flat One
cts no idea of the deep gorges which {
ender the region so inaccessible. The ]
ops of the ridges are evidently not !
ar below the old peneplane formed by '
he batholith, so their SUBMITS still |
reserve a semblance of a plane when t
iewed from a distance. If one then {
lrns from gazing abroad and looks at S
he nearby surroundings. one is al (
lost sure to look down into an awe T
aspiring gorge, for the SUBMITS as a I
ule are narrow ridges. There are few s
dlCleS VI pldltduS ltll lileil are ONtA ! l
few acres in extent. The Buffalo [
lump plateau is an exception. 1t is a
ough table land. ten miles long and a
lille wide in places. .
The streams are yearly cut deeper. (
his is a condition not general in the {
rest. In most districts there are &C /
of silt forming meadows 6
nd parks. Not so in central Idaho.
The streams occupy the bottoms of '
shaped canyons. There are virtually G
0 soil banks and no patches of flat 7
md in the canyons of the main 7
treams. The little ranches in the I
anyons are seldom more than a few 6
cres in extent and each one that I E
ave seen was clearly caused by some {
Their agency than the normal accumu- Z
ltion of silt '
Landslides are the most general geo
,gical basis for a ranch. The side of 1