Explorations in the Upper Columbia Country [pp. 255-266]

Explorations in the Upper Columbia Country.
EXPLORATIONS IN THE UPPER COLUMBIA COUNTRY.
THE Big Bend country of the Columbia
River lies on its south bank, and somewhat
over three hundred miles from its mouth.
Beginning at Ainsworth, Washington Territory, it is embraced in a semi-circular curve
of the Columbia, extending to the neighborhood of Camp Spokane, which lies some
fifty miles to the northwest of Spokane Falls,
on the Northern Pacific Railroad. This
whole country is, for the most part, an open,
rolling prairie, and few towns exist except
those along the line of the Northern Pacific.
On the north bank of the Columbia, opposite
this Big Bend country, is situated a tract of
land known as the Moses Indian Reservation, which has lately been turned over to the
public domain, and which has many notable
attractions. It was through this portion of
the country bordering the Columbia River
that, with a small party, I made a trip in the
months of July and August, i883.
At Ritzville, Washington Territory, a
small town on the Northern Pacific, we left
the east bound train at midnight on the 6th
of July, and, joining one or two others who
had preceded us, pitched our camp near the
railroad track, to take a few hours' rest preparatory to our trip across the Big Bend
country. Ritzville is a town as yet in its infancy, situated on the Northern Pacific,
about midway between Ainsworth and Spokane Falls, Washington Territory, right out
in the open prairie.
The heat of the summer months is very
great, especially during the middle of the
day, in this country, and we had decided to
start very early on our daily marches, so that
almost every morning we arose at half past
three, and, after breakfasting and packing
up, usually started out at sunrise, and completed our day's journey by noon. Our
late arrival at Ritzville gave us very little
sleep this first night, and as I awoke the
next morning I sat up among my blankets,
and looked around to see what was the size
of the town where we had spent the night.
My eyes were greeted with a view that led
me to ask "Where is Ritzville? Has it disappeared, or was it only a'paper town?"for certainly I did not see anything that could
be called even a settlement. There was only
a station-house, a water tank, and one small
dwelling, and not a tree in sight. I afterwards learned that the town was laid out
in house lots, selling for fifty dollars apiece;
but the prospects of a thriving place in the
future were not such as to tempt any of us
to speculation. WAVe procured an excellent
breakfast at the station-house, however (for
Ritzville had been a meal station on the
Northern Pacific Railroad only a short time
before), and then loaded up the wagons,
mounted our horses, and set out towards the
Columbia River, taking a general northwest
direction, following a wagon road used in
transporting supplies to a military camp, situated at the point where Foster Creek
empties into the Columbia.
In the vicinity of our trail, and all around
as far as we could see, was an alkali prairie.
It is crossed at intervals by small, running
streams, whose waters we found to be cool
and refreshing after a hot day's ride. Six
days were consumed in crossing the country,
a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles,
from the railroad to the Columbia River, at
the mouth of the Foster Creek, about nine
miles above the Okenagan and joining the
Columbia from the south.
The prairie is covered with sage brush;
there is a scant growth of bunch-grass, and
during the summer months a remarkable
scarcity of water. Heat and dust added
much to our discomforts. At one of our
camps we dug a hole near a sort of lake to
get water. The color was that of mud, but
we drew a pailful and let it stand, supposing the impurities would settle. They would
not, however, and we found that the color
was due to the alkali.
1886.]
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