26 



THE FORESTER. 



Februs 



cover the greater portion of the United 

 States. 



The reserve lies mostly in eastern cen- 

 tral Idaho and laps over for 1000 square 

 miles into Montana. Its western limit is 

 the fertile Bitter Root Valley, the home of 

 the famous Montana horses. The Salmon 

 River, in its canyon of from 4000 to 6000 

 feet deep, is a natural boundary and fire- 

 break on the south. Beyond its western 

 edge is the Big Kamas Valley, while to the 

 north it is simply mountains, range upon 

 range, as far as the eye can reach. The 

 main crest of the Bitter Root Mountains, 

 forming the boundary between Idaho and 

 Montana, cuts it north and south. 



The imposing grandeur of this range, 

 in its vast extent and ruggedness, is rarely 

 excelled. The Sierra Nevadas, near Mt. 

 Whitney, are, perhaps, its only superior 

 in this country. For a distance of sixty 

 miles the main range rises in a series of 

 lofty spires and domes bare of soil or 

 vegetation, snow-clad for nine months of 

 the year and glistening with glaciated 

 granite sides, its lofty peaks mingling 

 with the clouds to the confusion of the 

 eye. Except by the Lost Horse trail they 

 are impassable to animals, and are difficult 

 of ascent to the mountaineer. Banks of 

 perpetual snow abound and lakes of strik- 

 ing beauty lie under each peak. It is pre- 

 eminently a land of lakes and streams, a 

 paradise for the trout fisher, a most de- 

 lightful place to visit. 



The traveller should take with him 

 abundant supplies, for his appetite will 

 be his constant companion. The outfit 

 should include two heavy pairs of shoes to 

 hunt deer and goats and a pair of running 

 shoes for bear. It is a fact not very well 

 known, that the best footwear for use in 

 these mountains is woolen socks and rub- 

 ber-soled tennis shoes. These shoes wear 

 only fairly well but they do not slip on the 

 rocks, no matter how smooth they may be, 

 and they are noiseless for hunting purposes. 



The pack-train is also a matter of seri- 

 ous interest. The one used on this expe- 

 dition consisted of eight mules and two 

 horses. The guiding star of the band was 

 the instrument pack-mule Moses, so named 

 for his ability to climb mountains, his 



wisdom and his apparent meekness. 

 had carried the instrument pack for 

 many trips that when he was started u 

 mountain he assumed that it was his d 

 to lead the band to the top, where 

 would stop and proclaim his song to 

 world. On one such occasion he was le 

 ing through a small meadow where 

 stirred up a nest of hornets and was stu 

 Each mule as he came up was convincec 

 to the point of the joke. Returning n 

 day, Moses was again in the lead. He ca 

 to this meadow, stopped, looked around, 

 membered the hornets and then picked 01 

 circuitous route while the rest of the b< 

 followed in the old trail. Moses, fr 

 the other side, watched the mules pr 

 each in turn being stung and then sts 

 peding. The tourists said there was 

 smile on the face of Moses when he ag; 

 took up his pilgrimage. 



To the west of the Bitter Root cr< 

 streams in deep canyons have divided 

 mountains forming east and west secoi 

 avy ranges, less rugged but capped 

 frequent groups of bare crags, difficult 

 access and carrying banks of perpet 

 snow. The only exceptions to this ext 

 of mountains are the high alpine meado 

 that furnish delightful camping groin 

 and pasture for the pack train. 



Originally at least ninety per cent, 

 this reserve was timbered. The foresi 

 composed entirely of conifers, the Spn 

 predominating, with many stately Ced 

 in the bottom-lands and some Tamara< 

 on the hillsides. Yellow Pine is the pi 

 cipal wood on the Montana slope. 1 

 Lodgepole, or Black, Pine, is very abui 

 ant and constitutes in large part the n 

 growth following burns. The great bi 

 of the timber is undersized and not 

 commercial value. The Balsam Firs hi 

 softwood and rot quickly, and the Lod: 

 pole seldom exceeds eight inches in dia 

 eter. While the ax has made seric 

 inroads into the Montana woods it has i 

 been used in Idaho except to blaze wid 

 separated trails through the forest. Fr< 

 careful notes of surveys during the Su 

 mer of 1897 ^ was estimated that nim 

 per cent, of the entire area of 5924 squ; 

 miles of this reserve had been timben 



