CHAPTER IV 

 THE CRUDE STRENGTH OF IDAHO 



Two travellers crossing Idaho on the same day, one by 

 the Northern Pacific and the other by the Oregon Short 

 Line, would receive quite opposite impressions of the 

 country. The one who had traversed its northern end 

 would think of Idaho as a land of dense forests mir- 

 rored in the surfaces of beautiful lakes, of narrow val- 

 leys presenting but meagre scope for agriculture, of 

 abundant verdure, and of Alpine scenery. These condi- 

 tions suggest nothing except the lumber-camp, the mine, 

 and the stock-range. 



The traveller who crossed the southern part of the 

 State, on the other hand, would receive the impression 

 of an arid land, with wide stretches of valley and plain 

 covered with wild grasses or sage-brush, alternating with 

 curious formations of rock and lava. This traveller 

 would understand how a large agricultural population 

 may be maintained by turning the abundant water of the 

 streams upon the rich valley soils. Both of these im- 

 pressions of the resources of the great inland State of 

 the Pacific Northwest would be true, but either of them 

 taken alone, as is often done by travellers, would be 

 quite inadequate. The fact is that Idaho, perhaps even 

 more than other localities in the Far West, presents a 



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