254 GEOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
the Bitter Root, the most considerable of which is the St. J oseph’s river, which has a general 
parallel direction with the main Cœur d’Aléne, and is about twenty miles south of it. 
The whole valley of the Cœur d' Aléne and Spokane is well adapted to settlement, abounding 
in timber for buildings and for fires, exceedingly well watered, and the greater portion of the 
land arable. Even on the main route from Colville to the mouth of the Peluse there is much 
arable land for thirty miles south of the Spokane; and although in the central portion of this 
route trap and basaltic formations occur from time to time, yet the grazing is excellent, and 
the country but gently rolling. East of this line the whole country may be denominated a 
cultivable country. "Through this portion of the Great Plain considerable ridges run from 
the northeast to the southwest, and the whole country has a general inclination both to the 
Snake river and to the Columbia. Thus on the trail from the Red Wolf's ground to the Cœur 
а Aléne lake the summits have elevations of 8, 338.7, 4,057.1, 3,701.1 feet, respectively, and 
the river valleys of 1,206.3, 2,702.8, 2,906.2, 2,795.8 feet, while on the trail from Colville to 
the mouth of the Peluse the highest summit level is 2,540 feet, and the country thence 
declines to 592.9 at the mouth of the Peluse. On the line of the Grand Coulée the highest 
summit level,from the point where it leaves the Columbia, is 1,642 feet, and the country thence 
descends to 335 at the mouth of the Snake. North of the Great Plain, that is, from the Spokane 
to the 49th parallel east of the main Columbia, the country for the most part is densely wooded, 
although many valleys and open places occur, some of them now occupied by settlers, and all 
presenting advantages for settlement. Down Clark’s Fork itself there are open patches of 
land of considerable size, and so on the Koutenay river. North of the Spokane is a large 
prairie, known as the Cour d' Aléne prairie, through which the trail passes from Walla-Walla 
to Lake Pend d’Oreille. This prairie contains some six hundred square miles. Between this 
prairie and the main Columbia is a mountain spur which deflects Clark’s river to the north, 
and which may be called the dividing ridge between the lower portion of Clark’s Fork and the 
main Columbia, and between Clark’s Fork and the Spokane; between which, however, and the 
main Columbia are two valleys, the Colville and the Chemakane valley, connected by a low 
divide, a favorite route, through which passes the most generally travelled trail from Colville 
to the country below. Here isa line of settlements on the main Columbia itself. From Fort 
Colville to where it bends suddenly to the west there is a good deal of excellent land. It will 
be safe to pronounce the whole country north of the Spokane, and lying between the main 
Columbia and the Koutenay and the Coeur d’ Aléne mountains, as a cultivable country, although 
the dense forests will be an obstacle in the way of rapid occupation of the country. But 
here comes in another element of wealth: the country about Colville and on Clark’s Fork has 
been pretty thoroughly prospected for gold, and it exists in paying quantities throughout that 
region. On the Koutenay river are found mines of lead, copper, quicksilver, sulphur, and 
platinum; and there can be no question, from information derived from practical miners, from 
geological explorers, and especially from the testimony of the Jesuit fathers, De Smet, Hurkan, 
and Ravalli, that this is a country very rich in minerals. Perhaps the country east of the 
‚ the Blue mountains. These mountains, having а 
general east and west direction but a few miles south of the 46th parallel, have а course to the 
north to the eastern portion of the Walla-Walla, re-entering and send streams to the Walla- 
Walla and the Snake. These streams have pine on the upper portions, of good size and in 
large quantities, and will enable settlers to procure lumber for their build*ugs at a moderate 
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