A GREAT BATTLE BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS. 



W. H. MOLLIS. 



Mt. Tacoma, the great white mountain of 

 the Northwest, whose snow capped summit 

 js crowned with a corona of the clouds, and 

 whose foot is bathed in the waters of the 

 inland sea, is more than an immense pyra- 

 mid of rock and clay and snow and ice. 

 Many rivers and springs, that flow through 

 the land to enrich and fructify the soil, give 

 life to vegetation and quench the thirst of 

 man and beast, find their sources about its 

 base. The Nesqually is one of the most im- 

 portant of these. 



It is related in Grecian mythology that 

 Athene, the goddess of wisdom and power, 

 sprang from the brain of Zeus, the father 

 of gods and men full armed and with a 

 mighty war shout. So the Nesqually river 

 rushes from beneath a glacier, on the side 

 of Mt. Tacoma, with tremendous force, and 

 with a shout, as if for joy, it kisses the light 

 and swiftly pursues its way through moun- 

 tain defile, valley, and pass until it reaches 

 its home in the placid waters of Puget sound. 



The glacier which is the source of this 

 stream takes its name from the river and 

 is about 3,000 feet above the level of the sei. 



After the Nesqually reaches the light it goes 

 bounding over bowlder and rock, laughing 

 at all such impediments, until it reaches the 

 upper end of Suc-ho-tash valley, through 

 which it winds its serpentine course with 

 gentler force for about 20 miles. This val- 

 ley is of varying width and is covered with 

 as fine a body of fir, cedar and spruce timber 

 as can be found anywhere in this great tim- 

 bered state. The name Suc-ho-tash was 

 given it by the Indian tribes who used to 

 make long journeys there, annually, to 

 gather berries, on account of the abundance 

 and variety of small fruit which it produced. 

 Suc-ho-tash means juicy fruit. 



After leaving this beautiful and interesting 

 valley of excellent soil, snugly set in the 

 midst of grand mountain scenery, and in 

 which many fine homes and farms are being 

 made, the river reaches the upper end of 

 a pass in the Mashell mountains, a spur of 

 the Cascade range. This pass forms the can- 

 yon through which the Nesqually flows and 

 is usually referred to as the Nesqually falls, 

 but should be called the grand canyon of the 

 Nesqually. 



PHOTO BY LYNN, TACOMA, WASH. 



NESQUALLY GLACIER, SOURCE OF NESQUALLY RIVER. 



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