Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 159, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1916 — IDAHO NATIOWAL PARK [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IDAHO NATIOWAL PARK

IDAHO NATIONAL PARK, “the Switzerland of America,” is shortly to take its place aB one of the greatest natural show places on the western half of the continent. This wonderland of mountains, lakes, streams and forests in the heart of Idaho is to be set apart and dedicated for all time as a pleasure ground for the people of the whole country. It is to bo added as an additional jewel to that strand that reaches from Colorado to the Pacific coast, writes M. F. Cunninghdm in the Utica Globe. All America is interested in this for the reason that all the great parks of the West, including the Rocky mountain in Colorado, the Yellowstone in Wyoming and Idaho, the Idaho in the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho, the Glacier in Montana, the Yosemite in California, the Grand Canyon in Arizona and others of lesser note are to be connected by a system of fine automobile highways. Good roads and trails are to be constructed in the parks and good hotel and camping facilities are to be provided for all tourists. There are no large glaciers in the Sawtooth mountains, but aside from this there is no scenery in America more beautiful, wild and varied. It beggars description. Senator Borah, after a hurried tour of the park last summer while home on his vacation, said:

“Force seems to sit incarnate here and one feels, somehow or other, that he is not far from the breeding ground of hurricane and storm.” Geographer Marshall’s Tribute. Mr. Marshall, the chief geographer, was equally impressed after making his tour of Inspection in October. In the course of his report he said: "This section of the Sawtooth range is unusually striking in mountain sculpture and is a brilliant composite example of the characteristics of three of the main mountain ranges in the United States. The southern portion strongly resembles the Rocky mountains in Colorado; the middle section is a counterpart of the Sierras in California, and the northern end Is a rugged brother of the Cascade range in Washington. The lakes are rare }n their brilliant transparency, reflecting the mountains and the black pine fringing their edges, making most inviting places for campers and tourists to rest and enjoy nature in all her glory/’ The fountains in this section are bold, jagged and precipitous. From a distance the range gives the Impression of a great inverted crosscut saw, hence the name. Mount Hyndman, the highest peak in Idaho, 12,078 feet, is found here within easy reach of the end of the railroad at Ketchum. The wild and grotesque mountain scenery on all sides leads all travelers to compare the country with the Alps in Switzerland. \ —l Three rivers of inestimable value for irrigation in the valleys far below have their common source in the mountains of the proposed park. They are the Salmon, the Boise and the Payette. These streams, together with a number of smaller ones, swarm with trout and other game fish. This is equally true of the lakes, some sixty in number, The redfish, found in but few places on the continent, is common here. It has given Its name to the largest of the lakes. . / Streams Full of Salmon. David Starr Jordan, speaking for the United States fish commission in a recent report, tells how the Chinook and Colorado river salmon ascend the Btreams, shooting the rapids and leaping the falls, untll-they reach their favorite spawning beds in the headwaters of the Salmon river in the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho, more than

1,000 miles from the sea. Professor Jordan lays special stress on the value of these ice-cold mountain streams to the salmon industry of the nation. Among the wild animals to be found in this section are the mountain sheep and goat, elk, moose, antelope, deer and bear, including the silvertip, the cinnamon, the brown and the grizzly. The preservation of the fish, birds and animals is one of the considerations leading to the creation of Idaho national park.. Much of the land to be included In this new national park is now included in forest reserves. Forest rangers have already done much in the way of constructing roads and trails. They have their stations well scattered throughout the territory with telephones here and there, so that the tourist, even when completely swallowed up in this wilderness, is never far out of reach of civilization. All western states are just now putting forth tremendous exertions in the way of building good roads. The automobile tourist has come to be an important factor in the development of the country. Idaho is not behind her sister states of the West in this matter. Good work has already been done on an automobile road to connect Yellowstone park with Idaho national park, and on another scenic highway leading from the Idaho national park into Boise, the capital of the state. This last link Is to be 75 miles in length, much of the way along the Boise river. - Another road is under construction from the park down the Payette river and. through the Boise basin, from which it is claimed $300,000,000 In placer gold was taken in the early ’6os when the nation was in the throes of Civil war. In the construction of these roads in Idaho the federal government, the state through its highway commission, the counties and numerous highway districts are co-operating. The state is also working its convicts on state highways with excellent results.

HELL ROARINC CREEK